Getting Pressure To Do things differently

[jimscott]

I just got asked if there was an alternative way of doing heat, humidity, and lighting. I currently have a fishtank, submercible heater, and a Grolite.

Any ideas how to get these "ducks in a row"?

 

[DrWurm]

haha... sounds like someone isn't too thrilled with your setup.

 

[jimscott]

Yeah, my wife isn't happy with 70+ lbs. of water on a shelf. That and her aesthetic sense. So I need to come up with another way of keeping all these sundews and such happy... as well as my wife.

 

[adnedarn]

How about a shorter tank with a lower water table? I went on a search of the forum to find a pic and found I had mentioned my setup to someone and you even replied to it.. So i'm sure this already crossed your mind, but any way- here is how I did it...

Yes, it works. I had mine set to 90f... it would go from 1/4" up the pots down to barely covering the heater in just a few days. I ran no fan... This is when I first set it up... After they had been in there for a while the pets looked great. I even divided the D. ordensis approx 15 times and traded/gave away the portions... After I took the tank down and moved the plants to the (old) greenhouse, all of them died once winter came around. Lesson learned. Here is the picture, hope it helps!

http://aaadnedarn.home.comcast.net/~aaadnedarn/P1010248.JPG (sorry the picture is big.. it's old and was already online so I didn't resize it..)

My guess is that was a gallon or so... How big a tank are you going to try and heat? higher wattage could provide more heat with faster water evaporation... Honestly, I think mine was a 150w....

Good luck!

Andrew: That looks like a less complicated version of what Pyro has. Do you add water (top water) the pots or do you just let the evaporation keep the pots / plants moist?

Jim, when I was using that, i would just fill it up so the pots were sitting in the water a little bit.. I would add water as needed to keep the heater submerged (although it went dry PLENTY of times and never broke... ) and would fill it up high enough to water the plants when I felt necessary.

Andrew

 

[jimscott]

Andrew, does the soil get to dry if they are not partially submerged? I think I lost a falconeri when the water got too low.

 

[adnedarn]

Well yeah- if the plants are out of the water a while they do start to dry out, I guess I don't really get the question. I never top watered them, just raised the water table so they would sit in it as if tray watered. There was no lid, but the lights dang near covered the top I also didn't use a fan. With the plants sitting so low in the tank, the humidity was pretty high

 

[jimscott]

In my setup, the plants are stationary. They get more water by me adding water, directly. What do you mean by raising the water table? Does that mean adding water or lowering the plants? I'm also loking to incorporate my submercible heater without it melting plastic or being exposed to the air, if I have a lower water table. Any suggestions for grates?

 

[Pyro]

Use egg crate/light diffuser to make a false bottom propped up on a few 2" pots and fill with only as much water as you need stick a piece of plexi over the top then lower the light to sit on top of the tank. Should have, max, a couple gallons of water so not nearly as disaster prone.

 

[adnedarn]

Pretty much how Pyro said I used egg grate/light diffuser grate set on top of pots and I allowed the water level to go up and down... I'd put in more water to get it up to the plants to water them, and as it evaporated down it would still give warmth and humidity without having the plants sit in water... If you look in my quotes above there is a link to a picture that is big so you can see what I'm talking about. I had no problem with melting plastic and it was really close to both the pots and the grate. I think it was 150w set at 90f and when the water level was at the plants it was only 1.5-2 gallons in my tiny (narrow beta) tank.
Andrew

 

[jimscott]

I looked at the link the other day. Not to sound stupid or anything, but I'm not familiar with an egg crate/light diffuser. I've never seen eggs in anything like that. Where do I get one? How much do they cost?

 

[Pyro]

Look in the lighting section of Home Depot. A 2' x 4' sheet runs like $6 or so IIRC

 

[adnedarn]

Dunno where the term egg crate came from but it's not for eggs. It's for light as pyro mentions. They are pretty cheap if you get the white one (there are more expensive chrome looking ones etc just get the cheap white one) They go over florescent lights like in schools and stuff, here are a few links that may give a better idea of what it is.
Andrew

http://www.1000bulbs.com/Plastic-Diffusers/32917/

http://cgi.ebay.com/50-Egg-Crate-Ce...emZ250306011322QQcategoryZ58145QQcmdZViewItem (check out the picture mid listing)

here is an example of the cheap white one: http://www.tim-jansen.com/images/const-pond-2002-filters-materials (4).jpg

 

[Pyro]

Dunno where the term egg crate came from but it's not for eggs.

Funny enough originally it was used for eggs. Before they days of styrofoam. They were packed between 2 layers of the stuff for shipping. Could get lots and lots of them stable that way.

 

[adnedarn]

I sure hope it's bigger squaes then from what I have... Mine are like 1" or even less don't see how that could safely hold an egg... But I can see where the idea came from

 

[jimscott]

I'll be doing the cashiering thing on the weekend... Thanks for the tips!