Light timer & Air Pump Questions - Orchid Board

Becca · #1 08-02-2007, 11:53 AM

Okay....so I have my orchidarium set up..woohoo! Now I have a few questions and cannot get a hold of the company who I bought it from to ask my questions so I thought I would ask for opinions/help on here!

1. My instructions said to have a triple plug (which came with the unit and not sure of exact names) plugged into my light timer....and running off of this will be my lights and air pump for the air stones. Why does this air pump need to be on a timer, aren't they built for running all the time for aquariums?
2. Do the air stones need to be covered with water or is it okay if they are partially submerged....there isn't enough depth to completly submerge them.
3. My timer is wacky....it is a Intermatic DT27. It has a setting to where it will come on and off according to your zone you live in...well that would be really cool if it would work....so far I have followed the instructions exactly and I can't get it to come on or off automatically. And to make things more complicated...it has a setting to choose days for sunset and sunup...but it is for ON at sunset and OFF at sunup...this is opposite of what I need! There is nothing in the instructions that mention how to change this and I don't think there is a way.....what a stupid timer! Must not be for plants? I am thinking of buying a different one, but I must act fast as I am leaving out of town for a week this Saturday and must have something in place by then! Please help!

TIA!

gixrj18 · #2 08-02-2007, 04:33 PM

They probably intend the air pump to shut off at night, so that you don't have too much moisture during your night cycle. If you can't get the auto option to work, before you go out of town, manually set the timer until you have more time to play with it. I have some, with this option, but I don't use it.

Becca · #3 08-02-2007, 04:51 PM

I will try messing with it again....I have tried the manual mode as well.... I can get the lights to turn off, but not back on in this setting...lol

shakkai · #4 08-02-2007, 05:01 PM

Becca, Is the sunrise/sunset option done through a light sensor? Or are you able to set the time to be 12 hours (or thereabout) 'out' so that sunset (when it comes ON) is actually at sunrise.

I've never used anything like this... so this is a stab in the dark...

Becca · #5 08-02-2007, 07:54 PM

shakkai,
I did try changing the sunrise and sunset time, it allows this, but it does not allow a wide enough time frame to switch the two around. I think I just may try a different timer I found. Here is the link:

http://www.petsmart.com/global/produ...N=2030061&Ne=2

gixrj18 · #6 08-02-2007, 08:20 PM

That one looks pretty nice, Becca

Ross · #7 08-02-2007, 10:08 PM

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.

Becca · #8 08-03-2007, 01:27 PM

Quote:

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!

Ross · #9 08-03-2007, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RPfeiffer

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!

Sorry to hear about the mister. You may not need it all. Why not get an appliance timer from Home Depot? The kind with the little green and red pins on the front. Plug it in, set the dial to current time (the dark gray half means night and the white half is day). Run an extension cord which has multiple pluggins from the single pluggin on the timer. Then plug in both the aeration stones pump and the lights. Now they will run for the length of time you set. This is how I run mine and I have a MistKing system, 4 t5 48" bulbs and a cooling fan on the lights all running from this timer. The MistKing is actually using an interval timer that is plugged into this same appliance timer.

Try running without the "mister". 70% is high enough except for real wet growers. Everything from Phals to Cats to Phrags to Paphs all will love 70%. Let the bubler go off with the lights so this dry out a bit at night. Humidity should still stay over 50-60% because it will be dark. The lights warm things up and cause humidity to drop, thus the bubbler. 70% at night is fine as long as fans run.

Why not pull the pan you were provided and get Tupperware ice cream container. This way you can hold a gallon or so water (use distilled or RO) for the bubblers. They are primarily a way to evaporate lots of water into the tank. Let us know how it works. It still sounds like a great orchidarium that just needs a little help.