How to turn 3gal tank into terrarium?

[Izzie]

Well Tindomul just sparked this (maybe) brilliant idea.

I have an empty 3gal Eclipse aquarium tank sitting around doing nothing.

How hard would it be to make it into a terrarium?
It has a hood with a bright aquarium light, would that be acceptable for some orchids?
The light is labeled as a "Natural Daylight F6 T5" if that means anything to you guys.

[Izzie]

Blah, gonna try to get some more replies here.

Can't supply a fogger or fan.

What I CAN afford is some aquarium drift wood or reptile wood (moabi) to mount on, from a pet store.
Sphag moss.
Water.
The light mentioned.
The light puts out a good deal of heat.


that spur any ideas?

[drwonga]

Funny you mentioned converting your Eclipse into a terrarium. I was thinking the same thing! Perhaps some miniature orchids, or maybe starting with some airplants...In either case, depending on how old your lights are, you may want to replace it. Let us know what you decide to do!

[Izzie]

I could get a new light- that's just the one I've had in there before, figured I could get a new one.

I don't want to do anything too complicated setup-wise, but that might be out of the question.

Thought I could fit one or two minis in on a piece of wood or something.

Just NO idea where to start.

[Becca]

Hi Izzie!

Well I don't have experience with a terrarium of your size, the dimensions seem pretty small. My Exo-terra terrarium is a 18 x 18 x 24. I'm not sure if the light yours came with will be sufficient enough for orchids. An F6 light is only 6 watts and about 275 lumens per bulb. Compare this to a 24 watt 2 ft T5 Bulb at about 2000 lumens per bulb or a 4 ft 54 watt T5 bulb at 5000 lumens per bulbs. It's worth a try to experiment with since I don't think you have much for options since even a 2 ft T5 bulb would hang over the frame quite a bit. What kind of orchids are you wanting to put in it? Do you by any chance have a light meter to measure the foot candles it putting out? I'd also be consernd about the heat being trapped in the terrarium from the light. You would definitely want to try and find a way to put a small fan like a Coralife fan Coralife Fan Kit 3 1/8" Colling Fan 53070 for air circulation either in the terrarium or try and have a clip on fan running accross the light some how to try and help with the heat. In my exo-terra without a fan running on the lights the terrarium will easily get to 99 degrees even with the fans I have running inside. I know I haven't been much help but I'm just really thinking out loud hoping something might spark an idea for you. Hope I've helped a tad. As far as setting up the inside I'm not creative...both of mine are a wardian case style.

[Izzie]

Thanks so much Becca!

Honestly, the kind of orchids will depend on whatever orchids could thrive in there.

Can't do much with the light- it certainly doesn't get up into the 90s, MAYBE low 80s, high 70s more likely. Don't have a light meter and can't warrant getting one.

Sound like something workable?

[Becca]

So we know you will be at looking miniatures since your terrarium is only 11.5 high x 12 long x 6 3/4 deep. And it sounds like your temps will be intermediate. Maybe some warmth tolerant masdevallia's or some mini phals? Also you could use a humidity tray or something for humidity, I prefer something easy to clean that you can take to a sink and wash out.

[Izzie]

That's what I was thinking.

I just know next to nothing about setting it up, what supplies I need, how to put things together.

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

Izzie, maybe you can get a larger tank.

A 10 or 15 gal tank will really not take up much more space than a 3 gal tank you propose.

An even better idea is to use a 20 or 30 gal tall used for reptiles and amphibians (more like amphibians than reptiles).

Or even an Exo-Terra brand of tank:

Amazon.com: Exo Terra Glass Terrarium 12in. x12in. x12in. - Exo Terra PT2600: Kitchen & Dining

[King_of_orchid_growing:)]

The only true miniature Phalaenopsis is Phalaenopsis appendiculata.

It is by far the smallest species of Phalaenopsis known to date. Each leaf is really no larger than 1" long, they're usually smaller though.

Other candidates are the micro-mini and small sized Pleurothallis (and kin, the genus got broken up into smaller genera), Lepanthes, Lepanthopsis, Masdevallias (and kin, the genus got broken up into tinier genera), and maybe some Ceratostylis or Mediocalcar.

IDK, these are some minis I can think of off the top of my head.

Some minis in the list are harder to grow though.