New to this - Orchid Board

Hookedup · #1 02-21-2020, 11:53 AM

Hey guys,
Long story short, I had a 150 gallon glass aquarium that was sitting empty in my house and got the idea to put plants in it instead of fish. Orchids seemed like a good idea. I filled the bottom with orchid bark and bought 2 40w LED full spectrum grow lights.
What issues will I have growing in a tank if any? What’s the right amount of light to give these plants a day? Any other advice will be helpful. Anyways , just wanted to say hi, I plan on doing my research on this forum.

Kruger · #2 02-22-2020, 03:54 AM

Do you have any drainage in the bottom of the tank? How is the airflow inside the tank, is fresh air being brought in?

Edit: What orchids are you trying to grow?

camille1585 · #3 02-22-2020, 05:52 AM

Welcome to orchidboard!!

You can probably gets lots of ideas from the terrarium section of the forum.

The amount of light to give will depend on the type of orchids that will go in it. Orchids a a big group, and have a wide range of cultural needs. Unless you have some specific plants in mind, it could be a good idea to work backwards based on thr light, temperature, humidity of the set-up. If your tank will have a lid, you will also need to rig up some small fans for airflow.

Hookedup · #4 02-23-2020, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kruger

Do you have any drainage in the bottom of the tank? How is the airflow inside the tank, is fresh air being brought in?

Edit: What orchids are you trying to grow?

I am currently building a hood for the tank and I’ll have 2 80mm fans blowing air in so air flow should be good.

As far as drainage goes, I only have bark down but after doing some research it looks like I should do some gravel first? That should be easy to do because I don’t have anything fixed into place yet.

I’m also building a background for the tank from old bark and logs from my yard. I’ll be sure to add gravel before that’s complete.

I only have 2 orchids that were store bought currently. They are just testing the lights right now. They are both phalanopsis and have been in the house for years. When I get better at this I have some huge outdoor plants that I would like to separate and add to the tank. I don’t know the types of those.