FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

Sup all, i posted a long time ago about creating a terrarium from scratch, i ended up dropping the project because of the cost of the acrylics, and the tools which i didnt have

anyway, now i'm trying again with some fishtanks i bought off of our countries version of craigslist (i guess)
i originally only wanted 1 tank, but i said i liked both, and the guy offered the both of them for $30 before i could choose (rather than the $20 each he was asking), so i grabbed both of them

Not sure which one i want to use yet (i'll find a use for the other one)
might be cool to recycle that gravel somehow, perhaps i'll just wash it thoroughly and use it as a base for sphagnum or something?

the plan currently is to cut a custom lid, and install 3w LED lights in each (either 20w or 30w worth) at a ratio of 1:1 red/blue

down the line i'd also like to continue installing environmental controls into whichever tank i use, as an ongoing project, things such as water temperature regulation, humidity regulation, water filtering, etc

my goal as i see it now is to have a compact, environmentally controlled terrarium

Anyway, the next post may take a few weeks, as stuff from china usually takes at least 2 weeks to arrive, once it's in a working state, i will use it to grow VFT seedlings, and sphagnum moss
the first step will be to build some LED lights, and a lid, and install them, that will most likely be my next post with photos

if anyone has any advice, mainly regarding lighting, please post it, the dimensions of them (atleast the surface area) for the rectangular one, approximately 22x36, for the hexagonal one, approximately 31cm diameter, the rectangular one appears to be made of acrylic, the other one is glass
also, does anyone know, is it better to cool the air, or water for a terrarium? either one has advantages technically, air cooling would require an exta bulky fan, but would not require filtering or anything
water cooling would only require a aluminium water block, and a water pump, and perhaps filtering of some sort

perhaps i'll use whichever tank i don't use for tissue cultures down the road

edit: for the moment, i'm buying the cheapest electrical components i can find, for the most part i think they will be good performers either way, if i have any issues, i will upgrade later on

Just another post, i'm going to edit this with all the materials i purchase, and the date
30th sept
2x fish tanks - $30
1st oct
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/400437955476 - 10x 3w blue LED - $4.22
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/121306302772 ... 1497.l2649 - 5x 3w green LED - $3.91
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/121435261291 ... 0375568430 - 10x 3w red LED $5.23
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/2pcs-6A-250V ... 3f3200313e x3 - Mains toggle switch - $3 to control green lights/grow lights/ any fans later on
2x LED drivers (one 3-4x 3w, one 5-9x 3w) + some relays - $9.40

2nd oct
many items, water pump, LED driver, relays, peltier element, water block, water sensor, float switch, temperature controller - $43.49
power supply for a humidifier (which i already own), this may go into a different project - $5.80
4th oct
some more items, a second water pump, thermal glue, 12v 60w power supply, US>AU wall adapter - 12.54
5th oct
some more various water sensors - 4.48



EDIT: not updating this, too much effort

Wow, that was a deal! It looks to me like you have gone through pretty much everything quite thoroughly! One thing regarding the gravel, as long as you rinse it well you should have no problem. fish have pretty much the same requirements regarding gravel (inert, non-ph changing) that carnivorous plants do. I look forward to reading more!

Yeah, i thought as much, currently we don't have a huge supply of pure water which sucks (i've had to purchase it a few times recently)
i'm curious if any plants would be happy to grow on the gravel with a small layer of sphagnum ontop of it, or if sphagnum itself would be happy to do so, i guess the problem would be that it wouldnt wick water up
right now i'm trying to find some sort of small filter i can put on the inlet for the water system, there are large fish tank filters, but they are too bulky, just want something that can filter out large particles so it wont screw up the water system, perhaps some sort of sponge or mesh filter

You should just look up "filter floss" on Amazon or some other place. A large pad does not cost much at all.

katya, for some reason i thought you said "filter moss" lol, sounds awesome, a filter that looks pretty and regenerates and duplicates itself- too bad it didnt exist

anyway, just added some more items to the order, a second water pump, just incase i go through with the resevoir idea, some thermal glue, a 12v 60w transformer (i got some power supply unit for a halogen/LED type deal, for some reason it's much cheaper than a wall unit, and more convenient if the wires are already accessible)- this is for the peltier element

man i love china ebay, everything is so cheap, can buy rareish components, electrical parts, solar powered grasshoppers, and the shipping is stupid, why cant local people offer shipping as cheap as china, makes no sense lol, and usually by the time the items finally arrive, you've forgotten about them, it's like christmas

only problem is, 2-5 weeks later when they arrive and you realise you forgot one component *_*

Mufasa wrote:katya, for some reason i thought you said "filter moss" lol, sounds awesome, a filter that looks pretty and regenerates and duplicates itself- too bad it didnt exist

Yeah I wish. There is something called a Marimo moss ball, it detoxes (helps) the water and collects particles. I have one.

Sup all, just got the first 3 packages today, i will make a comprehensive update of the first post on friday, and maybe take some photos of the components, hopefully i'll atleast have enough parts to start working by next wednesday

still not sure which tank to use, rectangle or octagon, maybe i can get some opinions/votes here?

Well, it depends on your light setup. I would say rectangular tank, just because it would be easier to control, but since you are putting everything together the octagon would probably be fine.

Me personally, I would go with the rectangle.

Well, some more packages came today, right now i have the blue & red LED's, one water pump too, and the LED controller, so i should atleast be able to start working on the grow light this weekend

Not to give you a lot of trouble, but could you post pics when you complete it?

Just an update, i've had some trouble finding a suitable piece of aluminium from a hardware store, the only place i can see sheets in the right thicknesses is from ebay, and they aren't willing to cut it to shape for me before posting it

other than that, from memory i've received
peltier element, all LED's, main LED driver, water pump, water switch, uhh... idk
i also bought some tubing and a socket timer from a hardware store

Wow, sounds like you are doing well! By the way, you may be able to find sheets of aluminum at a hardware store, we have them at lowes here in the US. If not, you could just use reflective sheet steel.

Finally found a good piece of aluminium, managed to find somewhere to get it cut, will have to buy a drill bit & tap & some bolts to attach lights at some point

Just got the final tools/parts i need to actually assemble the light, i will do so over the next few days & post pictures, i'll also need a couple more things to actually fix it into the fish tank

i think i'll just have the grow light in this terrarium, none of the complex other stuff, i think i will save that for the other tank, and have it set up for high humidity species