heres my plan, need opinions

[Swanwillow]

Originally Posted by rsfrid

Let me give you a head start on foot candles. Most Flourescent lights are rated in lumens (a measurement of light output). The rating will be at a certain ambient temperature and at the glass surface (remember it is light output). To get foot-candles divide lumens by 10 (close enough) Now you also need to know light falls off (gets dimmer) as the square of the distance. So if a light puts out 2000 foot candles, plants at a distance of 1 foot only "see" about 500 of those. I've over-simplified this so see this site for more detail --> Lumens, Footcandles, Candlepower, Measuring Light Output

yup, you lost me.

I'll go to the site to figure it out. I do understand that light loses power at certain distances. I don't know the lumens part, footcandle part... I'll get there.

[Swanwillow]

ok, I'm getting there.

now, next part. When looking at lights, how do I find out what lumens are on what pieces, I mean, one T5 tube = lumens...
I need a page that gives that out now.

(12.75... one foot away... got it)
and I figured out why my fishtank lighting is not = to plant lighting:
"A lumen is essentially a measurement of brightness to the human eye and is therefore very heavily weighted to the middle wavelengths of light that the human eye responds to most readily. As such, this measurement is not very helpful for aquarium applications since the middle wavelengths are the least important to aquarium inhabitants. To focus on lumens can be very misleading. For instance, the 55W 5000K bulb in the chart above has 4200 lumens while the 55W 6700K bulb has 4600 lumens. Yet these bulbs have the same total light output. The 6700K bulb simply has a little more of its output in the middle wavelengths."

ok, I found a chart... now, if I have 2 T5 lights, which are rated at 2900 lumens a peice, does that equal 5800, or is it some other, smaller number at around 4800 instead?
(See, figuring it out!!! my PCs over my fishtank are rated at 4800, a peice, which is 9600 over a 20 gallon fishtank )


my tank is a 32 gallon hex tank, 28" deep. I've finally figured out what I'll be doing, if it works... I'll be making a hollow stump, with a pump running up the inside of that for a waterfall down both sides of it. I have to completely hash out the ideas for the stump... but its getting there.

I'm also planning a pool up front, with river rocks as the bottom, moss covered where there isn't water-total of 5 inches of river rock and water.... its in my head, hard to explain.

and I'll whittle my list down tonight to 3 different species. I'll go over the pictures, see what I like and what will work best. Mayhaps 2 of one species, one of each of the others or something like that. Bromeliads (I have a mini variety that has been in my family for at least 20 years... probably more.) and maybe getting some fake mushrooms to mount on the outside of my stump, background with cork bark...

I'm figuring it out.

[Swanwillow]

ok, whittled down list... 2 new comers, all like it wet, shady, humid, warm:
the favorite
Haraella odorata its just SO nice looking, even though its NOT from costa rica...
Masdevallia floribunda so what, its from mexico
Masdevallia rolfiana on two lits, yup, it made it. I also like the color of the flowers.

there, I think I got it! and I'm thinking 2 t5 light fixtures-that should beable to light at 500 candles a foot down. Maybe I should go for another PC like on my fishtank... 800-ish

now that I figured out what to get for the tank, and how to make it... I even figured out the pump for the waterfall in the stump.

Next week, I'll be making the stump, and getting the background set up.

but then I had to see a Platystele stenostachya

I'll get the list figured out. blah

[Ross]

Great! You are doing the correct thing... researching. And next comes the GRAND experiment (the real thing!) I can't answer most of your questions from real-world experience. Maybe when you get your tank dialed in you can fill us in?

Most T5 strip lights are 48" or 24". There are lots of other sizes, but these are the most common. The 48" strips are rated at 2000 lumens (not 2900) The 24" at half that. Always remember that's output not totally available for plants unless they are in contact with bulbs.

[Ross]

I really recommend a minimum of 4 tubes not 2. The cost difference is minimal and you'll be able to get the 500 FCs you need. 2 tubes will give you half that. Math: 5000 lumens X 2 = 10000 lumens. 10000 lumens divided by 10 equals 1000 FC at bulb surface. 12" down equals only 1/4 or 250 Foot candles. This is why I am going to 8-tube fixture over my new terrarium.

[Swanwillow]

my tank is 24 inches... It was two tubes, one fixture... so 4 bulbs total.


Thats why I'm looking at another setup like my fishtanks, but I now want to know what color to look into... on the kalvin scale (is that it, I think so) so I go for blues, reds? I like cool, crisp colors of around 14000 *k but whats best for the orchids?

my fishtank light is a little more spendy, but its quite nice 24" 2x65W Coralife Aqualight CF hood, 1x Actinic and 1x 10,000K, -Straight Pin but then you need to pick what colors to order the bulbs in... ack.

[Ross]

I use a mix of 3 ea 6000K and 1 ea 3500K for mine. The CFs are "full spectrum" supposedly mimicking the sun. Orchids really don't use the full spectrum.

[Swanwillow]

what part of the spectrum do they use? more greener and redder then? vs blue... correct?

[Ross]

No, they use both ends, as I understand it, but they need the really red/magenta end which lots of bulbs don't provide. That's partly for blossoming (I think). I did lots of questioning including the hydroponics folks and was recommended to use 3 to 1. So I did. I've only had this running since Jan 17, so don't have long-term experience yet.

[Swanwillow]

well, some experience is better than none

I have terrarium experience, but not orchid experience... and lots of fishtank with lighting experience. I'm starting to merge it all together...

but I finally made my shopping list. first will be great stuff/handi foam. I like handi foam better since its black.
silicone for sticking stuff to the foam, and cork bark slabs for my tree stump.

but, I don't know what to use to make the back look more realistic... I'm looking that up.
river rocks and my marble slabs (yes-I have huge slabs of marble laying around, a table broke in half last week)
then lights, and a digi temp/humidity monitor, then I'm good for plants.