Thanks to everyone for their comments. @Al: I'm seriously considering installing an under-sink RO unit--my tap water has a ton of dissolved solids in addition to chloramine. I'm very interested in hearing updates on how your plants respond to the RO water. @Larry: My house plants, especially those with pointy foliage, like my spider plants, have tips that are browning just fast enough to raise my suspicions. I really think it has something to do with chloramines in my tap water. My African violets have some brown edges but it may be b/c of something else. But I'll repost this question over on that forum.

I have a single Betta. I purchased a java fern as well as another type of plant and the second one polluted the tank because it wasn't meant to stay underwater. I read up on it and found that pet stores will sell these anyway. Another thing. Beware of heaters you buy at the pet store. Try them out in a separate container BEFORE you stick them in the tank with your precious fish. I'm glad I did this because two of the ones I purchased went well over 100ú. I had to take them back. I use a digital thermometer to check the temps with. Here are some links that might be useful. Dying plants www.fishchannel.com/freshwater-aquariums/planted-tank/dying-plants.aspx All plant species (list) www.fishchannel.com/fish-species/plant_all_landing.aspx Plants [Archive] - Aquarium Forum www.aquaticcommunity.com/aquariumforum/archive/index.php/f-65.html?s=5c0d5f37fd0921992dcbfd9bab04a6ec

Aquarium water also has its ph all wrong, the nitrates and nitrites boosted (ammonia is also high), as fish have been living in it for too long. Bacteria and waste accumulate in such tanks, making the results a high grade of fertilizer that would basically kill your Flytrap faster than you can say fish food. What kind of small pets are we talking about? Lizards, frogs, snakes, mice and the like could all be captured and killed by a Flytrap or damage/kill a Flytrap during their struggles. In addition, as Tommyr mentioned, they require full sun, so placing them in a terrarium with your pets would not be conducive to the light levels these plants need. You can certainly place several different types of carnivorous plants together, but keep the temperate species with other temperates and tropicals with tropicals, that way you can give them similar conditions year round as they need. If you plan to place Flytraps with anything, plant Drosera rotundifolia, Drosera intermedia, and Sarracenias together with them and use different levels of terrain, placing the Sarracenias lower so they are closer to the water level in the trays. Venus Flytraps and Drosera tend to prefer slightly higher elevations where they are not waterlogged. You can do that in a large pot or window planter. You do not need a terrarium at all, actually terrariums would be worse due to the chance of mold and bacterial infection, not to mention the inability to get good sun to the plants conveniently.

Please remember that rainwater contains high levels of minerals which can harm many fish. Do you have an outlet that sells bottled water? I know its heavy to carry and if the aquarium is large it can be expensive but the fish will be better for it in the long run.