want to make orchidarium, HELP!!!! - Orchid Board

orchid lover · #1 06-04-2008, 03:47 PM

For the past few days i have been reading alot on this site. Hours and hours. 5 hrs today! There is so much info for which i am very grateful. There are alot of knowledgeable people for us to learn from.

. My problem is that i am so confused

. I want to use a 10 gallon aquarium to make a orchidarium. Maybe bigger later and with more experience. What i hope you will kindly share with me the types of orchids i could put in it. no pots, more like a little forest type. Can i use the top of the aquarium that has the 2 fluorescent tubes cover, and what orchids would be good for that. Would a glass top be better? I could purchase a mini computer fan to place in the orchidarium. I would put aquarium gravel on the bottom of the aquarium. i have a masdevalia "snowbird", mimi dends. These are the smallest of my orchids. My phals do fine under fluorescent 2 lite fixture that i want to eventually get rid of. My cym is outside doing fine. LAst yr it finally had a bud growing , but i accidentally broke it

My dends are fine but have never blomed for me, HAd them for at least 5 years. I also have brasovola that has never bloomed. I know this is alot of info and questions, but please anyone/everyone help me

. I only recently joined this site and i love it. But i am confused

Thank you so much!!! Orchid lover (sherry)

Royal · #2 06-04-2008, 04:47 PM

Yes, lots of questions. It's OK, you're in the right place!

You will need the fan. It will need to run 24/7. If you don't want pots in there, think about mounting them. I think there is a "sticky announcement" at the top of the terrarium gardening forum with good terrarium plants, and there may be a 'good plants for mounting' sticky.

The light will depend on the wattage. I'm not sure about what kind come in the aquarium hoods. My guess is that they might not be big enough. A glass or plexi top will keep the heat down inside, and will keep the humidity up. Being in Canada, you may opt to use the heat from the lamps, but you may want to look at the air-tightness of the hood.

Basically, you need to make a decision. What environment are you going to create in there? Just a little extra relative humidity, or steamy jungle? Hot and steamy jungle, or more moist and cool cloud forest?

Your creativity is the limit, it just depends on your tastes.

orchid lover · #3 06-04-2008, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyalOrchids

Yes, lots of questions. It's OK, you're in the right place!

You will need the fan. It will need to run 24/7. If you don't want pots in there, think about mounting them. I think there is a "sticky announcement" at the top of the terrarium gardening forum with good terrarium plants, and there may be a 'good plants for mounting' sticky.

The light will depend on the wattage. I'm not sure about what kind come in the aquarium hoods. My guess is that they might not be big enough. A glass or plexi top will keep the heat down inside, and will keep the humidity up. Being in Canada, you may opt to use the heat from the lamps, but you may want to look at the air-tightness of the hood.

Basically, you need to make a decision. What environment are you going to create in there? Just a little extra relative humidity, or steamy jungle? Hot and steamy jungle, or more moist and cool cloud forest?

Your creativity is the limit, it just depends on your tastes.

Hi Royal:
thank you so much for your answer. Not quite sure what you mean by "sticky". I really want to see my masd"snowbird bloom, so i think that would be the type of orchidarium i want. Just need to know other orchids of the same requirements. I know from the fish store where i use to buy lights for the aquarium, they also sold fluorescent lights for plants. The lights are for the size of the aquarium. How does the gravel on the bottom sound? Can the orchids just be mounted on small pieces of bark that are wrapped with spag moss or something similar? Thank you! Hoping to hear from you again! Much appreciation... Sherry (orchid lover)

Royal · #4 06-05-2008, 10:55 AM

"Sticky" refers to a note (like the yellow 3M brand self-adhesive note pads - or sticky notes) At the top of some forums, there are permanent announcements to answer frequently asked questions. If you click on the 'terrarium gardening' forum, at the top of the page you'll find a 'sticky' entitled "orchids that do well in terrariums".

What is the wattage of the lights? How long are they? Some aquatic plants can thrive with much lower light levels than most orchids, so not ALL aquarium "plant lights" will work. The wattage is important.

Gravel sounds ok. It might be a pain to keep clean after a while. It will surely look nice though. There have been a few OB members that have used coconut husk chips and prime agra expanded clay aggregate. I've thought about using prime agra, but for now I just use an egg crate style light diffuser so I can clean things out easier.

You can mount plants on a wide variety of material. Look for something that will not break down over time. Hardwoods are good, cork bark is good, freshwater driftwood is good. Some here use cedar shakes or shingles, blocks of hardwood lumber, or local tree branches. If you use a found item, clean it well and bake it dry in the sun for a while. Most of us use sphag on our mounts.

Hope this helps. Good growing,

orchid lover · #5 06-10-2008, 10:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyalOrchids

"Sticky" refers to a note (like the yellow 3M brand self-adhesive note pads - or sticky notes) At the top of some forums, there are permanent announcements to answer frequently asked questions. If you click on the 'terrarium gardening' forum, at the top of the page you'll find a 'sticky' entitled "orchids that do well in terrariums".

What is the wattage of the lights? How long are they? Some aquatic plants can thrive with much lower light levels than most orchids, so not ALL aquarium "plant lights" will work. The wattage is important.

Gravel sounds ok. It might be a pain to keep clean after a while. It will surely look nice though. There have been a few OB members that have used coconut husk chips and prime agra expanded clay aggregate. I've thought about using prime agra, but for now I just use an egg crate style light diffuser so I can clean things out easier.

You can mount plants on a wide variety of material. Look for something that will not break down over time. Hardwoods are good, cork bark is good, freshwater driftwood is good. Some here use cedar shakes or shingles, blocks of hardwood lumber, or local tree branches. If you use a found item, clean it well and bake it dry in the sun for a while. Most of us use sphag on our mounts.

Hope this helps. Good growing,

Hi Royal;
thanks for your info. I have posted so many times on different boards here, but i can't recall if they followed old or what forums. My info has changed abit. I just bought a 20 gallon high aquarium, used, no lid. I only want to make a orchidarium.Mini forest. Live in vancouver, canada zone 6-8. think i will need to buy a top that uses the fluorescent lights. Maybe i can get the lights from Home depot or something. Iwant to use my masdevalia, have mini dends, could i add brassovola? What else, orchids, can i put in? I am ready to start my mini forest, but i need alot of help if that's okay? I thought about gravel on the floor of the orchidarium, but that would be time consuing if need for cleaning. Any other suggestion? I hope you can answer my questions! And i thank you very much. You long time members must get tired of us newbie questions, often repeating! Hope to hear from you! Sherry (orchid lover)

Royal · #6 06-11-2008, 09:47 AM

I'm glad to help, but I'm a newbie too.

Keep the questions coming, that's what the OB is all about. I love this place too!

In my opinion - Score! Used is cheap, and cheap is good. I think a taller tank would be cool. The more room the better. I'd use something in the bottom that won't break down quickly (or at all). I think I mentioned before that I just use a piece of that light diffuser 'egg crate' stuff. It's easy to build little shelves with the egg crate too. I also use a cheap-o $2 spice rack as a 3-tier stand, but these won't work if you're going for the natural look. If that's the case, you could opt for gravel or try prime-agra.

When building my little mini terrarium, the bests ideas were borrowed from pics here on the OB. Soaking up all the good info here is definitely a great first step. So many different styles and plants and ideas.

With mine (again, it's sloppy and just thrown together), I use a peice of plexi or lexan cut to fit the top of my tank. It's not a perfect fit, but it keeps the humidity up above 90% for several days at a time. For lights, I just bought a couple strip lights and fashioned a light hood of my own with some scrap wood. It's UGLY, but the light is fine for the plants and the plexiglass top keeps temps inside a lot lower.

orchid lover · #7 06-11-2008, 01:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyalOrchids

I'm glad to help, but I'm a newbie too.

Keep the questions coming, that's what the OB is all about. I love this place too!

In my opinion - Score! Used is cheap, and cheap is good. I think a taller tank would be cool. The more room the better. I'd use something in the bottom that won't break down quickly (or at all). I think I mentioned before that I just use a piece of that light diffuser 'egg crate' stuff. It's easy to build little shelves with the egg crate too. I also use a cheap-o $2 spice rack as a 3-tier stand, but these won't work if you're going for the natural look. If that's the case, you could opt for gravel or try prime-agra.

When building my little mini terrarium, the bests ideas were borrowed from pics here on the OB. Soaking up all the good info here is definitely a great first step. So many different styles and plants and ideas.

With mine (again, it's sloppy and just thrown together), I use a peice of plexi or lexan cut to fit the top of my tank. It's not a perfect fit, but it keeps the humidity up above 90% for several days at a time. For lights, I just bought a couple strip lights and fashioned a light hood of my own with some scrap wood. It's UGLY, but the light is fine for the plants and the plexiglass top keeps temps inside a lot lower.

Thanks Royal for all your help, what is a light diffuser egg crate, and where do you get them? I'm goind to put my masd, mini dends, brassovola higher up, L.C.mini,, add more orchids as i can. i think i will try aqaurium store or home depot for lights that would fit a 20 gal tank roof. Hope this all xounds appropriate! Thanks.. Orchid lover

Ross · #8 06-11-2008, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orchid lover

Hi Royal;
thanks for your info. I have posted so many times on different boards here, but i can't recall if they followed old or what forums. My info has changed abit. I just bought a 20 gallon high aquarium, used, no lid. I only want to make a orchidarium.Mini forest. Live in vancouver, canada zone 6-8. think i will need to buy a top that uses the fluorescent lights. Maybe i can get the lights from Home depot or something. Iwant to use my masdevalia, have mini dends, could i add brassovola? What else, orchids, can i put in? I am ready to start my mini forest, but i need alot of help if that's okay? I thought about gravel on the floor of the orchidarium, but that would be time consuing if need for cleaning. Any other suggestion? I hope you can answer my questions! And i thank you very much. You long time members must get tired of us newbie questions, often repeating! Hope to hear from you! Sherry (orchid lover)

Sorry for waiting to reply Sherry, but I wanted to see how this was going to evolve. 10 gallon would have been pretty small. Glad you went larger and tall is exactly what you want for an orchidarium. By the way a terrarium would be a landscaped case with permanent plants. An orchidarium is usually a wardian case where the plants will remain in pots or on the original mounts.

A couple comments. I would not go with the aquarium top and lights. Too dim for plants. I would stick with the Home Depot t8 florescents meant for kitchen lighting. Not a bad solution for a first time tank. These are the so-called skinny florescent tubes. I suspect you can use a 2-tube 24" fixture? If your tank is long enough to take a 48" fixture, why not upsize the fixture to a t5 florescent? These are the best (so far) cool lights available and provide a very substantial amount of light for the wattage.

I would try just a single piece of window glass across the top of the tank to start with. A cheap solution and will get you accustomed to how things work with these tanks. I would place a couple lengths of 1/4" dowel across the tank top and the glass on top of that. It will provide some minimal venting. You need fresh air.

You really need the fan running 24/7 inside the tank. I forgot if you said it was 12-volt. I use these Coralife Aqualight 3 1/8 Cooling Fan Kit as they are pretty safe around water and humidity. Have been running these for years with no problems.

Eventually, you may want to consider creating a custom wardian case just for your specific needs. Read this article http://www.orchidboard.com/Setting-u...om-Orchidarium which describes the process I went through. Then contact Paul at First Class Aquatics to discuss the process. It really is painless and will in-the-end provide answers for all your problems as far as connections, how to get cooling in, misting, etc.

Let us know how it works for you.

orchid lover · #9 06-11-2008, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ross

Sorry for waiting to reply Sherry, but I wanted to see how this was going to evolve. 10 gallon would have been pretty small. Glad you went larger and tall is exactly what you want for an orchidarium. By the way a terrarium would be a landscaped case with permanent plants. An orchidarium is usually a wardian case where the plants will remain in pots or on the original mounts.

A couple comments. I would not go with the aquarium top and lights. Too dim for plants. I would stick with the Home Depot t8 florescents meant for kitchen lighting. Not a bad solution for a first time tank. These are the so-called skinny florescent tubes. I suspect you can use a 2-tube 24" fixture? If your tank is long enough to take a 48" fixture, why not upsize the fixture to a t5 florescent? These are the best (so far) cool lights available and provide a very substantial amount of light for the wattage.

I would try just a single piece of window glass across the top of the tank to start with. A cheap solution and will get you accustomed to how things work with these tanks. I would place a couple lengths of 1/4" dowel across the tank top and the glass on top of that. It will provide some minimal venting. You need fresh air.

You really need the fan running 24/7 inside the tank. I forgot if you said it was 12-volt. I use these Coralife Aqualight 3 1/8 Cooling Fan Kit as they are pretty safe around water and humidity. Have been running these for years with no problems.

Eventually, you may want to consider creating a custom wardian case just for your specific needs. Read this article http://www.orchidboard.com/Setting-u...om-Orchidarium which describes the process I went through. Then contact Paul at First Class Aquatics to discuss the process. It really is painless and will in-the-end provide answers for all your problems as far as connections, how to get cooling in, misting, etc.

Let us know how it works for you.

Thanks Ross. could the t8 fluorescent fixture fit on top of the aquarium. I hope it wouldn't have to be mounted from the ceiling. I have very limited space! thanks!!! Orchid Lover

Ross · #10 06-11-2008, 03:36 PM

Depends on how long the aqauraium is and how long the light fixture. The 24" light fixtures have lights less than 24" long (like 23") If your aquarium is wide enough to fit two 24" fixtures side by side, I would do it. You can set them on wood blocks on top of the glass to get some air space.