29gal Orchidarium - Orchid Board

isurus79 · #1 02-05-2012, 10:55 PM

So this is the larger of the 2 orchidariums I just created. My wife and I moved to a smaller but nicer apartment, so she wanted my former orchid enclosure (the orchid spaceship, seen here Outdoor Grow Area In Austin, Texas and brought inside for the winter) replaced with something nicer. I have already posted pics for my 10gal orchidarium. The 29gal is for small species and is made from a tank I got off of craigslist, as well as an aquarium stand I got from craigslist about a month later. I had the tank drilled with a 1" bulkhead on the back panel set about 3" above the bottom so I can have a pool of water for humidity. But instead of just leaving a pool of water, I filled it with hydroton so I can plant it with Riccia fluitans and Cryptocoryne to try and outcompete any algae that will grow. Here are the pics of the tank and stand with hole drilled in and a sanded surface:

Orchidarium1 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Orchidarium2 by Isurus79, on Flickr

The stand is now stained with a very dark stain to try and match the dark paint. The hole in the stand is for the drainage pipe coming from the tank. You will also note the two semi holes drilled into the back of the tank for the light fixture mounts.

Then I took 2 electrical conduits and turned them into light fixture hangers. I attached them to the back of the aquarium stand so I didn't have to drill into the wall. I then hung a 4 foot, 4 bulb T5 HO system above. Here are are the pics:

Orchidarium3 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Orchidarium4 by Isurus79, on Flickr

I added hydroton and pure water bought from the supermarket here:

Orchidarium5 by Isurus79, on Flickr

I added eggcrate:

DSCF4971 by Isurus79, on Flickr

A few plants:

Orchidarium7 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Orchidarium8 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Tomorrow I will be adding a fan (to combat the mold that has already shown up!!

) and I will be adding a mistking system and a glass panel for a lid soon. I will also be adding the algae fighters (Riccia and Crytocoryne) in the next few days. I'll post pics as these are set up.

camille1585 · #2 02-06-2012, 03:40 AM

Looking good! I'll be curious to know how it turns out with the moss at the bottom.

Anisa · #3 02-06-2012, 11:40 PM

Wow! It is looking great. Please dont forget to post updates!

isurus79 · #4 02-19-2012, 08:25 PM

Here is a quick update. I've added some Riccia fluitans to the bottom of the tank so that it starts growing over and forming a nice green mat. I have also put in some Echinodorus tenellus as a low growing species that will complement the Riccia. It also needs to learn to adapt to a more terrestrial than aquatic environment. During this time it is VERY easily fried by bright light.

Riccia fluitans by Isurus79, on Flickr

isurus79 · #5 04-29-2012, 02:21 PM

Here's another update: I've added an acrylic top (3/8" which is thick enough to prevent warping), a two nozzle MistKing system (which rocks!!) and fan in the back right corner. It's a 3" computer fan that I got from Radio Shack. I wanted to move the air, but didn't want a zone in the tank that dried out really quickly from a direct blast of the fan. I also wanted to offer some protection for the fan from water coming down from the misting system. So I got a small sewer connection as a cover and had the intake pointed towards a pane of glass and the exhaust pointed towards another pane of glass so that no plants receive a direct blast from the fan, but the whole tank gets moving air. Here are the pics:

DSCF5025 by Isurus79, on Flickr

DSCF5026 by Isurus79, on Flickr

DSCF5027 by Isurus79, on Flickr

DSCF5029 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Then I added some eggcrate over the fan so I can put plants up there too. Every inch is valuable!! Here are some final pics of the tank. This pic shows the fan in the back right corner semi hidden:

DSCF5030 by Isurus79, on Flickr

And after a misting:

DSCF5033 by Isurus79, on Flickr

DSCF5034 by Isurus79, on Flickr

bballr4567 · #6 04-29-2012, 02:30 PM

Very nice!