some questions

[taytay]

I want to set up a terrarium. I've seen all your images on backgrounds and they helped me a lot. I feel I need information / images on another subject - the electronic side of the terrarium.
How did you wire everything to function automatically? is there a way to build a computer to respond to the heat/temp instrument and operate in accordance with the waterfall, fans and lighting?

In addition, I have a relatively small aquarium and thought to place two fans. One will be internally and maintain circulation of air, and other external to pump air out of the terrarium to cool it down. anyone Tried a trick like this before?
i live in a very hot state and will need a good way to cool my tank, any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

[WhiteRabbit]

[Leafmite]

No idea but good luck!

[stonedragonfarms]

Welcome to the board!
Can you give us the dimensions of your tank? What sort of orchids are you hoping to grow? I grow cool-temperature stuff (pleuros, masdevallia, dracula, etc.) and have fans inside all my builds, but none that draw air from outside; my plants all like 80-90% humidity; it will be something to consider depending on what you grow; also, your choice of lighting will go a long ways in determining how warm your tank gets. I use LED light systems, so there is very little heat build-up in my terrariums; I also utilize automated misting which helps to keep humidity up and heat down. Is there a particular build that you have seen that you'd like to replicate?
Adam

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[taytay]

humm, lets say it's the size of a big microwave. it's concave and thinking of changing from metric system and whatnot it's too much so lets say big microwave.

for your second question - everything that i can. it's my first terrarium so i don't know if it will be good, warm or cold. i live in a warm place so most of the work will be cooling the terrarium down and ventilate it to prevent mold and bacteria.

i'm building a waterfall, the water will run over the background to a falsebottom, plants will be on the wall.

it is a small terrarium so i thought of a small florescent light in the terrarium (to prevent adding more hit to the box. as i said, warm place i live in) and fans to keep circulation of air.

that remind me of a different question - how do you automatize it all? is there 1 computer to set the light and waterfall and fans according to temperature? or will i need 3 different computers for each of them?

[Magnus A]

Welcome to Orchid board!


For automatization I would say that most people use regular timer for water pumps, lights and fans. Just time them for optimization in your setup considering your ambient climate. This is nothing you can get a finished scheme for, you need to adopt to your own setup yourself.

There are special computers for terrariums that can do this but for a first build I would say it is to expensive.

For temperature reglation you can find alot of DIY setups on the internet but I would recoment to start growing species that can handle your specific climate. When you have built your background and installed the light you just start everything without plants and let it run for a couple of days while you monitor the climate in the tank. Buy a very simple hygrometer with thermometer with a max/min function.

Or you ad some warm growing plants from the begining and start everyhing up and tune it "on the run". Just prepare yourself that it is a journey and you will probably lose some plants...

/Magnus

[tropterrarium]

Re automatization, I use the HerpKeeper system from DigitalAquatics. I have three systems running, so am quite happy with it. It is a multi-channel timer with thermostat and humidistat built in. If you want, you could also automate pH adjustments, and a host more.

Re environmental parameters, there are two approaches you can take:
- Built it, see what temperature/humidity/light you can get and purchase plants accordingly.
- Have desired plants, and make the temp/RH/Light match the plants' requirements.

What will NOT work, is get any neat plants without regard to matching culture conditions to the plants' requirements. Also, one terrarium, one set of humidity and temperature (light you can adjust a bit within).

Please learn about the plants and their requirements.