29gal Orchidarium - Orchid Board

isurus79 · #1 02-05-2012, 10:55 PM

So this is the larger of the 2 orchidariums I just created. My wife and I moved to a smaller but nicer apartment, so she wanted my former orchid enclosure (the orchid spaceship, seen here http://www.orchidboard.com/community...tin-texas.html and brought inside for the winter) replaced with something nicer. I have already posted pics for my 10gal orchidarium. The 29gal is for small species and is made from a tank I got off of craigslist, as well as an aquarium stand I got from craigslist about a month later. I had the tank drilled with a 1" bulkhead on the back panel set about 3" above the bottom so I can have a pool of water for humidity. But instead of just leaving a pool of water, I filled it with hydroton so I can plant it with Riccia fluitans and Cryptocoryne to try and outcompete any algae that will grow. Here are the pics of the tank and stand with hole drilled in and a sanded surface:

Orchidarium1 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Orchidarium2 by Isurus79, on Flickr

The stand is now stained with a very dark stain to try and match the dark paint. The hole in the stand is for the drainage pipe coming from the tank. You will also note the two semi holes drilled into the back of the tank for the light fixture mounts.

Then I took 2 electrical conduits and turned them into light fixture hangers. I attached them to the back of the aquarium stand so I didn't have to drill into the wall. I then hung a 4 foot, 4 bulb T5 HO system above. Here are are the pics:

Orchidarium3 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Orchidarium4 by Isurus79, on Flickr

I added hydroton and pure water bought from the supermarket here:

Orchidarium5 by Isurus79, on Flickr

I added eggcrate:

DSCF4971 by Isurus79, on Flickr

A few plants:

Orchidarium7 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Orchidarium8 by Isurus79, on Flickr

Tomorrow I will be adding a fan (to combat the mold that has already shown up!!

) and I will be adding a mistking system and a glass panel for a lid soon. I will also be adding the algae fighters (Riccia and Crytocoryne) in the next few days. I'll post pics as these are set up.