Light timer & Air Pump Questions

[Becca]

Originally Posted by rsfrid

Let me see if I understand the problem/situation...

As I understand it, the bubbler should run for the day cycle (12-14 hours summer, less in winter) same as lights. So you want the bubbler on while the lights are on. Do I understand you? Are you able to do this? A simple Radio Shack timer will do this.

The air stones need to be "off" at night to lower humidity a bit. Yes, you need them covered with water - I suggest RO or distilled water. If there's some way to run a fan (even manually) at night - or better yet, 24/7, that would be great. There are lots of cheap 12 volt 3 1/2" fans out there like Coralife 3-1/8" Cooling Fan Kit

My setup is a bit different from what you describe in that the misting system runs during "daylight" hours only, as do the lights. The inside fan, however runs 24/7 to keep fungus at bay at night. A "bubbler" should work just fine to keep up the humidity.

Ross, I have a timer for the bubbler (pump & aeration stones?), I just didn't understand why it couldn't run 24/7. If I don't use the fogger in the morning (which it is a piece of $%$##) then the humidity will stay around 70%. Is 70% to high for the nighttime hours?

The aeration stones are not completely covered in water...the tray/liner that was provided is not deep enough for this....nor it that tray deep enough for the fogger so I have to set the fogger in a container....and the fogger spits water everywhere...it is a mess! But the fogger helps with raising the humidity to 80-95 percent humidity. If I try to cover the aeration stones completely then the water would go over the liner and leak into the bottom of the cage and sit between the bottom and the liner.

As far as the fans...I have two mounted on a piece of acrylic that divides the fans and the lights (this was the design of the orchidarium) and both fans run 24/7.

I still have yet to figure out the timer for the lights (which the aeration pump is to plug into as well)....I have tried it with several different settings and still no luck!