OK, here are a few pictures of my tank with the HerpKeeper installed.
First the tank. 90 gals. 5 x 2 feet front window. Bottom with expanded clay, some ghost wood branches, various orchids. The 6
Mistking mister heads are hidden behind the front top Tank frame. Drilled some holes through the lip, and tied the tubing with cable ties. Same also for moon light pods. On the right is a cut marble piece [with forams in it!] over which heated [winter] or cooled [summer] water runs. Fan blows over water film and helps with heat exchange. On top Tek 60" 4 x 80 W T5 fixture with added cooling fan. AP1 temperature-humidity module is hidden behind vertical log back right.
HerpKeeper system just to the right of the tank, behind it is a separate 5 gal holding tank for
misting water and gravity Automatic top-off (ATO) for water fall. Don't have under-cabinet space, so all is crammed in there. Put a black cloth over it to hide it unless I need to do something with it.
Herpkeeper controller, HUB to connect multiple devices, MLC Moon-Light-Controller with two white pods, one of two PC4 switchable powerstrips, one AP1 [seem to have gotten a bad one as the humidity reading is all over the place, tech support is on it], one regular powerstrip on GFI,
Mistking pump with ZipDrip, and separate line for ATO with shut-off valve. Each plug is labeled with Brother P-touch labels.
Lamps are timed, lamp cooling fan comes on at higher temperatures, mister has multitimer with alarm override so that it only mists if RH is below a certain set-point [once AP1 works], heater in waterfall is on temperature alarm, Moonlights operate on 28 day lunar cycle and change intensity accordingly.
Second PC4 switched powerstrip for heater/cooler and pumps at opposite end of tank.
Mechanical ATO behind waterfall [rock removed]. The holy tube is to prevent splash on the chiller return. In tank is a heater, and a small pump.
Impression of what the moon lights look like. Shot at very high ISO on digicam (6400) so a tad grainy. I adjusted the image so that it best represents the visual impression one has when looking at it. Notice on left the blue light from PC4, and on right the blue glow from the HUB and MLC status LEDs.
Setting the system up is not too difficult. While the e-mail and BB-board tech support is exquisite, their tech documentation is rather rudimentary. While Digital Aquatics seems to be improving the system on a regular basis (note, that all hardware can be firmware upgraded! requires PC, does not work on Mac), the changes in the operation of the devices is not explained. So it is for the user to figure out what the various programming steps do, or to go to the forum, which does provide excellent and very timely replies.
The currently non-working AP1 temperature-humidity probe is just a fluke, I don't think there is anything problematic about it. The jack to plug the moonlight pods into the controller box (MLC) are a bit flimsy, and I managed to yank one lead out. pushing it back in and superglueing it solved that problem. Cost? What I have on my tank is about US$400.
This is leagues above the hardware-store timers. And offers WAY more control possibilities and refined options than anything I have seen for terraria or even hydroponics systems. Not cheap, but if you are a bit of a tech-geek, this may be for you.
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Mistking
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Looking for a misting system? Look no further. Automated misting systems from MistKing are used by multitude of plant enthusiasts and are perfect for Orchids. Systems feature run dry pumps, ZipDrip valve, adjustable black nozzles, per second control! Automatically mist one growing shelf or a greenhouse full of Orchids.
See MistKing testimonials |
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Environmental control on steroids: Digital Aquatics' HerpKeeper
Linear Mode
