Hey everybody,
Calvin, I have not had any issues with CFL's in the tank, some have been running for almost 3 years. As far as the plywood, time will tell. I used exterior ply, 1/2 in, with a waterseal type oil stain, and a topcoat of marine varnish. I also spread a thin layer of silicone at the bottom edge, maybe 2" up, for standing water. The tank drains down to just about empty with the siphon hose. I figure that's about the best I can do. It was really an experiment in the face of necessity, I'll keep y'all updated.
Schwing, the fans are indeed computer case fans, 80mm. I buy them on ebay, from good-old Hong Kong. Very cheap. They are wired parallel, meaning each fan receives power directly from the power supply, as opposed to series, where the supply is like a big loop, each fan only gets one power supply line. Does that make sense? The lights are the same. The reason NOT to wire in series is explained by cheap christmas lights. One goes, they all go. Hope that helps!
OK, As to light, with 5 23w CFL's, it's plenty bright for just about anything. I try to mount all the higher light plants up high. The thing about fluorescent is that the plants can get really close. The light is really "even", like it spreads out fast. I think it's the spirals. I could probably squeeze in one more bulb, or replace one or two with 42w, but time will tell with this also. I grew most of these plants in this light "density" (about 1 23w per 10gal) far the last two years, with decent results. I am, though, thinking about lining with foil, I never though of painting it, that might be easier!
For the plants, I'd say the most vigorous have been as follows
Aergs. pumilio
Tol. variegata
rupiculous laelias (and similar catts)
Various bulbo's
Stelis barbata (quadrupled or more in a year, non-stop flowering, 25+ spikes currently)
Scaphosepalum macrodactylum (crazy amount of leads, like, 75+!)
It's hard to say which have been troublesome, I guess I killed my Cochlioda noezliana. May have been temp, I think it was bad rot in the media. I did not have good drainage system at the time. Much cleaner now!
I have had odd fungus spring up. when I moved into the new tank, it was so nice and warm, and humid, all the pots with sphag sprang up with fine white mycelium. looked like mycorrhizae to me, it was really, really fine, and evenly distributed. It's gone now, seemingly no issues.
I've got so many new plants, I will be able to judge the atmosphere more accurately in the near future.
I will say, the plants from Thailand seem pretty darn happy, even after a really long, dry, cold journey. Some kept spikes, the Gastrochilus obliguus kept two pods. So, I guess it's a bit like Thailand in there!
tyler
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