Hi everyone,

Below is my current slipper-collection:

- None. :(


Reason for that is that I can't provide proper conditions for them.
That said I'm happy to announce that I've been able to lay my hands on a large secondhand aquarium. I say aquarium but noticing the size it's more like a phonebooth on its side. Dimensions: length 180cm x depth 51cm x height 56 cm.
You understand I want to convert this phonebooth into a Slipperadarium. 8)
Since I have no experience growing plants under artificial lights I would like to hear your opinion concerning the following.

This aquarium came with the lighting equipement which was used in the fishtank part of it's life. It consists of two 58 watt tl-tubes. Is the amount of light this gives enough to properly grow slipperorchids? Or would you recomment some additional lighting?

Any other tips for successfully converting the phonebooth into a Slipperadarium are always welcome.

In any case thank you for your time.

RZu.

Hey Rob, I'm sorry, I haven't a clue, but I think your slipper booth sounds like fun! hopefully some members who are more familiar with terrarium type growing will be able to pop in here and help you out.

Good luck! You need some Phrags, man!! 8)

I have some experience with it but I ain't commenting until others do first. There are some other threads here that talk about lighting and I highly recommend looking at them.

The biggest single pitfall with fish tank orchidariums is air movement and I would recommend computer fans because you can run a number of them off of one power supply unit and they're cheap.

I would have thought the "biggest" problem with fish tank culture (other than crowding) would be "contact rot" with the wet/damp glass?

I'm looking forward to more learned comment.

Stephan

I don't know enough about fish tank lighting to comment, but Park Bear raises fish and grows orchids. If he misses this topic, you might want to send him a PM. I'd like to see this discussion, also. I've been experimenting with adding some 40w aquarium flourescents to my standard wide spectrum lighting and seem to be getting lightening of foliage on some Paphs. These lights were stronger in the blue (UV) range than my other lights.

Hi,

Thanks for the responses.

I already have the fan-part covered. I mean I have 2 fans waiting to be employed.

Would it be interesting for the group to see a photo now and then of my progress with building the slippertank :?:
I mean I'm starting from scratch, so I can show all the aspects from the beginning to the end.

And Heather, what makes you think I need some Phrags? :wink:

RZu

the lighting is very powerful you probably wont need all of it you may have to shade some of the light. also the light will put out alot of heat if they are cf lighting i use it for my terrariums for dart frogs. so the fans should help with the heat what does the ballest read on the light?

the lighting is very powerful you probably wont need all of it you may have to shade some of the light. also the light will put out alot of heat if they are cf lighting i use it for my terrariums for dart frogs. so the fans should help with the heat what does the ballest read on the light?

Stan,

I'm sorry. I'm not sure what you mean by "ballest"?

RZu.

Rob, yes, I'd love to see photos! A great learning tool for those of us who have a hard time visualizing (me!)

Clearly you have love of Phrags, so I was pretty surprised to hear you weren't growing them
actively. How can you stand it? :therethere:

I look forward to seeing your progress!

...Clearly you have love of Phrags, so I was pretty surprised to hear you weren't growing them
actively. How can you stand it? :therethere:...

It's tough. It's a mind-over-matter kind of thing. :D

I do grow various plants in my livingroom; Hoya's and Amorphophallus to name a few. But for some reason orchids and slippers in particular don't seem to like the conditions I can offer there. That is one of the main reasons why I started to "grow" them on the internet. With this large fishtank I hope to succesfully grow some real ones, Phrag. and Paph.

Concerning the photos. I will fire up my digital camera and start taking pictures...

RZu.

is the lighting fixture one tube?? or 2 littler tubes connected by allitle glass all the wires from the bulbs end go to a ballast then the power cord comes off the ballast to the outlet if i had the specs on the ballast it would tell me what kind of heat we are talking

If those lights are intended for reef growth (ie, it was a saltwater tank), then you will be more than covered for plant growth. Chances are good, however, that the lights were mainly just so that people can see fish. Most aquaria are freshwater (around here), and few have live plants. Many freshwater pond plants that are in aquaria are low light requiring, I think.

Anyway... Let us assume this is any flat surface (a 'bench'). In that case, I have good luck with 48" fluorescent tubes (in the US, these were 40W fixtures, now they are slightly less). I can't think in SI unless I'm looking at an orchid, at least lately, so you can convert from inches... 1 tube for every six inches of width. That is at a height of 18" or less from the tops of the plants. The longer fluorescent tubes are more efficient than shorter ones.

With these tubes you get effectively zero illumination unless you are right under the tube. So, a four foot light for a four foot bench. This has worked very well for me in the past (I spent many years growing under fluorescent lights). Should be able to bloom most slippers. Maudiae types for sure, and smaller besseae and besseae hybrids. Might have some difficulties with multiflorals, or big phrags. Not so much because of light requirements but height of plant and spike. If you have windowsills or something else suitable, you could spike these big things under the lights, and move them for bloom.

You will have to estimate how well your lights are going to meet your needs. I don't know anything about the 58W TL tubes. They may kick out way too much UV for comfort (needed for reef growing). Perhaps you could swap those tubes out for something a little less harsh, or put a sheet of glass between the fixture and the plants.

Just a few thoughts from me... Phonebooth sounds fun, though.

the lighting is very powerful you probably wont need all of it you may have to shade some of the light. also the light will put out alot of heat if they are cf lighting i use it for my terrariums for dart frogs. so the fans should help with the heat what does the ballest read on the light?

Stan,

I'm sorry. I'm not sure what you mean by "ballest"?

RZu.

The ballast is normally what's used as a starter mechanism for the light tubes and most often a rectangular, heavy metal box inside of a fluorescent light fixture.

Rob, you can play a variation of an old college game: How many phrags can he fit in the phone booth? :D

I have a tank only slightly smaller than the one you describe and I have just one thing to say:

You're going to be surprised how few plants you can get in it. In my opinion you'd be much better off just hanging lights over a table of the same or greater area to let the leaves flow and grow!

Is the air really dry where you live? Seasonally so? I honestly believe that of the variables slipper growers need to worry about in temperate climates, humidity is not the most important and for me at least, is only a problem in the winter when they're not growing much anyway.

Just my two guilders.

Actually, I think Shady might be correct. If I remember correctly, Holland and Germany both have fairly humid summers and most of the winter heating is hot water radiators instead of central heat. It can get dry in winter but I used to hang specially made ceramic water containers on the radiator to increase humidity.

While the fish tank might be great for things like pleurothallids needing 75% or better humidity or a colder climate, Paphs and Phrags would do well in open, indoor air with good lighting and 50% or higher humidity. The problem I found using a closed system like a fish tank is they react to changes too fast and tend to make any outbreak of disease or bugs too fast to easily contain.

I seem to remember a Dutch custom is to always keep the main living room curtains open and I was thinking an orchid centerpiece might be something to be proud of even without the tank.

Everyone,

Thanks for your response to my question.
In the following I will respond to the various messages from you people.

It's not my intention to use the aquarium as a completely "closed" environment. For two reasons. First I think the temperature would go up to high and secondly I think the humity would go up at levels which are not healthy even for these plants.

As I have said in an earlier answer that I have two fans ready for use, to make sure the air movement is sufficient.

Stephan mentioned the possibility of "contact rot", as he called it, with the wet/damp glass. I must admit I had not thought of that possibility. It's certainly something I will have to watchout for. Maybe I can direct the fans a little to the glass in the hope that the walls of the tank will stay less wet. It's something I'll have to use in a trial-and-error kind of way.

Several people indicated that the amount of light of the equiment that came with the tank, is propably to powerfull. All I know is that the aquarium was used to house freshwater fish and quite a lot of plants. What I propably will do is finish the tank up to the point that it is ready to receive plants. But before I actually put some plants in I will see if I can set up some experiments to measure the amount of light. This way I can adjust things when needed without risking the plants.
The light equipement consists of two separate light fixtures for each one 150cm long 58W fluorescent tube. At the moment the tubes are of the regular wide spectrum type.

Stan asked about the ballest information. I checked the equipement but all it says on the outside is "Only use tubes of 58W" and "220V". So Stan no information there, and I'm not comfortable with opening up the equipement to see if there are more indications, so I won't.

I also would like to thank Rob 'Littlefrog' for his input. Among other things the indications for the amount of tubes/6" is something I can use during the above mentioned light experiments.

Rob, you can play a variation of an old college game: How many phrags can he fit in the phone booth?
I can garantee you that eventually there will be as much slippers in there as is possible but still sensible in respect to good results.

I have a tank only slightly smaller than the one you describe and I have just one thing to say:

You're going to be surprised how few plants you can get in it. In my opinion you'd be much better off just hanging lights over a table of the same or greater area to let the leaves flow and grow!

Is the air really dry where you live? Seasonally so? I honestly believe that of the variables slipper growers need to worry about in temperate climates, humidity is not the most important and for me at least, is only a problem in the winter when they're not growing much anyway.

Just my two guilders.

The above text as well as Ernie's input make me wonder if this tank is worth all the trouble. In any case Shady thanks for you two guilders. B.T.W. we use Euros now :wink:

Ernie, I too have in my house hot water radiators which make the air in winter very dry. Your solution of hanging ceramic water containers is a common practise here and I use it too.

Just go buy one and get it over with, if you kill it, oh well, you'll still learn a lot and NOT kill the second one.
When it comes to growing slipperorchids this is propably the best thing for me to do. I could buy some plants double, so I can put one in the tank and one somewhere else, just to compare the results.


Again, everyone thank you for you input. I'll try to make the best of it.

RZu.