The new tank! - Orchid Board

cb977 · #1 11-23-2008, 03:42 PM

Last month when Dana got her Orchidarium while visiting with me, I talked my husband into giving up his fish so I could take over the tank. It's a 50 gallon tall tank, 36 inches wide.

I've been working on putting together a centerpiece for it and have finally completed the task!

Right now, the temps are showing 72, I have two fans in there and T5 lights. I'll make adjustments as needed.

These are the plants that now reside inside:

Den tetragonum
Den tetragonum var. giganteum
Phal lobbii
Phal pulchra
Phal cornu-cervi
S cernua*
Pths teres (2)
Bulb Frank Smith
L. reginae
Bulb Jersey
Bapt echinata*
L sincorana
Ccs rubra
Bulb ambrosia*
Angcm leonis*
Bulb odoratissimum
Psh radiata
Aergs rhodosticta
Lpt bicolor
E polybulbon
Bulb Melting Point*
Lepanthopsis astrophora 'Stalky'
Tris hoejerii
Tolu sylvestris*
Masd veitchiana 'Prince de Galle' x Masd princeps
Masd Redwing 'Rolfe' HCC/AOS x masd princeps
Mystacidium capense
(Mystery Project Cool grower)

The six with an asterisk* are on a test-run. If I see signs of their not being happy, I'll remove them.

Here are some pics of the process and then the final outcome. I started out thinking I had 14 that I could take from my existing collection...and that number turned into 29 today!

The back of the tank is mirrored, making it difficult to get a really good picture

Aceetobe · #2 11-23-2008, 03:47 PM

I love the way that looks. I think I'm going to start a tank soon, but I really like the design of yours.

What kind of fans do you have there? Is one pulling in and the other pushing out?

How tall is the tank? I've seen a lot of 50 gallon ones that are 24" tall, and I wasn't sure if that was tall enough.

cb977 · #3 11-23-2008, 03:53 PM

I got two cooling fan kits that have their own power switches
Cooling Fan Kit 4.75" by Coralife - AquaCave
These also come in a 3.12" size

They are both blowing into the tank to provide air movement.

The tank is 24" tall and 12" front-to-back. It's plenty tall enough if you plan on using minis

Ross · #4 11-23-2008, 04:07 PM

Way to go Susanne! I knew we could be enablers! Looks fantastic. Be sure to get some fans running between the t5s and the tank - during the summer it will help a lot!

The 4.75 fans are a bit big (in my opinion) but will certainly do the job. The 3.25" are a bit more modest and as you probably know, I run 2 inside the tank 24/7 and one through the wall for a few hours at night. Temperatures can best be controlled by venting the heat before it gets into the tank (I'm sure you already know that.) Great job - I am so happy you joined the dark side

Now on to the enabling....

Another thought... I posted to someone a while back that I use a couple WalMart fans to get rid of the heat - like this:

These are basically the same as your 4" fans. If you decide the 4" are too big, then you can use them to cool the area below the lights, then add a couple 3" into the tank. Just a thought. Good luck on this. I know you've been dabbling with something that will work in your climate and a truly hope this is it. Thanks also to your husband who was so understanding as to give up the fish for your hobby. He sounds like a great guy.

LauraN · #5 11-23-2008, 04:20 PM

My you have been a busy girl!
Great job Sue. The tank looks fabulous!

Jkelee · #6 11-23-2008, 04:28 PM

OMG Sue!!! I LOVE IT!!!!! What a Beauty!!!

I want one soooooooo bad!!!

cb977 · #7 11-23-2008, 04:32 PM

Thanks Ross

Believe me...I did A LOT of reading and re-reading the terrarium/lighting posts here and on the web. Your posts were very helpful as were all the others I went over. There's SO much great information available...anybody can do this!

I have one of the 3 inch fans on the small Exo-Terra tank that holds most of the Masdies. I figured the larger fans would get the air further down in to this 24" tall tank. They are out of the way and barely noticeable...and boy oh boy, do I have some air flowing in there!

I agree...my hubby is a great guy...but he only gave it up this quickly to stop me from buying the orchidarium that Dana grabbed!