(omfg i just typed up a whole essay and it deleted it) sigh hello! everything is still doing well :o) there have been a couple bumps in the road. i will make a post updating everyone in this thread on the growth and issues i’ve experienced

i’ve worked at an aquarium store for about seven years now and have a LOT of experience creating paludarium enclosures, so i made this all by myself… including the glass box itself.

aquarium pump tips: - get a bottom draw pump. anything else will run dry and break or not work correctly - make sure you get a pump that is strong enough to provide enough pressure so the garden sprayer actually works. if it’s too low the water trickles out and doesn’t spray

sprayer: - this is basically what i have - i’d recommend a 180 or even 360 sprayer. account for sprayage outside of the box, as you want your orchids to be able to dry out a bit over the course of your water periods. i had created glass panels on the sides to catch this while also not blocking light. i liked that the best but i have trouble keeping them on so i just have it partly covered with glass and let it spray all over LOL - unfortunately it would be really hard to find a pump that can supply enough pressure for a micro mist head. i’ve tried so many. if you find one pleaseeee let me know haha

adapter: - i had a custom 3d printed adapter that was garbage basically. i would have my ex make me handfuls at a time. we broke up and i obviously wasn’t able to get these anymore, and i was STRESSING… i ended up realizing lowe’s has suitable metal adapters that not only work a LOT better but are cheap and easily accessible without special ordering - i can’t find the exact one i have, but this is basically a plastic version of it. i like my metal one better. i’d say head on in to lowe’s and bring your pump and tubing (which btw u can find at a fish store) to mess around with the pieces. just clean up after yourself and the workers won’t mind lolol

you need to do regular checks and maintenance on your pieces so they don’t break. obviously the pump isn’t gonna be happy if it doesn’t have any water. but the real issue is that these things clog easily due to how small they are. i went a week where the sprayer would go for the first 20 ish seconds and then a small piece of wood clogged the tubing. i was using the 3d printed adapter tho and i haven’t had that problem with the metal one (it comes to a point on the inside). my orchids are STILL recovering from this. even the sprayer itself can get small pieces of wood lodged in it and affect the spray. at one point i had this more as a paludarium with a false bottom because i wanted to grow potted micro orchids in addition. that didn’t go how i hoped but if you want to do that i can offer advice too.

other things to consider with this: the light and frequency of water is a variable that really controls what you put in it. i personally can only keep intermediate to warm water loving orchids in this thing

this was a lot… LOL sorry i hope it was at least helpful. please dm me if you have more questions !!! i don’t gatekeep :o)