Biorb Halo 30L conversion for cool humid growers
 

I've been considering for some time moving my cooler humid growers into a terrarium/vivarium setup for some time, whilst juggling money and space constraints.

I've been considering the biorb and it has built in LEDs that will hopefully provide enough light Dracula Lotax, Masdevallia Measuriana, Restrepia Falgenbergii and Stellis Stevonsonii. All humid, low light plants that stay relatively small.

The benefits of it are:
It's light weight - if I go anywhere, I can easily transport it to my mother's and she'll be able to care for it for 2 weeks or so.

Which lead to it's Acrylic - meaning I can modify it easily to fit a computer fan for air circulation. It has a small opening up the top, so if I make the fan suck air out, it should force movement from the top. I wonder if blowing air in would create better air movement however.

Built in LED - the space I want it to be isn't particularly large, so external lighting will take up a fair amount of space.

There is also a square one that I've not seen in person so I'm unsure whether it would be as suitable.

My plan would be to have a water reservoir at the bottom with LECA, covered by hygrolon to prevent Algae. Aquarium wood with Hygrolon attached to wick water up to plants.

I'd like a 60L but I cannot make the space for one. The plan is for 4 orchids which are all very young and small.

I'd like to add a Lepanthes Calodictyon which I have no experience with. As far as I'm aware, it prefers higher light but isn't too fussy, but dislikes low humidity and higher temperatures. Also a very small grower.

Thoughts?

Considering the size and the need to keep the chamber humid for those plants, any fan might be “too much”, but may not even be necessary.

Air movement is to prevent stagnation. If the chamber is entirely closed, a very small fan is almost a “must”, but if there are openings in the top, it may not be needed.

I have a friend who grows such plants in glass spheres with a single, rather large opening in the side.

Thanks Ray.

Hopefully some other people put their input in also if a fan is needed, and other things.

I have a happy masdie in a glass bowl with a plastic lid with some holes drilled in it (you can find the thread on here), so there's very little air movement in that tank and air is only introduced through the lid. However, I have found the genus Pleurothallis specifically to hate stuffy, enclosed environments, so I'm not sure about the other pleurothallids you list.

You could try fan-less at first, just look for new growth "melting" which I find to be a reliable sign that things are too stagnant. And keep in mind that it's really hard to find a happy medium of wetness with Hygrolon.

Thanks for your input! I think I'll try fanless first then. The biorb has a good gap as it is meant to be an aquarium normally so hopefully I won't need to even modify it. I'm also growing all of these species in semi hydroponics so I'm hoping the wetness will actually be appreciated. The aquarium isn't very tall at all so wicking water to the top in theory shouldn't be a problem at all.