Are these good enough to use for a mini orchid terrarium?

[jreidsma]

Hi everyone

I am debating setting up a five gallon standard glass fish tank terrarium with mini orchids.

I have the tank already, and a lid/light that may work.


I have this fan picked out:
6" CLIP DESK FAN at Menards

and the lid I have takes one 25W aquarium light bulb from Marina. It says aquarium light bulb long lasting clear 25W. Would that be enough for the five gallon tank?

Would those work fine? Or would one single 25W bulb not give enough lighting?

I still cannot decide whether I want the plants mounted and in the ground or in little pots so I can more easily manage them. If they are mounted and planted they look more natural, but it would be more hassle and more expensive. Or I could just put rocks in the bottom and have the orchids in little pots.

I think I will keep them all separated in little net pots or clear containers.

So I guess the question is, will the 25W bulb be enough? If not I may just put some of my beetles or stick insects in the tank

[Magnus A]

For the lamp I do not know.
But to answer your question it would be goot to know the color temperature in Kelvin and the light output in lumen. Should be possibly to get fromthe seller...

For the fan, I think it is pretty large for a 5 gal growing cabinet. I would go recommend a 3'' computer fan rated at 12 Volt. 12 Volt is no problem and safe even in a wet environment...

/M

[jreidsma]

I figured a little desktop fan would be cheaper than a fan controller. I will see if I can find a cheap computer fan controller somewhere. I work with computers so I have fans

[Magnus A]

You do not need a fan contol!
You only need a power supply (AC/DC Adaptor) giving 12 V, more or less a mobile phone charger. Cut the cord and connect the fan!

One like this one:
20 W AC/DC Adaptor - VANSON | Clas Ohlson

Just find a supplier in the US as this one is in Sweden, Europe.

[jreidsma]

I forgot to bring home a fan, maybe I can get it another time from storage.

[SplutteryDrake]

hey jreidsma,
What mini orchids do you plan on using? I'm actually in the process of converting a 5 gallon glass tank to a vertical vivarium for my arboreal tarantula, so I wasn't planning on putting a fan in primarily because I didn't want to irritate my T, but also wanted to get some ideas for a mini orchid to mount on the wood fixture I have.

I got a Ludisia spp. cutting from a friend at work and plan on putting in in the substrate since it's a terrestrial species, but would like to have some ideas for a miniature species that does well mounted and possibly with not-so-exceptional air circulation.

[jreidsma]

This thread mentions a bunch of dwarfs:
http://www.orchidboard.com/community...od-dwarfs.html

Air plants (Tillandsia) are good for terrariums also

What species of tarantula do you have? I have a bunch myself