Highland Chamber Series

[DroseraBug]

Hi,

Wanted to shared my highland chamber with you folks. I welcome suggestions, criticism and ideas. I built this from top to bottom out of wood, 1/4" plexiglass, metal, and glass.

The frame is cast iron. The table is wood with outdoor water resistent paint. I used spare treated wood in the back. I cut a square in the center of the table for tubing access or a future A/C event.

I sealed some thin plexiglass in a rectangular shape and laid it on top of the table to further protect it from water. Sides are lined with insulation and the front was left without. I wanted something that I could open and easily access yet keep humidity high. The top is a glass sheet for the lighting. A wooden rod runs across the top for tieing off fans and mister. I plan to hide the fogger better soon right now its in plane veiw. Everthing is on a timer including the mister, fogger, and lights. I use a cheap minifan to blow across the top of the chamber 24/7 and a 4" aquarium fan to blow throughout the chamber. I place 2 2 liter ice bottles in the chamber at night and let the fan blow over the bottles to disperse cool air. Temps range to 80F during day and 60F at night and humidity 65 to 90% respectively.

Lighting: one quad T5 + a quad PCF. Panda film was sealed to the inslulation with some special sealant for plastics on insulation.

The chamber is 100+ gallons

Need to hide fogger

Lights, fan, and mister

N. ramispina

N. ventricosa

N. clipeata x (clipeata x eymae) producing first pitcher for me

N. sanguinea

Inside the cabinets

This chamber took a lot of tinkering, thought, mistakes, ideas, ideas for the future. I've convinced myself that I can build a bigger one one day fully automated with no frozen water bottles needed (knock on wood).

Others not pitchering still in transplant shock include tentac and spectabilis North Sumatra

I would like to see photos of everyone elses highland setups.

 

[Capensis]

That's 100+ gallon tank? o.o VERY nice sanguinea, it's sexy x3

 

[Goofzilla]

Man, I love how neat & tidy your chamber looks.

Beautiful plants, as well!

 

[DroseraBug]

Yeah its 100+ gallons. Dimensions are 34"L X 24"W X 34" high=~120 gallons. Its mostly in height. I wanted some height to it hopefully to allow for some vining in the future. When the plants get bigger I can lower the shelf another eight inches or so.

 

[Capensis]

OH, you mean the whole thing is 120 gallons? I thought you meant the spot the neps are growing was 120 gallons...or is it? :O

 

[DroseraBug]

Yeah, the plexiglass/glass chamber growing area are the dimesions above. There is approximately 120 gal. of growing space for the neps and future Neps that may inhabit. This measurement does not include the cabinets below and lights above. In the first photo those are window on either side if that gives you a better scale. The entire table, chamber and all is just over 4' tall. You can feed the dimensions into this calculator to get the conversion or you could do it the smart person nerdy way by hand:

http://animal-world.com/encyclo/information/calculate.htm

 

[Jimmy]

WOW! Very, very nice! If you don't mind me asking - how much did that cost you?

Thanks for posting this!

 

[DroseraBug]

Thanks!

I did use some scrap wood on the sides of the table. Let's see I'll try and list it here not including the lights. The good news is I think it will come out cheaper than an aquarium set up bought from the store.

-Wood: $125
-Plexiglass: $100- mistake was buying it at Lowes and not a glass shop-you could probably get it cheaper at a glass shop
-glass for top from glass shop =$7.00
- cast iron = $50
-screws and bolts=$10
-sealant for plexiglass and insulation=$10
-piano hinges=$20
-insulation=$10
Grand total ~ $332 maybe $350.00 including extraneous crap I bought such as bolts or screws that were the wrong size.

I think that sums it up for the actual chamber. It continues to go up when you add the fogger, mister, fans, timers, and lights. For everything a good estimate would be $650. I wish you would have never asked me to calculate that because now I'm feeling bad. You probably could get a 100 gallon set up for that at a store, yard sale, auction etc. however I'm pleased because it is custom and its the way I wanted it. It gave me a goal and a project and I guess I'm a little OCD when it comes to CPs. Wanted to see if I could build it instead of buying another aquarium

 

[JMurphy97]

What kind of wood is it do you know? I'm wondering what is the best to use that looks good for a living room and won't warp. I'm thinking I'll use birch plywood.

 

[DroseraBug]

I used birch plywood like you build cabinets and furniture out of. I painted it with several coats of outdoor latex. I tried as hard as possible to construct it in a way that does not allow water from the humidifier or mister to come in contact with the wood. I lined the bottom of the chamber part (wooden table top) with a plexiglass sheet (see last photo). I could have used glass instead of plexiglass but it would have made it a good bit heavier. It already weighs a bunch. The sides are also plexiglass. With scrap plexiglass I also sealed a lip around the bottom plexiglass sheet with scrap plexiglass. So far so good. I've been checking inside of the cabinet area for any dripping water or wet spots and have not found any. I did use one big sheet of treated ply wood for the back of the chamber.

 

[JMurphy97]

Sounds like a plan. Seal it good and it should be fine. Maybe line the inside with mylar so to protect and make it brighter too.

 

[vraev]

very very very nice man! if only I was as skilled as you. I wanted such a chamber for an year now. Nothing has materialized.

 

[DroseraBug]

Thanks for the compliments everyone. When we bought our house it came with a small wood working shop and it was the first project I could think of. I have a circular saw but had to borrow my neighbors Sabre saw and miter saw for cutting holes and angles. I'm by know means an experienced wood worker but when I put my mind to something I'll get it done no if its decent or not. My wife kept saying, "your obsessed with the table and you hang out with it more than me" but when it was done she liked it better than the aquarium terrariums sitting on the floor. One goal was to build something that was indoor approved by her. I think the cabinets helped because it allowed me to get all of my extraneous crap off the floor like stuff for watering and making cutting/trimming etc. The other goal was a larger grow space hopefully fully to partially automated for temps and humidity. So far so good. Thanks again.