Also, if you are considering buying a aquirium pump, I would recomend you buy a cool mist humidifier. I know your broke right now, but when you get some cash trust me its worth it./ I got my Kaz brand at Kmart for only 13.99. Then tubing cost me an extra 2.00, but what the hell. It works fucking great and only produces one third the noise a pump does.

I am sure if you are a dedicated ameteur mycologist that you could start your pan trops today, and by the time they are ready for the cropping phase in the terrium you can scrape twenty bucks together. Peace

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-From a registered Mad Scientist

"From a certain point of view"
-Jedi Master Obiwan Kenobi (also a Mad Scientist tm)

It is possible to grow Pans with nothing but perlite humidification and manual fanning. It's a pain in the butt though, gotta fan a few times every day, contamination risks go up, and the Pans don't do quite as well as when aeriated by a pump continiously. They will tend to be smaller in size and not mature as well for making good spore drops. Done it, don't recommend it. If you go this route put a shallower layer of perlite than normal, like 3/4 to 1 inch. Reason being that you don't need super humid air, 85-90% is what you want.

Or you could go with A cool-mist setup, in the long run that's what I'd recommend. But that doesn't sound like an option for you right now.

As far as a "new method" for air exchange, one of the reasons that an aquarium bubbler or especially a cool mist setup is so desirable is that it accomplishes the aeration with postive pressure in the terrarium. You are forcing humid, clean air into the terrarium. Manual fanning for air changing sux because you are fanning possibly contaminated ambient air into your terrarium. Something to consider when designing air exchange methods. Pans are notorious for contamination. When I was growing them I would lose 30-50% of the cultures to contaminates before they were totally exhausted. I very rarely ever lose a culture of more robust oysters, buttons, shiitakes, etc.