FlytrapCare Carnivorous Plant Forums

I'm back!
So, it's been a looong time since i posted here, i'm back with a project.... A Highland Nepenthes Terrarium!

So, i want to use a Mini Fridge, i have selected one of 52 litre Capacity....

So, What tinkering should i do to convert it into a terrrium cooling unit or a water cooling unit from which the water would be circulated in a tank?

I haven't purchased the mini fridhe yet, so any other cheap or similar suggestions would be welcome lol!

My plan--

A glass aquariums will have a glass lid with two 22 watt 6500 Kelvin 2400 lumen Cool White LED Tubes on top of it,
It will also have a small cool mist humidifier and a fan blowing air insode it from the outside or circulating air inside it or blowing air and humidity from the humidifer to provide humidity with cooling (please suggest any one),

The mini fridge will have a large water container inside with water, the water will be chilled, i can also use a anti freeze coolant, when temps exceed a limit then a thermostat will turn on a pump which will punp the coolant or water in the bottom of the tank, the same thing will happen once again in the night, so how can i pump the coolant or water out of the tank and into the fridge for chilling it again ? (i need the system to be automatic as i can't hire anyone to operate it during my holidays)

Also, can i tear apart the mini fridge and attach it's coooing system directly to my tank?

The tank's specifications--
Length-60cm
Height-30cm
Breath-30cm

So, which thermostat and humidistat should i get to cool the tank down if temps go above a set limit and cool it down during the night?
Also, what system should i make to automatically pump the coolant/water from the tank back to the fridge after the cooling is done?


Sorry for all the humongous questions!
I'm a highland Tank Newbie lol.
Photos of the mini fridge i've selected have been attached, if needed then i can cut all the useless plactic pieces in there.






Thanke In advance For your generous replies!

The mini-fridge will work, but you shouldn't need any extra coolers or need to tear it apart too much, that's the point of using a fridge as the terrarium - they are made to get cold. just hook it up to a thermostat controller and it should for you. The only problem with fridges is that they need to be standing up in order to run correctly, and the one you have picked out opens in the front, so that might cause an issue with lighting. Also space that is kinda small, it will work for a little bit but you will find yourself running out of room fast.

The thermostat and hygrometer you use is up you, but inkbird and willhi both have a couple different options to choose from.


If you are handy I made a write-up on how to make a peltier cooler, parts are cheap and it can be fitted to any tank with a lid.
how-to-build-a-peltier-cooler-t37576.html

and in here is how I built my fogger and set up my tank :
simple-highland-tank-setup-t37084.html

So,i actually meant to circulate the chilled water in the tank,



So would this peltier work?
And how many will i need?

Or would this one work?

So, how will i attach it to the tank to cool it efficiently?

And how many units will i need and Which one?
I can purchase multiple if they do work good!

Ahhh, ok. I understand what you are using the fridge for now. if you go with the fridge idea you will need 2 pumps, one to pump cold water into the tank, and another to pump it back out into the fridge. Or you can use one pump and run a waterline though your tank then back into the fridge reservoir, if you do that make sure you have a decent amount of the water line in the tank (more surface area = better cooling).

After playing around with my peltier I have found you need around 1 peltier per 8 gallons. Your tank is about 15 gallons so you need 2 peltiers

Of the 2 peltiers I would pick the first one, you NEED a fan on the hot side. I wouldn't buy either of those though, the hot side stays too hot and that stops the cold side from getting colder. If you are interested in peltiers I recommend reading the whole write up I did, it will explain everything more and tell you how to mount them in your tank.

If your going to use the fridge you could mount a small power steering cooler with a fan on it.
https://www.amazon.com/Four-Seasons-530 ... ing+cooler

Yeah that would work beautifully, great idea! I didnt even know those existed

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

Rammplins wrote:Yeah that would work beautifully, great idea! I didnt even know those existed

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

I cant take credit. I saw it on Instagram. I thought it was cool though and I guess you could put an ice pack in you water supply to cool it even more during the hot months.

Hey, Rammplins, are you on any Social Networking Networks, like Facebook?
Perhaps we can chat there

Thanks for that idea hungry plants!

I will make a plan and post it in this thread and ask you guys for a review, hope i'm not annoying you guys?


Thanke for helping me!

This is a pretty good write up on the subject.http://edencps.com/diy-air-conditioner/ This gentleman has tried many methods before finding what seem to be the two best options. One of his methods is very similar to what I've done. I actually built the first version of mine before I found this "how to", and then in the process of researching an upgrade I stumbled on that article. This one is pretty wicked and I borrowed from it as well. https://www.terraforums.com/forums/gree ... amber.html

Finally finished mine. It's right here in the same section but here's a link to the most recent build portion. highland-system-t32775-30.html The first pages of the post is what I initially did with a mini fridge much like the one you are looking at. It also worked.

Hope some of this helps.

Cheers,
-@.

I don't have any carnivorous plants although I've always wanted them. I do have axolotls and crayfish and a cooling problem with chameleons. For the mini-fridge set-up, the aquatics crew remove the flimsy chamber around the freezer area to make it even colder in the fridge.

I have pygmy chameleons and they do not like the heat. Neither do the full-sized ones but they are kept in screened cages which are easier to cool down. My guys are in a 75g paludarium with T5HO lighting. I have 8 cats so I must have some sort of substantial lid to prevent cave-ins with the screen - I have 3 cats who are tubby. I've read the different DIY posts from Rammplins and will probably go with the peltier cooling system. My question is will the cooling fan on top of the screen work to cool the inside? There must be some sort of screening to prevent the pygmies from getting into the fan.