70 gallon rainforest orchidarium journal.

[Anonymous]

Hi folks, I just got an Oceanic reef ready 70 gallon, 36" wide x 18" deep x 24" tall with the intention of making it into a fully automated orchidarium for growing lowland to low upland rainforest orchid species, primarily Bulbophyllum from Papua New Guinea and the Western Pacific Warm Pool islands. This means that the tank will need to have constant high humidity, high moisture supply, yet still maintain hearty fresh air supply and strong internal air circulation. Construction will be probably slow, as funds and time allow. I will post updates as I go.

Here's the tank on the "stand":

 

[Anonymous]

The air in the apartment is way too dry, so I need a timeable, reliable way of humidifying the tank when fresh air is being fanned in. I bought a $30 Reli-On cool mist ultrasonic humidifier and plumbed it using 3/4" ID flexible tubing to one of the the 1" bulkheads in the bottom of the overflow. The fog emanates pleasantly from the the slats of the overflow tower and rapidly fills the tank. This fogger will run when a fan, which will be plumbed to the second overflow drain hole, is pumping fresh air into the tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Test run of the fogger.

 

[Anonymous]

Already found a problem. The low spot in the tubing fills up rapidly with condensed water and blocks the flow of the mist completely, so in order to eliminate the low spot, I changed fittings to make a hard 90 instead of the curve of the tubing. Now the tubing runs straight across.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks pretty cool so far. Any pics of the species you'll be keeping in it?

Peace,

Chip

 

[Anonymous]

I'll be watching this one too. One thing that always intrigues me about terraria with regular fogging, is how do you keep the glass clear from condensation and algae growth? Just regular cleaning?

 

[Anonymous]

Looks pretty cool so far. Any pics of the species you'll be keeping in it?

Peace,

Chip

Some good examples:

http://www.orchidspecies.com/bulbunitubum.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/bulbarfakianum.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/bulbdigoelese.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/bulbbandischii.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/bulblongisepalum.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/bulbtricanaliferum.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/hapnitidus.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/haparistalabris.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/triasdisciflora.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/bulbmirum.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/rhytplumata.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/denbulbophylioides.htm
http://www.orchidspecies.com/denlaevifolium.htm

 

[Anonymous]

I'll be watching this one too. One thing that always intrigues me about terraria with regular fogging, is how do you keep the glass clear from condensation and algae growth? Just regular cleaning?

Tom, a properly constructed orchidarium should have enough fresh air coming in and enough internal air circulation that condensation doesn't really occur. Condensation from overnight temp drops + high humidity from a seal tank can cause rot and is something that should be avoided at all costs.

 

[Anonymous]

Hey! That stand is from Ikea. It's what I used for the television for that log cabin we sold in Tahoe. Pretty good deal, huh? 8)

How's Austin suiting you so far?

 

[Anonymous]

Austin's great, but I hate being landlocked. That's my only real complaint. The job is awesome, the department/university are also awesome.

The stand is perfect, for $50, it's pretty well constructed, and it has a crosspiece with a gap normally for cords, but I matched it up with the holes from the overflow, so I didn't have to drill a hole in the stand.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks good so far Chris. What do you do for substrate / medium? Oh yeah and if you are looking for other plants like bromeliads and stuff there's a good tropical plant store not far from where I live on Lamar and Kramer called 'It's A Jungle' you should check out sometime.

I am thinking of turning that half circle tank I have into a brackish mudskipper paludarium complete with mangroves and a tidal system.

 

[Anonymous]

Looks good so far Chris. What do you do for substrate / medium? Oh yeah and if you are looking for other plants like bromeliads and stuff there's a good tropical plant store not far from where I live on Lamar and Kramer called 'It's A Jungle' you should check out sometime.

I am thinking of turning that half circle tank I have into a brackish mudskipper paludarium complete with mangroves and a tidal system.

I think that would be badass and you should go for it. I've already been to 'It's a Jungle'. Nice folks. It's the only "orchid" place in town, so of course I visited on like my first week.

 

[Anonymous]

My ADDA waterproof fans came in today. The 60 mm one will pump fresh air from the overflow drain and the 92 mm will provide strong internal air circulation. If you ever need to do a viv or something where you will use a fan in a high moisture/condensation situation, I cannot recommend these fans highly enough. They will run even if completely submerged.

 

[Anonymous]

Nice! You need a few dart frogs for that.

 

[Anonymous]

I dunno, that's a lot of money I could be spending on plants instead!

 

[Anonymous]

So I had to figure out a way to mount a 60 mm fan to pull air from a 1" hole of the overflow bulkhead in the tight space of the overflow box. So I picked up a PVC electrical access box and set the fan 45 degrees relative to the intake end to give a smooth angled transition from the 60 mm fan diameter to the 1" intake. I sealed the edges with great stuff foam, and will trim off the excess using a utility knife when it fully cures. I won't put a lid on the electrical box to allow the push side of the fan to vent to the tank without restriction.

 

[Anonymous]

Just got the acrylic top, custom cut 3/8" cell cast with holes drilled for the mister bulkheads and the mounting screws for the internal circulation fans. Note the gaps to vent the air being pushed into the tank to make it a flow through air system.

 

[Anonymous]

Put a frog in there.

 

[Anonymous]

So I just installed the electrical box with the intake fan and wired it up. When you stick your hand/face near the side slats in the acrylic top, you can really feel the air pushing out. I think it's going to work perfectly. Also attached is an image of the lid with the internal circulation fan mounted.

 

[Anonymous]

My weather station came in today. Awesome. With the bottom filled with a little bit of water, the tank maintains ambient humidity of 72%, WITHOUT the fogger running, even with the fresh air pumping in. The apt humidity is 46%. Now I gotta get a surge protector and timers.