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My cooled orchid tank

Discussion in 'Growing Areas' started by yuhin, Jun 17, 2018.

  1. Jun 17, 2018 #1
    yuhin

    yuhin New Member

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    It's been really hot recently, up to 36oC in the day and 31oC at night. After my H.javanica died eventually, I decided to build a orchid tank with cooling.

    It is a exo terra nano tall tank 20x20x30 cm. I replace the top cap with a acrylic plate to install the cooling module and led light. The cooling module is somewhat like to Y2K2 which is easily to buy online. Later on, a thermocontroler is connected and the led light(I built myself, the retailer said they are full spectrum)is fixed below. I tested my current setting, it can reach as low as 19oC (room temp. is 32oC). I set the temp. range at 22-26oC.

    The first and only resident is C. fesselii. I actually built these for it, I hope it can survive....it doesn't look good recently..
    微信图片_20180617234015.jpg 微信图片_20180617234028.jpg
     
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  2. Jun 18, 2018 #2
    RustyExotics

    RustyExotics Nicholas - It's a terrestrial thing

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    That's really incredible. I've actually been looking into creating a large, cooled tank for a while, but I was never sure how I'd do it. I might be coming to you for some advice whenever I get to creating it. ;)
     
  3. Jun 18, 2018 #3
    yuhin

    yuhin New Member

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    Sure thing. But I doubt this type of cooling module can be used in a large tank. If you are looking into something big, you may have to go for the cooler with compressor, like A/C and refrigerator. That would be a quite cumbersome module...
     
  4. Jun 18, 2018 #4
    RustyExotics

    RustyExotics Nicholas - It's a terrestrial thing

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    I had actually planned on turning an old mini-fridge into a "dormancy container," so hopefully the compressor problem won't be too much of a burden! haha.
     
  5. Jun 18, 2018 #5
    yuhin

    yuhin New Member

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    wow! Sounds like a solid plan. looking forward to your work！
     
  6. Jun 18, 2018 #6
    Ray

    Ray Orchid Iconoclast Supporting Member

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    How about a tank sitting on top of the mini-fridge, with a hole/fan combination in the tank bottom and fridge top to cool the tank? I've also seen disas grown hydroponically, in which the water was circulated through the fridge to cool it.
     
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  7. Jun 18, 2018 #7
    yuhin

    yuhin New Member

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    I even saw someone made a full size fridge into a orchid tank. It seems the circulation remains a problem. That is part of the reason I go semi-open system. But I haven’t seen cooling water setup, I guess the circulation could be better. After days of running, the condensed water now can keep the humidity up to 80%. I am not sure wether it will become a problem.
     
  8. Jun 19, 2018 #8
    DanielG

    DanielG New Member

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    I tried to find information on your cooler, seems to be some sort of peltier device. Works OK on small scale, but is difficult on larger tanks. I used a water feature cooled with aquarium chiller and fan blowing over water to cool a 90 gal tank. Works quite well.
     
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