Building an Orchid-arium
 

Building an Orchid-arium by Robert.

After getting my first Orchid I wanted to make a terrarium to put it (and later others) in. So here is what I have so far.

48X12X13 aquarium. For now I'm keeping our Orchids and a Bromeliad of indeterminate parentage (NOID).
Attachment 98942

These next two images show some of the parts I need for making the flowing water feature. At the bottom center is the pump, to the right of that is the clear plastic tubing with various connecting parts.
Attachment 98943

The next post will explain the theory of how I expect the water system will work.

This image shows the "sump" where the pump will be located.
Attachment 98944

Robert

cool!

Before I go any further I suppose I should mention what I am trying to accomplish. Obviously making a habitat that at least resembles a natural (or nearly so) one.

Beside branches and niches for orchids and other flora I intend to include a water feature than will include a waterfall with a "creek" leading to a pond and hopefully two "springs" (with real running water :blushing:).

Here is a simplified schematic of the water system.
Attachment 98983 Sorry for the size I'll have to go back and resize it later. Here is the explanation of the drawing: bottom left is the pump, top right the terrarium, the left hand line is the feed line and the right hand the return (siphon) line.

For this tank I want/need to have the pump on the outside of the tank primarily due to space limitations (the tank is only 12in wide) so I need to maximize the growing space meaning the land feature(s) need to be as thin as possible (at least as I see it).

I've yet to decide how to divert the incoming water to the two planned springs. That is an engineering problem I'll attend to later.

That's the plan so far, :roll: but you know the best laid plans,,,and all that.

:welcome:
In this addition of the saga of "Building an Orchid-arium" we will discuss some of the ideas of how to build the land-masses.

I know what I want but how do I achieve it? At one end of the tank, in the back, the right hand landmass will go almost to the top and will be the site of the waterfall. Near the bottom of the waterfall will be a small pool which will feed a bit of a creek that empties into the pond in the middle of the tank.

The land will fall gently away from the waterfall toward the front of the tank and toward the middle of the tank. From there the land will rise, again gently, toward the other end of the tank.

The pond will be wider at the front than the back as if it is an outlet of another creek. The landforms will therefore be divided (possibly).

Both landmasses will be lifted off the bottom of the tank by about an inch so water flows under each of them (thus, at the back corner,) allow the return tube to be hidden. I thought, seriously, of attaching both landmasses to the bottom of the tank with silicon adhesive but am skeptical of how long the block/dam would keep the water from the ends of the tank not to mention where I could put the return tube so it would not be seen.

(Eventually, I know, I'll have to commit my ideas to paper, but I'm not sure how effective that would be given my lack of drawing experience in the last 50 years.)

How to make these land features is another thing altogether. There are so many possibilities I'm having problems deciding the "how to" part.

One can use rigid foam insulation, wire/nylon window screen as a base with various media over the top to make the rock/ground areas. I have been looking at a model Rail Road site that explains, briefly, a number of possibilities. Most of them involve using plaster of Paris which sounds good, is relatively cheap, easy to work, but anything but water resistant/proof. One of the OB board members (at least one) explained, step by step how he made his rock formations. He used the rigid foam with a coating of various colored grout.

For anyone else who might like to see how to make rocks go to this site. Again it suggest using materials that may not be appropriate for use with water but mentions other materials and how to use them (foam insulation is one [don't think there is only one that emits volatile fumes that may be harmfull to plants].:whew Done for now.

Sounds like it will be absolutely wonderful! I can't wait to see the end result! :)

I've seen combinations of expanded polyethaline and grout used in tile work. There are some amazing you tube videos re: making waterfall out of styrofoam and grout. Usually for building terrariums or vivariums. Look to the vivaroum builders. They have what you want but they put a few fancy frogs in theirs.

I just hope it turns out as well as I envision it.

Something to look into that's for sure. Hadn't thought of that course yet, thanks.

Looking forward to seeing the finished tank. And thanks for going into such detail, I've been thinking of trying the same thing.

Next step is designing, that is putting ideas on paper (I don't have a CAD program). I will try to take pictures of the drawings as I go along to post here.

fullmonti already has a thread that might be of use to you also. The thread is called "My Large Pauldarium". It is quite complete. Take a look at it.

Sooner or later I am going to have to provide branches for my orchids to live on. My question is how do I sterilize branches? Unfortunately I don't have any way to boil anything over about 8 or 9 inches.

Can sterilizing be done in an oven?

I have more oak, maple, various species of hickory and other wood branches of numerous sizes, piles of them in fact, that I want to use rather than buying.

If this isn't feasible (I don't want Manzanita or mangrove roots) what alternative do I have?

I want the terrarium to look similar to a swampy jungle with lots of mosses and other ground cover (beside the orchids that is).

Hi Robert,
I am NOT an expert and would bow to the wisdom of the more experienced...but I can tell you that the small sticks and slabs (and moss) in my small terrarium were not sterilized. If you think about it, in the wild the limbs and rocks that orchids host orchids are not sterile. Also, hybrids are hardier than the species that root in the wild.

Just a thought.

Good thought Vicki, I guess that is one thing I won't concern myself with. Now the major thing is the designing the water and landforms.

Just for the fun of it could you (would you) regale us with a picture of your terrarium?

Can't wait to see the progress

Ro3bert,

You'll find the progress from plan, planting and current blooms here

Thanks Vicki, I went thru your thread before I saw this post, looks good. I would never have thought of using such a small container.

I think I go by the old saying: If a little bit is good, a whole lot should be better.:rofl:

Small containers have their challenges. Finding micro-miniature orchids that are happy in the household temperatures of a non-air conditioned home, the virtual shade of indoor light, typical humidity and low air movement of a nearly enclosed vessel are challenging.

Beyond that, all I really need to do is monitor the water level in the reservoir and use distilled water to replenish it because I am far too obsessive/compulsive to deal with the ugly deposits of tap water.

Your water scheme won't work.

The siphon return will not start by itself (how will the water be drawn up over the lip of the tank?), and if you manually start it by sucking on the hose, as soon as the water level in the upper tank is below the hose, it will stop again.

You have two possible alternatives:

The first is to have a hole in the bottom of the tank with a standpipe coming up through it, determining the depth of the water. That's what I did with a 20H tank, but I believe a 55-gallon tank uses tempered glass, so it cannot be drilled.

Alternative 2 is a false bottom, with the tank itself being the reservoir with the pump in it, and the substrate, and plants above.

I agree, except, I will have to make sure there is enough water in the tank so that doesn't happen. My plan is to suck on the feed water hose until the siphon action begins, then, as water seeks it's own level, it will stop when the levels are equal. From there is is only a matter of starting the pump.

Consider this: in modern fuel injected engines more fuel is pumped than the engine needs so the excess is returned to the fuel tank thus completing a closed system.

My system will work in virtually the same way; the fact that the water will be pumped into an open tank is moot: as long as the water level in the tank does not fall below the siphon tube inlet the water will continue to circulate.

Unfortunately true.

I considered this at first but didn't want more than two inches of water (the tank height is only 21 inches, the width 12 inches). The pump requires at least 3 inches and since this is my first attempt at "building" a terrarium I wanted to keep the landform and water feature to a minimum so there is plenty of room to populate the space.

A bigger problem is the pump's output volume which is slightly over 500GPH. :roll: Even at 5 foot height it is still slightly over 300GPH so I am not sure how I will handle that. At this point I haven't the foggiest what I'm getting myself into. So do I have to find a smaller pump?:_(:goodluck: I guess I'll just have to wait to see.

I finally began designing the landforms and water feature. I didn't particularly want to use Styrofoam so got some cardboard boxes from my local liquor store, figured it would allow a bit more control over the shape I want over the landforms.

Haven't gotten too far yet, and it’s difficult to see what the final form will be.

At first I thought I'd build the form up then cast it in plaster (the negative) then recast a Positive and do whatever sculpting required for the final product then do another negative plaster and finally finish with layers of grout and get rid of the plaster. ISN'T GOING TO WORK.

I'm going to have to figure another way to go.
Here are some pic’s of what I’ve gotten so far.

The first is just the shape of the land at its largest.
Attachment 100300

The first of the (many) layers of cardboard. The pencil markings in the center mark the pool at the bottom of the waterfall.
Attachment 100301

The last image shows the continuation of layers of cardboard. The pool is more apparent here. Somehow the focus isn't as good as the other images.
Attachment 100302

As I add layers I'll post more images.

It appears that using cardboard isn't (for me) the way to go. The stack would have to be about 22" high (about 627mm). Not going to happen. I need another way.

I have lots of 2" foam insulation sheets, yellowish and pink, one of them with shiny metal on both sides. What I'm not sure if is if there is any reason not to use them. The foam, after sculpting will have to be covered with grout or some sort of waterproof material.

The question is is there any potential problems (chemically wise) with using this material? (the foam that is).


The cardboard has to be built up from the bottom and I'm having difficulty visualizing the next steps. Starting from the top down seems to be a better process for me. There was an artist, low these many years ago, long before my forefathers set foot on the New World's land, who said something to the effect that one took a block of some medium, looked at and let it tell you what to remove to release the item inherent within the material. I'm hoping that is what will happen with me.

I know what's in there but getting it out is something else.

So what do you think? I know some have used Styrofoam but I don't have any.

Oh first time I came across the concept of an orchid-arium..lol sounds very creative. Is this done in very cold climates as a way of controlling the temperatures to mimic a live habitat environment?
Awesome idea I hope to see the intermediate and end results..and possible notices..haha :)

Shivonne

I decided to name the thread "Orchid-arium" rather than Orchidarium simply because I came across a post that said there is/was a company with that name that was not happy with others using that "name".

The concept is not new; there are a number of other members who have built terrariums for orchids. In my case I wanted (want to) create or as you say to "mimic a live habitat environment". I may have bitten off more than I can chew but I hope not.

The project is going to, unfortunately, take longer than I had hoped. With any luck the next attempt will give better results.