Looking for thoughts/advice on potential terrarium tank - Page 2 - Orchid Board

Jeff9 · #11 02-23-2011, 06:03 AM

Well the tank looks ok, but i see possible problems with it.

The door on the side is pretty narrow, and you might have difficulties when your tank starts to get crowded.

If i am correct, by the photo it seems the top part is not glass but some sort of fine metalic netting / grating.
It might prevent alot of light from reaching the tank and will probably allow alot of humidity to escape from the tank.

If you plan to attach misting nozzles to the tank, the grating wont be very good to attach it to.

You will want 2 powerful light fixtures next to eachother to reach the bottom of the tank.

camille1585 · #12 02-23-2011, 06:11 AM

I think that the tank you found could work well. You won't have much ground space for pots, but for mounts it would work very nicely. With the height or it you'd get a nice light gradient in it. Your lights would need to be pretty strong if you want enough light at the bottom, but you could have high light orchids at the top, and medium light ones at the bottom.

As for drainage, i don't know if that's really necessary. Many people simply put some eggcrate at the bottom to put the plants on, and give the tank a good cleaning twice a year or so.

Jeff- I think the lights are still cheaper in the UK, but not by much. Once I put it in euros and add shipping, an 80W set comes up to about 65-70€. At rainforest-frogs without shipping (I go pick it up) it's 80€, but then again it comes with the reflector, which costs another 10€ or so. Might as well shop local. And I was planning on buying everything on their open day in may, when everything is 10% off.

lund0682 · #13 02-23-2011, 08:52 AM

Overall It sounds like there isn't any obvious or definite reason to avoid this tank - which is really what I was hoping to learn. I had never seen this kind of thing before (with the two doors and being kind of narrow), and I just wondered if there was a reason I hadn't seen it

Like maybe some experienced member would say: don't buy that! that's one of those notorious "X" tanks that cause so many problems because of "X"!

The comment/caution about the screen on the top is good. I hadn't noticed that before when I looked at the pictures. That might be a deciding factor against, if the screen can't be removed .

I'm traveling for work now, but when I get home on Thursday I think I'll just call this guy up and try to take a look at things in person. If I like what I see, I'll just buy the darn tank and not worry about it. It's not like it's a ton of money so I don't know why I'm over thinking matters. Thanks again for all the comments!

camille1585 · #14 02-23-2011, 09:18 AM

Even if the screen is not easily removed, you could still cut it out somehow and glue a glass or acylic panel in its place.

But seeing how narrow the door is, a misting system (like Jeff suggested) could be a good idea since getting to the plants is going to be a bit difficult. Mounts (if you go that route) need pretty much daily watering, and with a mist system you could greatly reduce the frequency at which you have to water.

Paul · #15 02-23-2011, 01:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camille1585

Even if the screen is not easily removed, you could still cut it out somehow and glue a glass or acylic panel in its place.

But seeing how narrow the door is, a misting system (like Jeff suggested) could be a good idea since getting to the plants is going to be a bit difficult. Mounts (if you go that route) need pretty much daily watering, and with a mist system you could greatly reduce the frequency at which you have to water.

Most such tanks are designed so the screen can easily be removed.

Provided that your light source has a reflective hood, I don't know that the screen will present that great of an obstacle -- some of the light blocked by the screen could be reflected back by the reflector.

As far as humidity goes, yes you could wind-up losing some humidity but you will also get some fresh air exchange which is not necessarily a bad thing. Furthermore, whether the screen is removable or not, as Camille mentioned a sheet of glass or plexiglass could simply be laid overtop to reduce/prevent air exchange if desired. Such a panel would not even have to be glued in place to be functional.

For a misting system (which I completely agree with Jeff and Camille would make life easier) a small hole could be melted/cut to admit passage of the hose. The screen itself could then be used as a venue to which hooks suspending the rest of the hose-sprayer system could be hung.

Jeff9 · #16 02-23-2011, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camille1585

I think that the tank you found could work well. You won't have much ground space for pots, but for mounts it would work very nicely. With the height or it you'd get a nice light gradient in it. Your lights would need to be pretty strong if you want enough light at the bottom, but you could have high light orchids at the top, and medium light ones at the bottom.

As for drainage, i don't know if that's really necessary. Many people simply put some eggcrate at the bottom to put the plants on, and give the tank a good cleaning twice a year or so.

Jeff- I think the lights are still cheaper in the UK, but not by much. Once I put it in euros and add shipping, an 80W set comes up to about 65-70€. At rainforest-frogs without shipping (I go pick it up) it's 80€, but then again it comes with the reflector, which costs another 10€ or so. Might as well shop local. And I was planning on buying everything on their open day in may, when everything is 10% off.

If i am correct, the dartfrog sets are complete, including reflectors etc.
You will want good ones, maybe buy arcadias or other powerful reflectors.

Also, i dont think rainforest frogs carries powerful lights. You should get good ones like 60 or 80 watt, i regret not buying them, they cost only a little bit more expensive than the 39w.

Jeff9 · #17 02-23-2011, 04:28 PM

And as a reply to the above comments, find an acrylic panel that doesnt deform by the lights.

Remove the screen, seriously. Cut the acrylic to size to fit the tank, and add some holes to fit the mistking nozzles, and some for ventilation. You will want a fan in there, maybe a slow running one running all day, or one that comes on every now and then.

Construct a light hood above the tank, dont hang your lights in the tank, you should keep it seperate if you are going to have high humidity with lots of water, water and electricity dont mix well.

Im sure you can find examples online or on the forum about construction a light hood or how other people have solved it.

And i would go with a drain, but you will have to drill a drain hole in the bottom. Maybe you can find someone in your area that can customize the tank for you, like drilling some holes and cutting glass.

You can buy drain systems in alot of places that deal with vivariums etc. You will only have to raise your tank off the ground a little.

camille1585 · #18 02-23-2011, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff9

If i am correct, the dartfrog sets are complete, including reflectors etc.
You will want good ones, maybe buy arcadias or other powerful reflectors.

Also, i dont think rainforest frogs carries powerful lights. You should get good ones like 60 or 80 watt, i regret not buying them, they cost only a little bit more expensive than the 39w.

Nope, the dartfrog lights don't seem to have reflectors with them.
Rainforestfrogs does have the powerful lights, they have the 24, 36, 55 and 80W sets with Arcadia reflectors. I have a 36 and 55W at home. The 36W one is enough to nearly burn my phals, and I can get my Soph cernua to bloom under the 55W. I think that the 80W are going to be too strong since I plan on a terrarium about 50cm tall.

Or I'll go for some HO T5 strips.

Jeff9 · #19 02-23-2011, 06:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camille1585

Nope, the dartfrog lights don't seem to have reflectors with them.
Rainforestfrogs does have the powerful lights, they have the 24, 36, 55 and 80W sets with Arcadia reflectors. I have a 36 and 55W at home. The 36W one is enough to nearly burn my phals, and I can get my Soph cernua to bloom under the 55W. I think that the 80W are going to be too strong since I plan on a terrarium about 50cm tall.

Or I'll go for some HO T5 strips.

Nice, did not know that they carried the 80 watt.
I just checked it and your right. The arcadia reflectors are very good too, the ones in my tank are bad, i might replace them and add some 80w lights.

But they are expensive, i know what those lights are imported for, and 80 euro for that is expensive.

You can get them for 60 to 70 in other places but the shipping will be too high then.

Paul · #20 02-23-2011, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff9

And as a reply to the above comments, find an acrylic panel that doesnt deform by the lights.

Indeed. It is one of the biggest advantages to glass

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff9

Remove the screen, seriously. Cut the acrylic to size to fit the tank, and add some holes to fit the mistking nozzles, and some for ventilation. You will want a fan in there, maybe a slow running one running all day, or one that comes on every now and then.

That will depend in large part on whether the addition of 'critters' might be a desired in the future as well as the plants involved I would think. Holes drilled in the top very possibly would not provide adequate ventilation. Depending on the strength of the fan chosen, more than one may be needed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff9

Construct a light hood above the tank, dont hang your lights in the tank, you should keep it seperate if you are going to have high humidity with lots of water, water and electricity dont mix well.

Definitely

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff9

And i would go with a drain, but you will have to drill a drain hole in the bottom. Maybe you can find someone in your area that can customize the tank for you, like drilling some holes and cutting glass.

That too depends. I do not have any drain in either of my terrs nor do I need one. If you do decide to do a drain, keep in mind that glass used for terrs and aquars is usually tempered glass. Such glass tends to shatter if you try to drill a hole in it. Definitely check around with places which work with glass in your area to see how advisable such an effort would be.