Which lighting layout (with diagrams)

[fudog]

Ok those of you who have followed my updates know I was getting a new tank. Well i got it but it was a 20gal long instead of a 30 gal tall like i thought. So now im building a hood for the tank using the equipment I have on hand.

1- 65w flurex (yard light conversion)
3- 20w 24" floro grow lights
1- 4" fan 36cfm

Ok the plan is to tape off inside front of the tank and spray paint the rest of the inside flat black. Then tape the bottom also and paint the remaining inside walls flat white. The end product will hopefully have 3 sides and bottom painted black looking from the outside in. Then clear front and 3 flat white walls inside with a flat black bottom.

Im going to use 1"x12" mdf sheving planks for all the sides of the hood. With the bullnose edge faceing down. The hood will slide over and rest about 2" down the tank. Ill use corner blocks to support the weight of the hood on the tank, and allow maxuim air circulation. The top of the hood will be made out of 3/4"x15 3/4'' pine shelfing plank with a bullnose also. There will be about a 3/4" overlap on the front and both sides.
Im still in debate weither i should hinge the top of the hood or not to make it easy to water and adjust the plants. Also in the diagrams you'll see where the fan is mounted. Im not sure if it should be blowing in or blowing out. I was thinking blowing out to make a neg pressure in the box, and to pull cool fresh air past the plants and up over the lights. If its pushed in then you would get cool air over the lights and warm air pushed down to the plants. At least thats what i think is right.
Oh yeah i think layout B is best. But instead mount the fan in the center of the back wall.(like layout A or C Im not sure which would be better) I came up with the other fan location after I already had the pic hosted. So I guess its a graphical typo lol.

What do you think??

ok now for the pic; this isnt to size just so you know. and theres 3 different layouts each is lettered.
If you need me to clear anything up let me know.

 

[fudog]

cmon guys no ideas??

 

[seedjar]

What's going in the tank? A lot of the things in your growlist would be OK outside a tank, and you could probably light the tank with just the tubes. That Fluorex will go a long way if you put it in a small space with good reflectors.
~Joe

 

[dlybrand]

I like layout B best, although maybe a cross between A and B. Remember that if the fan blows out of the tank (or into it for that matter), humidity will drop.

-D. Lybrand

 

[Capslock]

If I'm reading that correctly, in option B and to a lesser extent A, you want to put lights down in the tank and not just along the top I've only ever lit from above. Thus, option C seems the best to me.

Capslock

 

[fudog]

Ok

seedjar: everything on my list is going in the tank. We have plant eating cats and untrustworthy neighbors. Also the whole inside of the hood will be painted flat white.

dlybrand: good point on the humidity. I wonder how the temps would change if I had the fan blowing in??

Capslock:The diagrams are of the hood only. It will sit on the top of the tank.

Now after some more measureing and math. I've figured out that my root showing pots are 6" tall. And my tallest flower scapes are avengeing 10" or so.
Using those numbers I found I can use 1"x 8" board instead of 1"x 12" that i was going to use. So that will bring the lights even closer if I do a top mount Like in layout C.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Touching on what Seedjar was saying, I think that may be a bit overkill on the lights. I just got a 20 gallon long terrarium and I use a single flourescent, two-tube fixture to light it. I use two 40 watt cool white tubes for a combined total of 80 watts of light and my plants are loving it so far.

I also have another terrarium (it's actually more of a grow chamber, but let's not get into details here!) that's lit by only 61 watts of light. All the plants in there do extremely well, and that's everything from Nepenthes to Drosera and even a single Butterwort.

 

[Joseph Clemens]

Quote[/b] ]Ok the plan is to tape off inside front of the tank and spray paint the rest of the inside flat black. Then tape the bottom also and paint the remaining inside walls flat white. The end product will hopefully have 3 sides and bottom painted black looking from the outside in. Then clear front and 3 flat white walls inside with a flat black bottom.

Does your description indicate that any of the inside walls will be black? When reading your description it seems a bit contradictory. Please explain.

Black paint on inside walls --- absorbs light, warming the walls, increasing inside temperatures and does not reflect light back to the plants. Big waste of incidental light. Better to use a mylar reflective film or simply paint it a flat white.

 

[fudog]

LLeopardGGecko: The tank is going to be a grow chamber or display case what ever you want to call it lol. I use all those lights at the moment in my current growbox. If you really think i can get by with less I might try to use just the flurex or just the 3-floros.

PinguiculaMan: Sry let me see if I can explain it better.

"Ok the plan is to tape off inside front of the tank and spray paint the rest of the inside flat black"
I want the front glass to be see through so Im going to tape it off completely. I want the outside of the tank to look black. When you paint anything clear the first coat is what you will see from the opposite side.

"Then tape the bottom also and paint the remaining inside walls flat white"
Leaving the tape on the inside front wall. I also tape off the bottom of the inside after it's painted black. Then I paint the three untaped walls flat white.

"The end product will hopefully have 3 sides and bottom painted black looking from the outside in. Then clear front and 3 flat white walls inside with a flat black bottom"
When im done only the inside will be painted. No paint on the front glass, only black paint on the bottom, black paint first then white on both the sides and back glass of the tank.

Also I'm going to be using clear glasses with a homemade drop-in net bottom pots to display the traps on all my utrics and my Genlisea violacea (giant). You have to block all the light to the water so traps will grow and alge wont. Thats why the bottom is left flat black. I dont want any light relfecting up into the glasses.
I hope this clears things up lol

 

 

[Joseph Clemens]

Thanks for the expanded explanation. It sounds like the front is going to remain transparent, the bottom will look flat black from inside and outside. All the other sides will appear black from the outside and flat white from the inside.

I would keep as much light as you possibly can. Artificial light is the only kind that can easily provide higher PAR than natural light without the destructive heat.

 

[LLeopardGGecko]

Quote[/b] ]Artificial light is the only kind that can easily provide higher PAR than natural light without the destructive heat.

I don't know if that's entirely true. When I was just starting out with terrariums I used quite a bit of light from compact flourescents, which in turn made the heat in my tanks go up. This resulted in some very sad looking, cooked plants.

Only use the extra light if you can keep the temps cool enough.

Then again, you shouldn't listen to me, you should listen to Ping Man! I've seen your plants Ping Man and I need to be the one taking tips from YOU!

 

[Gawd_oOo]

Quote[/b] ]Artificial light is the only kind that can easily provide higher PAR than natural light without the destructive heat.

I'm just curious as to what other types of light there is? That statement sounds like I have more options beyond artificial or natural. Don't get me wrong I may be missing something, but wouldn't the sun be the natural source, and then any other light source be artificial?

 

[Joseph Clemens]

Quote[/b] ]Artificial light is the only kind that can easily provide higher PAR than natural light without the destructive heat.

I will rephrase the above statement:

"Artificial light, primarily various fluorescent lamps and fixtures (though other artificial lighting systems could be assembled to provide similar benefits), can be configured to provide higher PAR (Photosynthetically Active Radiation) than natural light, without the damaging heat, intrinsic to natural light. However, the opposite can be true if you aren't careful how you configure your lighting."

Bioluminescence, though most likely entirely unsuitable for plant growth is another "natural" light source.

 

[Gawd_oOo]

Yeah, I thought of another natural light source right after I posted aswell, but I don't think lighting your plants with fire would work out well either.

 

[fudog]

PinguiculaMan: yep that was the plan. With the hood on everything will be flat white inside except the front glass. I concidered covering the outside or inside of the glass with foil, so i can remove it to view the plants. But my other half(wife) has gotten tired of some of my other grow related foil uses and inform me that no foil was to be used(period).LOL

So Im looking into getting some of the new reflective window tint for cars. It reflects alot of light back its almost a mirror. I was thinking of applying it so the reflective side is facing in. That way I could still see in but most of the light gets reflected back inside the tank.

LLeopardGGecko: I've got alot of indoor growing experience

Includeing a few successfull hydro grows. Thats why I was using a fan to keep temps down Im using the same fan and lights right now in my growbox. The temps are in the 80's tops. But we keep the house temps around 68'f all year long.
(I grew up with the family motto: If your cold put more clothes on)  

Gawd_oOo-PinguiculaMan

I think star light is natural light  

Unless your going to say its the same as the sun.