Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1998 05:58:27 -0700 (PDT) From: steve steve <stevesteve@rocketmail.com> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg1255$foo@default> Subject: Some thoughts about terraria lighting etc
I too followed Barrys helpful FAQ when I set up my
first terrarium (there are three now). I have limited
space indoors so I used a smaller tank than Barry; 10
inches by 10 inches by 30 inches (ie. 250 * 250 * 750
mm for metric people).
Looking at the light power ratings that Barry uses
for his deeper tanks I made the (possibly erroneous)
assumption that the power in Watts was roughly
proportional to the light output. I then worked out
the increased light per unit area that my lower tank
height would give and decided that my two 24 inch
tubes (I forget the power rating) would probably be
enough.
It has been running for over a year and the plants
seem to be doing fine. So I am happy with that. I am
now building a taller Nepenthes Palace. It will be a
bit like a Kilma-Grow but cheaper :-) As I dont have
much time at the moment the first stage will have to
be the construction of the shell and instalation of
the lighting. Next will probably be a timed
humidification system (hopefully promoting some
lovely pitchers).
However the recurring problem of hot ballasts has
given me an idea. When I built my first terrarium. I
took Barrys advice and removed the ballasts from the
units and mounted them externally. I do have some
electrical and electronics training and felt
confident about doing this. If you are not trained in
electrical matters get a trained electrician to do
this for you and MAKE SURE THAT THE BALLASTS ARE
EARTHED as wet terraria and mains electricity are a
potentially fatal mixture. I also use an earth
leakage circuit breaker.
Any way the ballasts now sit on top of an empty metal
case designed as power supply enclosure. This gets
fairly warm too. Here comes the cunning bit. If a
small fan was fitted to the hot metal box some of the
wasted energy could be recycled back in to the
terrarium as hot air via ducting. A small thermostat
device with a sensor inside the terrarium/Nepenthes
box could then keep a faily regulated temperature.
Has else anyone tried anything like this?
Any thoughts?
Steve
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