Minature terrarium
 

Hear ye, hear ye. I've got a proclamation:
Ok I have a 20 gal (30" long) that is 12" high are there any orchids that are miniatures (or others) that do well in the high humidity and shortness of a terrarium.? I've got my eye on Dendrobium unicum.

Now the actual tank is still in the works, and I'm still fairly knew to the whole orchid in a glass cube idea. One of my questions is lighting. I see these ratings for "1500-2500 Foot-candles". I get that it's a measurement in light but without a light meter how do I know if the Light I'm using is strong enough?

There are tons of different types of orchids out there. I can't help you on specifically what orchids are good for your setup since I too am about to do the same.
Actually according to the book ORCHIDS a practical handbook, by Brian and Wilma Rittershausen, the following list of orchids do well in glass tanks.

Coelogyne coyrmbosa
Cirrhopetaum guttulatum(I've seen this genus being sold for vivariums too)
Dendrobium cuthberstonii
Encyclia polybulbon
Masdevallia Whiskers (I've got a M. rolfiana in a 29 gallon viv, but it hasnt bloomed yet, but Masdevallias are recommended as terrarium orchids)
Masdevallia towarensis
Mexicoa ghiesbrechtiana
Neofineta falcata
Oncidium cheirophorum

I've got a Haraella odorata in a 55 gallon vivarium that is going to bloom, but this is a mini mini orchid, don't know if thats what you are looking for.
Hope this helps,

here is a link to an online orchid seller that allows you to search orchids according to the growing conditions you can give them. Use the power search http://www.andysorchids.com/

Hey that's the same seller I was going to use.

Ok Tindomul1of9, maybe if you tell me what kind of lighting you are going to use maybe I can figure it out what kind I should get.

(See I'm used to aquariums where it's so many watts per gallon depending on coral, none of this whole thousands of Foot-candles nonsense.)

I use your standard strip light for a 55 gallon tank. Its a sunglo, and according to the box the light bulb came in, it emmits 300 LUX and has a spectrum of 4200K. I think its 40 watts. I'm not to sure what all that means, I was never that good in physics class. I was hoping to get some more lighting later on. I think what I have is the absolute min!
Good luck. I know more about chicken maternity than I do about footcandles.

"chicken maternity" ?

yea, chicken maternity. THey dont go through maternity, so I know nothing about footcandles.

[Giving a confused look]
Oh really, that’s so interesting [slowly turning and walking away from that conversation]

NO OFFENSE, and then you say "none taken"

Not knowing any thing about the orchids and just going solely off of looks, I really like:
-Masdevallia Whiskers
-Oncidium cheirophorum
-Masdevallia tovarensis

The others were nice but these really caught my eye