Shallow and Tall Terrarium

[horthall]

Hi Everyone,
I would like to build a tall but shallow terrarium for orchids.
Approximate dimensions will be 36" tall x 12" deep x 30" wide
The tank will be next to a door, thus the reason for a shallow depth. Does anyone see any issues with this depth? I will be focusing on smaller species, and mounted species especially. Ideally I would like to plant the bottom with some terrestrials such as paphs and jewel orchids. I will most likely be adding all the bells and whistles like, misters and fans, and an epiweb wall. The environment will be pretty humid, but with good air volume and movement. I envision almost like a picture frame effect vs a large tank. It will be built out of glass and redwood. Love to know your thoughts, and especially any concerns with my proposed set up.

Thanks and Happy New Year.

[professor plant]

Sounds like a good idea. I have a terrarium that is 24" tall and I like it because I can adjust plants due to what I believe the orchids like. They often will show me that they are too close to a light, its harder to tell if they are too far away, until you move them up and find out. I have done this by using mounted plants and apollo net cups, for hydroponic growing, hung with a small suction cup. This has allowed me to fit 29, mostly miniatures, including a ghost orchid within a bowl, below the eggcrate, next a few small tallandsia.

I have one concern that if your tank has only 12" of distance it can be very difficult to manuveur the plants around, for cleaning and fertilizing. I have seen some great tanks, many of which, were quite inventive. If you can make it functional and astecally pleasing, go for it.
Its all a learning process.
I don't know if this is your first terrarium, but I found that mine averaged me $500 for the equipment; light, dome, humidifier, tank, etc and another $600 for the 29orchids. If you would like I could send you a list of what I spent in starting over, if the post is no longer up.
Good luck.

[horthall]

Thanks,
Now I have started to research lighting options it looks like I should either go 2' or 4' wide to accommodate a t5 fixture. Exo-Terra has an extra tall 24x18x36 that would be cool, It just seems a bit deep for my location. Thanks for the cost estimate, I figure I will have 500-600 into this before I start planting. a breakdown of your set up would be helpful.

[Paul Mc]

Exo just released a larger version than that! I'm waiting for the mark down company zoomed to make one!

[professor plant]

I opted to get a CFl 62 watt cool bulb, because of the overhang that is produced by the fixture for the T5. Although the T5 is a superior light, especially with the four bulb fixture, which allows you to use any number of bulbs depending on the light requirements of your orchids. The T5, 4 bulb @ 2' produces 22 watts per bulb @ 97 lumens each. That means that the almost 4000 lumens that may be 9" from most plants was a little too much. Just above 2000 lumens at the plant level. If I use that in the future, I would use 3 bulbs and add the fourth if needed.

You may want to look at a Hydroponic catalog from Brew and Grow in Illinois. If you call their phone line, they will happily send you a catalog, and if you need any help the staff at the Bolingbrook location, has been great help with advice and such. The catalog very detailed, with lots of useful info about light properties, bulbs, etc. Plus tons of fertilizer options, which I love to check out. Some non traditional fert, that I have had great success with, are a product called Awesome Blossoms (2-11-11) and Fox Farms Organic Big Bud, both are liquid applications.