replicating the "cloud" forest while accepting the limitations of my technology

[WaterWitchin]

Originally Posted by wisdomseeker

Works for me

As a German, married to an Italian, I approve this message.

[DirtyCoconuts]

hahahaha

[DirtyCoconuts]

i am trying to see if this will work.

here are my numbers

600 am light goes ON- 150 watt full spectrum LED on a sheet of hygrolon to diffuse it (readings are 70* and 92% RH at this point)

at 900 am the cloud and the waterfall stop (temp has climbed to 73 RH dropped to 89%)

1700 the waterfall comes back on (temp is max 78 and RH has dropped to 70%)

1900 the cloud comes back on (temp is 77 and RH up to 80%)

2200 light goes off (temp is 75 and RH is 92-94%)



is that enough of a change to keep relatively low elevation cloud forest plants happy?


i can increase the ventilation (drill out the top holes a bit OR just open the door a crack) to increase the cool air exchange and maybe get a few more degrees drop at night.

[estación seca]

I don't know.

I've thought about putting a metal baking pan full of ice on the glass top at night to drop the temperature inside.

[MJG]

DC, I am so excited about this project!! Will you update us as you work this out and get it up and running?

For cooling, have you considered a peltier cooler? I came across them as I was trying to figure out how to cool the terrarium that I will be building. I had to rule them out for mine because I couldn't get the degree of cooling I'd need in a 100 gallon tank. But if yours is 10 gallons, maybe it would be an option. Anyway just a thought. And maybe someone more knowledgeable than I about peltier coolers can weigh in!

[DirtyCoconuts]

Thanks so much. It’s been a ton of fun and I am making all kinds of newb mistakes lol

I am going to put up a few of the pics so far. It’s just got three plants and I have not finished the bottom area.

I also need a new door and possibly will re seal the bottom front HahahHa

Lots of mistakes heh heh heh

---------- Post added at 03:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:49 PM ----------

here it is while testing the components

there is no shade on the light here that's why it is insanely bright


Stuff things and more! by J Solo, on Flickr


it is a total success in that when i look at it i wish i were tiny and could play around in it and that is all i ever want from any sort of enclosure...a microscopic universe of fuel for the imagination. i mean, bleep, give me a really well made diorama at the museum and the same sense of perspective and wonder can whisk me away to fantasy world in an instant...imagination is more powerful than people think and vastly underrated in today's society.

i don't know how embedded videos work so here is a snip

Stuff things and more! by J Solo, on Flickr




i wanted to try the macro in here but with so few plants it was the Spanish moss that got the glamour treatment- too bright but still neat

Vanda by J Solo, on Flickr

more to come or maybe i'll make a separate thread so i can keep this focused on temps




on the peltier cooler, would i just mount one on the inside of the tank in the water res? and then power it by a plug i fashion? it is all new tech to me and most of the applications want to be for chipboards and as heat sink where the power is either directly solder-able or really close...also, what is the efficiency of the unit that it did not work for you? like watts to degrees of cooling or is it more proportional to the flow of the surrounding fluid as far as the effect?
Sorry for assuming you are an expert and that you want to help me but i do

[MJG]

Oh man. COOL COOL COOL!

Love your sentiments about imagination. I also want my vivarium to be a little mini world so that I can be off in the jungle seeing orchids in the wild!

I wish I knew more about peltier coolers. I first learned of them when I was googling for ways of cooling a vivarium. I read a number of vivarium forums and learned from them that it's only really a viable option for smaller vivs. I also read some sites about how they work, but had given up on them as an option before I got into the nitty gritty of the installation.

I'll bet if we start a thread about peltier coolers we'd find someone on this board who is more of an expert. I'm going to go back and do some re-research and see if I can dig up some of the info that I read (and subsequently forgot) earlier.

[DirtyCoconuts]

LOL, you are a true kind heart but i can do the research too. i was hoping to just be able to sponge on you LOL

a peltier cool thread is most definitely in order!!!

[estación seca]

I looked into Peltier coolers some time ago. On a practical basis they don't work for terrariums. Remember every surface not covered with a cooler is permitting heat to pour into the terrarium. Aquarists and carnivorous plant growers cool tanks with cold water pumped through a pipe under the substrate. The pipe passes through a custom-drilled ice chest full of ice.

[DirtyCoconuts]

Just like a beer keg cooler....25’ of copper tube through a cooler and the warm keg is cold beer once it pours...

I thought about a tray of ice on top as you had mentioned and then I thought about just tossing an ice chunk into the bottom (riparian layer) each night. A 2x2” whisky cube would probably lower the temp at least a few degrees if it cools the water ...maybe ??lol

Thanks for all the thoughts gang!