Meristem's Terrarium

[meristem]

So I received 3 new additions to jump start my new homemade terrarium for miniature orchids. The current build is nothing special. It's a grow tank without any bells or whistles. Strictly designed to provide ideal growing conditions. Aesthetics might come later. Current build is as follows:

1. 10 gallon fish tank with glass top
2. 26W CFL x2 in brooder hoods on 14hr cycle
3. 2-3" LECA substrate with 2" standing water
4. 80mm in-tank fan with blue LED light running 24-7
5. Oregon Scientific Hygrometer/Thermometer (temps range in high 60s to mid 70s with daytime humidity ~75% and nighttime humidty upwards of 90-95%)

Current species list (see photos: listed in order)
1. Bulbophylum cernuum (Andy's)
2. Haraeale odorata (Andy's)
3. Pluerothallis corniculata (Andy's)
4. Phal. thisbe (local garden shop)

Plan moving forward:

1. Upgrade lights to my DIY aluminum reflector with 42W CFLs x2 (may increase to 4 bulbs with mix of 2700k)
2. Grow Riccia Moss over the LECA
3. Feed dilute 20-20-20 fert weekly
4. Daily watering with RO for phal and haraela
5. Water with RO q2-3days for pluero and bulbo
6. oh,...and buy more orchids

Questions:

1. Anyone recommend other mosses besides Riccia?
2. Anyone want to trade divisions once these things take off?
3. Any thoughts on the effect of the dim blue LED light that's built into the fan running 24-7. Was concerned it might effect photoperiod but I don't think it's bright enough. Justified that it simulated moonlight.
4. Any recommendations on improving the current set-up?

Thanks for the visit.

Be well,
Meristem

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by meristem

Questions:

1. Anyone recommend other mosses besides Riccia?
2. Anyone want to trade divisions once these things take off?
3. Any thoughts on the effect of the dim blue LED light that's built into the fan running 24-7. Was concerned it might effect photoperiod but I don't think it's bright enough. Justified that it simulated moonlight.
4. Any recommendations on improving the current set-up?

Looks cool so far!
1. Riccia isn't technically a moss and you have to get it from an aquarium store, but it works great! Just about any real moss that comes attached to your orchids will explode in that environment pretty quickly. A local plant store should have some that you can buy or grab from a plant.

3. It might affect photoperiod for plants and not others. I would just have your fan turn off for most of the night. That's what I do with my fan and it works great.

4. Get some eggcrate and put it on top of the LECA so you can put orchids there. Trust me, the room will run out quick and you'll want more space to put stuff! Maybe some eggcrate on the back wall too, but that will make it look less nice. I'm not sure if you want more form or function or both. The eggcrate on the walls will kill your form, but enhance the function by 1000x! Any eggcrate on the LECA will be covered pretty quickly by moss, so you'll have both function and for with that.

Which leads me to another suggestion: You gotta get that moss in there quickly! You should begin to have green slime algae forming within a week or two and it seems that moss has a tough time beating it back. You should get any moss you want in there to get established ASAP.

[meristem]

thanks Steve. Very informative. I'm gonna take you up on the egg crate idea once my space runs out. As far as algae, I've been running the tank for over 2 weeks now and slime hasn't been an issue. I was planning on cleaning it either way. Was going to rinse the LECA and tank with a dilute bleach or something. Stay tuned for more updates.

[meristem]

So a few changes have made over the past week. My twin socket lamp fixture finally arrived in the mail. So i was able to finish building the aluminum reflector. Build consisted of a 6" aluminum piece of sheet metal cut to 22 inches long. I stabilized it with some threaded rods then added a double sided socket to the center and wired it to a lamp cord. I primed the outer surface then spray painted it black. I left the underside bare aluminum. I might consider painting it matte white eventually to improve reflection. Right now, the fixture is housing 2 42W CFLs. 1 6500K and 1 2700K (Menards is out of 6500K). I bought an analog light meter from the local garden store and measured various points within the tank. Readings range from 500-600fc half way up the tank (roughly 6 inches from light source), 750-1250 3/4 up the tank, and 1000-1600 near the top.

I added 3-4 inches of LECA, a fiberglass screen, then about 1" of sphagnum so the measurement from the floor of the growing space to the top of the tank is only about 7-8". This allows me to keep my plants close to lights. The fc's drop off preciptiously towards the bottom, so as long as I keep my plant in the top 1/2 to 1/3 of the tank I should be good. Right now, as the plants are positioned, they are receiving about 750fc. Will closely monitor for changes in leaf color, should this level of light, uninterrupted for 16hrs a day, prove to be too much.

Water level is 3/4 up the LECA. Humidity levels are always>80% with glass top slightly cracked for fresh air and 80mm fan running on a rheostat at 6V 24-7.

A word on moss: I recently purchased some Java moss from a local fish store. Was really excited to start growing this stuff. Placed it in the tank over the sphagnum, but quickly realized a new odor emanating from the tank. It no longer smelled of a dank delicious greenhouse. Instead, a foul, fishy odor engulfed the tank. I had rinsed the java moss thoroughly prior to introducing it into the tank to avoid this problem, but no luck. I tried to tolerate the smell for a day or so. Finally decided to pull the moss based on smell alone. Picked out all visible pieces then vented the tank for an hour or so with a large oscillating fan. Worked quite well. Smell is gone. Java moss is placed aside in a tupperware with distilled water. Not sure what will become of it. Time will tell. I'm on the look out for some clean, fresh smelling Riccia. Anyone know where I might be able to find some?? I've looked all over locally. No luck so far.

Additionally, I also picked up some cool driftwood for 9.99 a pound. Can't wait to grow the collection a bit and start mounting on these bad boys. Pics to come.

Finally a note on my lights. I may very well end up upgrading the lights if after a while I feel that I need a few more fcs. Was thinking that I could simply add a Y-splitter to the twin sockets and then have 4 42W CFL bulbs to light the tank. I'll keep you guys posted.

Feel free to drop comments, criticisms.

FYI: Andy's has a nice holiday discount going right now. Anyone got their eye on anything in particular? I might keep my eyes peeled for a few intermediate shade lovers.

Cheers,
Meristem

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by meristem

A word on moss: I recently purchased some Java moss from a local fish store. Was really excited to start growing this stuff. Placed it in the tank over the sphagnum, but quickly realized a new odor emanating from the tank. It no longer smelled of a dank delicious greenhouse. Instead, a foul, fishy odor engulfed the tank. I had rinsed the java moss thoroughly prior to introducing it into the tank to avoid this problem, but no luck. I tried to tolerate the smell for a day or so. Finally decided to pull the moss based on smell alone. Picked out all visible pieces then vented the tank for an hour or so with a large oscillating fan. Worked quite well. Smell is gone. Java moss is placed aside in a tupperware with distilled water. Not sure what will become of it. Time will tell. I'm on the look out for some clean, fresh smelling Riccia. Anyone know where I might be able to find some??

You should find some Riccia at an aquarium store, not a pet store. They will probably have to special order it because it tends to run rampant and take over an aquarium quickly. This means that the aquarium stores have to keep it separately from everything else, which is a pain in the butt unless it is ordered specifically for one person.

As for the Java moss, you probably had some copepods and/or snail that died sometime during the transfer to your tank, hence the smell. If you bury it in the water, that should eliminate the smell. Just make sure you leave it close to the surface so that it can get light.

Everything else looks good. I'm guessing that you will want to upgrade the lights, but for now it should work.

Edit: You might want to try and get a hold of some live sphagnum moss for the top instead of dead stuff. Its pretty cool to look at and grows REALLY quickly. Just about any moss found growing on orchid media or mounts will do the same too.

[meristem]

So I had the day off today and decided to make the 1.5 hr drive from milwaukee to madison to pay a visit to oak hill gardens orchid center. and man, was I blown away by their selection. They had 1000s of minis. Lindsey and Chuck were very friendly and helped me narrow down the inventory to a selection of miniatures fit for my terrarium. They even had an orchidwiz program that you could use to look up all the details of any orchid (growing conditions, size, flower, etc.). In the end I walked away with 7 new minis. The current species list is as follows. I have posted pics of each plant individually as well as how i have them arranged in the grow tank.

Listed from left to right as pictured:
1. Bulbophyllum cernuum
2. Pleurothallis alata (potted)
3. Gastrochilus fuscopunctatus
4. Aerangis hyaloides
5.Pleurothallis corniculata
6. Haraella odorata
7. Bulbophyllum taiwanense
8. Tuberolabium woodii x sib
9. Ascocentrum pumilum
10.Tubecentron Niu Girl

I added a Y-splitter to the reflector hood so now I have two 42W CFLs 6500K positioned over the plants with 2 26W positioned towards the front of the tank to boost foot candles. My analog light meter reads 1000-1250 fc across the entire length of the back of the tank. Hopefully plants will be happy in their new home.

Still need to find some live sphagnum or riccia. Haven't had any success so far. Anyone want to trade from riccia/live sphagnum for a section of the bulbophyllum tiawanense? I can already tell that thing is going to get out of control and would be very easy to divide.

Happy Growing,
Meristem

[isurus79]

That looks great! Don't you just love how the Ascocentrum looks like its made of tiny crystals!

Let me know if you can't find any riccia or other mosses online or at your local petstore. They should be able to special order it. I could send you some, but I don't know if it will make the trip to Milwaukee in these temps. We could try in spring, or even in winter if you want to chance it.

[meristem]

Thanks for the offer steve. I''ll keep my ear to the ground for some live moss but it's looking pretty bleak. Andy's was able to overnight a few orchids to me without any problem. I think in these temps that's the way to go. We just left instructions to hold for pick up at the fedex place so it wouldn't have to endure sub-arctic temps while in the delivery truck. Instead, the precious cargo was waiting for me in a heated office.

I'm not sure if the bulbo is quite ready to be divided, but if you're interested, I'd be happy to take some live mosses off your hands. And would obviously pay for shipping, etc.

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by meristem

I'm not sure if the bulbo is quite ready to be divided, but if you're interested, I'd be happy to take some live mosses off your hands. And would obviously pay for shipping, etc.

I don't need the Bulbo, but shoot me a PM and we can work out a deal!