My exo terra in progress

[Axle-n-Lily]

Welcome all,
I have been looking around at a lot of enclosed setups around here and I was inspired to try and make one of my own.
I started out with the 24" x 18" x 24" exo terra tank and made an acrylic top to fit where the screen was. I am thinking of mounting the 4" variable speed fan on the acrylic top with bolts and maybe 2" spacers to keep the fan away from the top. Any thoughts on which direction the fan should face or fan location?
I have 2' T5 4 bulb fixture I plan on using for the light source, I currently only have 1 bulb for it. Any good links for cheap replacement bulbs would be much appreciated.

Heres a pic of the tank and top I made

And here is a pic of my fan, it goes from 50 cfm to 100 cfm depending on temperature.

Thanks for checking out my thread, any advice or questions will be much appreciated. Last pic is where I am currently at. I still have no idea what orchids to put in it, way too many options. I am thinking of maybe starting a miniature orchid collection, but I am going to have to wait a while on more orchid purchases for now.

[10010100102]

Mini's sounds like a good idea, you can fit a whole bunch of 'em in a tank like that. Plus, it's a lot easier to maintain the high humidity needed to grow cloud forest plants like masdies (and pretty much all pleuro's, most of which are fairly small) in a tank like that. Can ya tell I've got a thing for pleurothallids?

Anyways, with your new terrarium! Keep us posted!

[Uechi]

I'd recommend either mounting small orchids or choosing already mounted orchids. The chances of root rot and other fungal infections will be less than potted orchids unless they are in aliflor. This is based on using a misting system. If you are going to water by hand it's another story.Your humidity levels won't be great. Masdevallias and Pleurothallods are beautiful, but difficult to maintain if you live where I do in Florida. There are some intermediate or warm weather varieties that may work. Cool or cold varieties won't work unless you have some sort of cooling environmental control. You can forget them in warm climates.

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[Axle-n-Lily]

Hey Joseph and Uechi thanks for your reply and suggestions.
Joseph, I really do like the pleurothallids, seems like I could manage those and they look really interesting.
Uechi, I wasnt sure about how I will control humidity. I was thinking maybe a pool of water with a fogger, or a waterfall, I don't think I want to add a mist setup. I would like to use a spray bottle and do it manually for such a small enclosure. I don't have any idea how effective just a waterfall in this setup will work or if just a fogger in a pool of water will work either.

[Tindomul]

My limited experience with a fogger, they are soo cool. However, the fog doesn't rise up too much unless you have an air current in the tank that is relatively strong.
Those lights look like they are going to heat up your tank a lot. Maybe you can lift the lights, put a few inches between them and the tank, get some air flow in that space to get rid of the heat.
Waterfalls do increase humidity, especially in a smaller tank, as well as pools of water. If you can get a current in the water, filter the water, or do anything to get the water moving, the tank will be healthier and have increased humidity.
I say, go for the fogger and the pond and the waterfall if you can manage it. The more the merrier.

[Axle-n-Lily]

Thanks for the words Tindomul, I have some 3/4" pvc pipe to make a little rack for the light system to sit around 3" off the top. I just came back from getting some bolts for mounting this fan, so hopefully by tonight I should have the lights on the rack and the fan mounted. I decided to put the fan centered on the back of the top and facing upwards to spread out the air current.
I agree 100% with you about the water situation, but my budget has quickly turned for the worse. So after finding bulb replacements, I will figure out about the foggers, waterfall, and recirculating water.

[Tindomul]

Foggers are cheap cheap cheap on ebay.

[Becca]

Hi! I have an Exo-Terra as well about the same size as yours and I am using 2ft 8 bulb T5 light. I have been searching for cheaper replacements as well since I am due to change my lights. This is what I have found so far for major brand lights such as GE Philips, and Sylvania:
6500K: T-5 Fluorescent Tube. 24 in [FL303] - Major Brand (GE, Philips & Sylvania) T5 HO Lamps - Fluorescent T5 (T-5) High Output (HO) Lamps - Lamps, Tubes & Bulbs - HPS, MH, T5, T8, T10, T12, HQI, etc. - Horticulture Source
3000K: T-5 Fluorescent Tube. 24 in [FL304] - Major Brand (GE, Philips & Sylvania) T5 HO Lamps - Fluorescent T5 (T-5) High Output (HO) Lamps - Lamps, Tubes & Bulbs - HPS, MH, T5, T8, T10, T12, HQI, etc. - Horticulture Source

And for off brand lights that have the same or similar ratings such as CRI and lumens (I sent emails to the company for the info) I found this website and the more you buy the cheaper they get: High Tech Garden Supply

I am tossed up on what bulbs to buy...I have a hard time with decisions like this...lol....will I get what I pay for with the cheaper bulbs or will they be just as good as the major brand bulbs Decisions, decisions, decisions!

And the website that I bought my lights from originally has free shipping but the bulbs are a little more expensive. T5 Aquarium Lighting, T5 Fluorescent Grow Lights, Plant Grow Light Systems, Horticultural T5 Grow Light, T 5 Grow Light. I have the New Wave brand and I love it so far!


Oh...and my lights sit directly on top of my exo-terra. It sits perfectly on the frame without the bulbs touching anything, so perhaps you will not need to try and raise the lights off of the frame of the exo-terra? Also you will want a fan to run on the bulbs to keep the heat down inside the exo-terra. I have a regular fan outside of the exo-terra pointed up at the lights and this brought the temps down from 95+ degrees to the mid 70's. I also have a piece of acrylic I cut to fit the top to replace the screen like what you are doing.

And I know from experience that if you try and grow large orchids in the exo-terra you will run out of room really fast! Stick with the mini's!

Hope this helps some, let me know what you decide to get for bulbs!

[10010100102]

As far as humidifying goes, here's an idea for ya: I was doing some reading on the Vivarium Forum this morning and came across something interesting, a stream! Maybe not as spectacular as a waterfall, but it's something different. It's on page two of this build log for a tree frog viv. I can see why they made this thread a sticky; it's got some interesting stuff (no orchids, though).

I'm looking foreward to seeing how this plays out for you; I haven't had the chance to build my own natural looking set up yet. Again, good luck and remember, lots of !

[Axle-n-Lily]

Ok, I am back from finishing the light rack and mounting the fan on the top, not to happy with the wires yet though.

After testing I decided to move all the plants and see how they like the setup. I took my other 2 bulbs put them in, thats 2 red bulbs and 1 blue.


Tindomul, looks like ebay is the place to get those foggers, thanks for that.
Becca, thanks for those links. I think I would like to go with the 6500k GE bulbs they seem like a fair price and I know what I am getting with GE brand. I am sure philips and sylvania are just as good. As for sticking with the mini's I can see what you mean already, with my impulse orchids sitting in there now a quarter of the space is taken.
Joseph, I checked out the photos on that thread. Thats a very nice setup, thanks for the link. Hopefully I make up my mind about this humidity issue, way too many options.