We’ve left our 70 acre biodynamic farm for a 70 litre bioactive tank.
Mossy Fern Farms
We are one mom trying to make a dream come true, turning a lifelong hobby into a business that could be a tiny bit successful, or at the very least teach some people about bioactive tanks and the benefits of keeping livestock within them. We are based in Melbourne/Naarm Australia and hope to be able to ship nationwide with careful packing. Our company is named after our son, Moss, and daughter, Fern, and while we no longer have a massive farm with acres of forest, we do know how to build what feels like an acre of forest to an isopod, snail, or other little critter.
Big love for little bugs. 🐌
We need them.
Invertebrates keep the world going round, cleaning up the soil and leaf litter that falls all around us. They are the cleaners of the forests, the oceans, and our own backyards! They help us keep our terrariums and vivariums clean from larger droppings of animals we may be keeping, and their droppings are cleaned up by the springtails that make their home in our bioactive tanks.
They need us.
We must protect invertebrates from pesticides that so many people are spraying in their garden to get rid of harmful bugs, which isopods, springtails, leaf insects, and other native Aussie bugs are not. They don’t bother our fruits or vegetable or ornamental gardens, they just want to nest and rest in the fallen leaf litter or mulch layer beneath your plants or trees.
Grow your own ecosystem.
We all might have a general idea of how an ecosystem works, but once you see it in action in your very own terrarium or vivarium, you'll have a fresh understanding of how delicately balanced these systems really are, and learn how they work, and what inputs and outputs they need to keep them balanced!
Loving the unloved.
Many people get grossed out by insects, but that’s because they haven’t learned about the important role they play that they play in the ecosystem. Or maybe they think that all insects can harm them by biting or spreading disease. Isopods, snails, springtails, and other such tiny creatures from Mossy Fern Farms wont bite or harm anyone, just clean up their tanks and keep themselves busy multiplying and growing
Fun for kids and adults alike.
Mossy Fern Farms is named after our children, Moss and Fern, who have loved learning about snails and isopods by watching them grow and multiply in our tank at home. They love spraying their tank with water and making sure they have plenty of food to eat. Personally, I love staring into the big tank and taking in the scent and scenery of a tiny forest in our living room, an escape from our busy lives, a time to notice things on the tiny timescale of these little plants and creatures.
Learn to grow. Grow to learn.
Learning to care for a terrarium or vivarium might take time or practice, but it is rewarding work, that causes you to look for solutions to problems that you might not be familiar with, but we are. That;s why we offer support with our premade tanks and kits, and can offer additional support for a small fee, because we want you to be successful at growing both your tank and your knowledge of how the ecosystem works.
