Converting a Fish Tank to a Terrarium For Herbs
Answered by: Inge Poot
Question from: Don
Posted on: November 24, 2010

I recently received a 10 gallon fish tank that someone was going to throw out. I love herbs and have been growing some great herb gardens on my balcony for the past few years. Do you have any ideas on what could grow well in the tank with an adjustable grow light?

The problems with an aquarium being turned into a terrarium for high light plants is that the fish tank light is not going to be at all adequate and will have to replaced with either several 15 watt lights(one 15 watt light being the usual for a fish tank of this size) or a couple of 40 watt lights. The other problem is that 10 gallons is a bit small for lustily growing herbs. You will have to harvest them frequently to stop the most aggressive plant from crowding out the others.

Once you have taken care of the light problem -putting the terrarium into a south facing window for the winter would help a lot and save energy- pick anything you like. Just make sure if you choose tarragon or chives that you give them a month of light frost before placing them into the tank -or they will dwindle away on you.

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