Requesting advice for orchid terrarium rebuild - Orchid Board

OrchidFan1 · #1 06-02-2020, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ColoradoBirddog

I wish I had more to offer, other than I think the setup looks good. Yes, needs more light. Is it possible at all to kove it in front of the window?

My setup is much more hands on, but i thought I'd mention that I use a reptile fogger for mine. And I hand mist on occasion.

Now, from my experience, it is possible to get positive results from mixing orchids of different types in one environment. Ideal? Likely not. But I grow a number of catt types high various phal types. As well as a Dyakia, and a Neofinetia...though it's not bloomed...yet.

Now, I'll sit back and look for more sage advice.

Thanks for the kind words. I could move it 6-10" closer to the window, which would get a bit more sun to it. It's encouraging you're able to get some degree of success mixing types at least.

Quote:

Originally Posted by james j

I’ve been working on my set up for a little over a year and am still making adjustments.
I use a Mist King, 2 nozzles run once a day for only a few seconds. My top is sealed with 1/4” plexiglass, the doors have built in vent slots and I have a PC fan running 24/7. So far I have never had to drain water out, in fact I need to add water occasionally.
My set up is in the basement with 100% artificial light. I use a LED grow light I picked up at Home Depot. I plan to switch it out to a COB grow light that I read about here in the growing under lights section. The light I have puts out a lot of heat, I had to put a fan on it because it was heating up the tank too much.
Most of the orchids in there (12) were from Andy’s. His site lets you do a search by miniatures and vivarium which is helpful.
I also have 3 dart frogs in there and picked up some other plants from frog vendors to fill in the background for texture. All of the moss hitchhiked in on the orchid mounts and spread on its own. I need to pull it out to keep it in control.
I would suggest raising the tank higher so it’s at eye level, it’s more enjoyable if you don’t need to bend down to look at it. It’s also easier to hide all of the wires and tubing on top.
Maintenance is simple, I have a 2 gallon bucket for the Mist King that lasts for 3 weeks. Front access tank is good because algae will grow on the glass, it will be harder to clean reaching in from the top.

I just picked up a second tank and plan on doing a slightly dryer environment.

This is helpful, thank you! That's interesting you haven't needed to drain. The permanent vents with constant circulation are probably vital. And I'm glad you're having success with the moss. The moss in mine isn't receiving nearly enough water currently.

My current plan is to rebuild with a misting system that will run for a few seconds daily. I'm hesitant to install permanent vents since it already makes my office smell somewhat of wet forest when it's not sealed. Instead, I'm planning to use large river stones for the base layer and install a small peristaltic pump to remove collected water as necessary (controlled by the Raspberry Pi). This pump type doesn't need to be primed and is better suited for dirty water, and a small one should be fairly quiet. I'll build a small hidden column in the background to run the pipe up with enough space to remove/replace/clean it if necessary, and will drain into an enclosed bucket behind it. All the wires currently out are just for prototyping, so once I finalize the setup I'll solder everything and clean up/hide it all.