Thinking of converting to terrarium growing?

[DesignerofBeauty]

Hello All,

I'm interested in creating terrariums to house my orchids. I have a few simple terrariums now, but they aren't the "fish tank" type, but instead rely on sunlight and are small in size.

I see on the sticky posts that there are particular orchids that are more suitable to terrariums. Of course, the orchids I have don't seem to be on that list. I have been dabbling on some artificial lighting. I finally resorted to a LED bulb setup, but after some thinking it seems that a terrarium might be more aesthetically pleasing. Plus, I'd like to expand my terrarium collection, and maintain a "true" terrarium that contains artificial lighting.

I have three cattleyas (Slc. Crystelle Smith 'Aileen' AM/AOS, Lc.Tropical Chip 'Andromeda' and Ottara Hwa Yuan Bay 'She Shu' AM/OSROC). I also have 2 NOID Phals, a Schoenorchis Fragrans and dendrobium aggregatum. Of course, I will expand my collection with time too. I would LOVE to have a terrarium filled with miniature orchids.

From what I understand, most orchids that grow in a terrarium are low light orchids (like phals). I understand cattleya orchids require much more light. That being said, is this a doable setup?

Here's some information I'm guessing might be helpful: I'm thinking of using fluorescent lighting (or the LED tubes that look similar). The wall in my bedroom juts out near the bottom of my window, essentially creating a shelf. The "shelf" is about 3/4 of a foot wide. I'd like to have two tanks, one on each side of the window. I'd be okay with two tanks about 2 to 2.5 feet long. The temperature in my room ranges from 72-65 during the winter months, I haven't measured the summertime temperature.

If anyone has suggestions/advice, I would be very grateful!