My New Vanda Tank *in Progress* Pics! - Orchid Board

Ocelaris · #1 03-05-2008, 10:12 PM

So I'm working on my new Orchid Tank for my Vandas. I spent an entire week out of town at my parent's house working on the wood working, fiberglassing, and electrical stuff. Put some of it together, but I still have a long way to go before everything can go together. My wife and father, both excellent woodworkers helped (ok, they did MOST of the thinking!) but I swear I sanded and worked hard! Anyways, I couldn't have put this together, it's only about half way. Drain system will be false botomed, and eventually the misting/watering system will take care of the vanda's daily moisture requirements. Seperate humidity via a ultrasonic humidifier and lots of fans. 2x250watt Ceramic Metal halides, 4000k 90 CRI will be the power eaters.

at 4 feet tall by 4 feet wide x 2 feet deep (120cm x 120cm x 60cm) the chamber is a monster. The entire thing (including bottom and hood) is actually 7 feet tall! (2.13 meters) Very large for our 800 square feet (75 square meters) Brooklyn apartment! I'm HOPING that come summer the a/c unit which I have to use to keep the temps down and the two lights don't blow the fuse... but I am hopeful.

Lots of Pics, excuse the some boring/dups, I just tossed them all in, too much work to sort through, and hope you all get an idea of me in the picture as well!

One more for posterity, not fair to post a pic of my wife and father and not myself... not the most flattering, but the fumes were getting to me! Always wear a carbon filter gas mask when working with fiberglass!

Becca · #2 03-05-2008, 11:13 PM

Can you send your wife and father over my way to build me one of these! I am good at sanding as well...lol. I purchased an orchidarium previously and I am now missing an arm and a leg...well not literally....but my credit card is still feeling the pain...lol. I really love how it is looking so far. I can't wait to see it finished! Did you three create the plans on your own?

calvin_orchidL · #3 03-06-2008, 12:54 AM

WOW - I am beyond impressed...

..I look forward to the next set of updates. I'm always amazed by the kind of stuff you handy folk turn out. I call seconds on wife/father team!

Ranchnanny · #4 03-06-2008, 03:50 AM

Becca, I have a couple of questions for you regarding your Orchidarium. How long ago did you order and recieve your Orchidarium? Which model did you purchase? The reason I am asking I ordered my Orchidarium last month and have not recieved it as yet. I understand they are made to order. I have been pacing the floor in anticipation

. How many orchids do you have in yours. To date I have 27 orchids and I will be mounting 6 windowsill Catts. Can you tell me if you are using a misting system etc... I have everything lined up against the dining room wall waiting and waiting

would love to see some photo's if possible.
Thanks
Sherry
Ranchnanny

So many orchids so little time......and money!

Ocelaris · #5 03-06-2008, 05:28 AM

yeah, some ideas on how to fill that gargantuan space would be helpful! I plan on hanging a lot of them with fishing wire, but not really sure since I want to keep the back mirrored how to do mounted things... The original intent was to keep the entire front "clear" or at least translucent... couldn't find sufficient clear bolts that were >1 1/2" long so a little metal had to be used...

Ross · #6 03-06-2008, 10:32 AM

Excellent job. But I want to see it full!

Becca · #7 03-06-2008, 02:10 PM

For recommendation on how to hang the mounts.... In my orchidarium.....I have lip/channel on the top inside so I went to home depot and bought some type of threaded steel rods....actually my hubby picked them out for me, and they are just the perfect thickness (they have all sizes) that I can fit each end of the rod into this lip/channel after some cutting down to size and then we put some nuts on the end of the rods so that they wouldn't get bumped and slip out of the channel so easily, and I am now hanging some of my orchids from this. The only problem I have run into with this is that I have fans hanging from my top acrylic piece so I can't get the steel rods into certain sections...but that really hasn't been that big of a deal. Hope this gives you some sort of an idea for hanging your mounts and keeping your back mirrored.

Ross · #8 03-06-2008, 02:30 PM

Fiberglass rods work great as well. I use two 1/2" rods for my mounts.

Becca · #9 03-06-2008, 02:33 PM

And were can we find fiberglass rods? At home depot? And if so...what department? Thanks Ross!

Ocelaris · #10 03-06-2008, 02:38 PM

I was looking at just plain acrylic rods because they're clear and going to be blocking some light, but haven't ordered any yet. Not sure how strong they are.

Are the fiberglass rods strong? I would suppose so, and what lengths can you get them in? How clear/translucent are they?