How To Make A Front Opening Terrarium

Terrariums, one of the best home gardening you can ever have. If you don’t know what terrariums are, they are generally a container that has its own ecosystem in it. Usually, people will plant slow-growing plants in it so that minimum maintenance is obtained. Due to the water being trapped in a closed terrarium, the water is cycled and given back to the plants. That way, watering can be kept to a minimum. However, no matter what self-sustaining terrarium there is, it must still be accessible from the outside. One problem with most terrariums is that it is accessible from the top. This sets off as an issue when you want to make some tweaks to it.

Hence, we will be guiding you on how you could make a front opening terrarium by yourself. However, this work may be a bit tedious and costly, so only make it if you have the capability to.

This article will explain or discuss:

• What items you need to make your own front opening terrarium
• Building your ecosystem
• Alternative to having a DIY front opening terrarium

Supplies

Some of the supplies needed are as such:

• Safety goggles
• Putty knives
• Razor blades
• Marker
• Measuring tape
• Silicone sealant
• Aluminium Trim
• Glass Cutter
• Old Aquarium

DIY Front Opening Terrarium

Before you start with anything, always ensure that your safety is given priority. Make sure to put on safety goggles and gloves as the process may injure you.

Once you are done with that, time to start making your front opening terrarium. The central part of a terrarium is the aquarium tank. However, as we all know, aquarium tanks are meant for keeping fish in them. Hence there is no way that it will be accessible from the front. But hold on, all hopes not lost. The thing we have to do now is to detach the aquarium completely.

The aquarium glasses are held on by silicone. You can use razor blades to cut across the silicon briefly. Of course, this wouldn’t detach the glass just yet. You have to use a putty knife to scrape the silicone out. This is actually the most tedious and time-wasting process of making your very own front opening terrarium. 

Assuming you are done, remove the aluminium trims, which were initially intact with the aquarium. The trim is what positions the glass to be in place; hence removing the trim will allow you access to the silicon pulling the glasses together. During this process, there is no doubt that you would scratch the glass a little. However, no worries, as we will be adding our own aluminium trim later on.

If you have removed all the silicone correctly, the glass should be able to be easily detached. Do not force any pressure onto the glass if it doesn’t budge. This may be dangerous as the glass may shatter.

Cutting

This part is one of the most important factors as you may destroy all your hard work if you were ever to mess up. You should always have a blueprint on the diameters and measurements of the front opening terrarium which you are about to make.

Measure the glass with a measuring tape based on your blueprint. Feel free to use a sharpie pen in order to draw the lines that should be cut. All measurements have to be precise and accurate.

If you are done with that, place your ruler onto the line and use a glass cutter to cut the glass. Due to the thickness of the glass, it is impossible for it to be cut in half with just a glass cutter. When you cut the glass, it leaves a cut mark on it. Hence you should be able to break it into two even parts by exerting pressure on both areas. Repeat this until you are able to achieve four equal sides.

We are making a front opening terrarium, which means one of the sides should have an opening for us to access it. What you can consider doing is cutting up another rectangular hole on one of the glass. Feel free to attach a sliding door to that hole for the best results.

Framing

You have now pieces of glass that can be used to make your front opening terrarium.; however, you aren’t done yet. The glass alone will not be able to hold the terrarium with silicon. We suggest you use duct tape in order to position the glass first. Once you are done with that, gently fill the gap of the glass with silicon to solidify it.

Remember the aluminium trim which we have prepared? That would be useful now as you would need it to be the overall pillars of the terrarium. Make sure the glass is able to fit the aluminium trim which you have prepared. There should be no gaps present between the glass and the trim. If so, this means you’ve made a mistake in cutting the glass.

Lighting

To make your terrarium more interesting, feel free to attach lights onto the ceiling of your terrarium. This way, you are able to control the amount of light intensity given to your front opening terrarium. This may cost a bit, but it will help make sure that your plants receive enough light when needed.

Once you’ve attached your light onto the ceiling of your terrarium, feel free to seal it with silicon onto the terrarium.

Building Your Ecosystem

All there’s left now is to build your ecosystem. There is no greater joy than placing your precious plants into your hard work. Decorate your terrarium with any background however you want. To make it more lively, you can consider placing small animals or insects in it. Not only does it make it more vibrant, but it provides nutrients to the plants as they excrete. 

Front Opening Terrarium 40 Gallon

If you have decided to make a 40 Gallon Terrarium instead, we suggest you purchase a 40-gallon aquarium as a start. Building a DIY terrarium is hard enough, let alone being as big as 40 gallons. If you insist on making it, all you have to do is cut a hole in the front of the aquarium and make a sliding glass door for it. It is important to keep it as simple as possible as you wouldn’t want to create too much trouble.

Conclusion

That is pretty much how you could make a DIY front opening terrarium. You should only make it if you have the capabilities both physically and financially. If you couldn’t, it’s never too late to get a smaller pre-made one instead. Who knows, you might fall in love with the smaller one instead.

When do you plan to start making your very own front opening terrarium? Will it be anytime soon? Let us know in the comments below.