Midnight's highland terrarium

[Midnight Sun]

Finally starting a thread for my highland terrarium. Have been 99% happy with the setup. Basically a homemade grow tent using PVC pipe and clear vinyl, with a 3' x 3' hydro tray for the bottom. 600W Metal Halide. Hacked an AC unit for cooling, on a Zoomed hygrotherm. Questions, comments, thoughts? Enjoy:

 

[Tanukimo]

That's a really strong light you are using. It looks really nice. Do you put foil around it to keep the light inside?

 

[Midnight Sun]

Yeah, it's quite strong, the top of the terrarium is 40 something inches above the bottom, so by the time the light gets to the Neps it's much less intense. The Sarrs and Helis are much closer and take on some nice color still. I have a bit of mylar at the base to direct a little more light into the bottom area.

 

[Tower]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing!

 

[mato]

Looks great. I'll be paying particular attention to how your plants respond to that 600W MH.

 

[corky]

that is a very smart looking setup ,i think your on a winner

 

[Midnight Sun]

Looks great. I'll be paying particular attention to how your plants respond to that 600W MH.

I think it's going on 4+ months with the MH, switched from HO T5. Some Neps did show a little reddening at first, but they seem to have acclimated. I shuffle things around the different shelves to see which microclimate each one likes best...

 

[planturd]

nice did you get the eggcrate louver locally?

 

[Midnight Sun]

yeah, home depot in the lighting section, something like $12 for a 2'x4' piece??

 

[Radagast]

Looks great!

 

[vraev]

Great looking setup. Very very nice. Not heavy as a tank....but still nice and localized.<textarea id="adlesse_unifier_magic_element_id" style="display: none;"></textarea>

 

[Midnight Sun]

Thanks yeah, i've been pretty happy with it, it's fairly modular so i can mess with stuff... i've gone through my fair share of aquariums/reptile tanks

 

[vraev]

That's probably going to be the next setup for me too. Tanks have their pain to deal with.

 

[Midnight Sun]

yeah, i have tried so many configurations with glass tanks and lights and there always seemed to be some drawback somewhere. i do have a couple tanks i still use!

 

[mass]

What are the temps like in the upper and lower sections? I've got a 400w MH and a 400w HPS here, both of which put off a tremendous amount of heat. And I hear the 600w bulbs put out a considerable amount more than the 400s. Just curious how well that cold plate counteracts the heat. Is this also a basement setup?

 

[Midnight Sun]

So the hygrotherm sensor is on the top shelf and it's set to cool during the day at 75, then its set to drop to 60 at night. The lower area probably stays 5 lower on average. One of the cooler fans is on full time for air circulation, and the humidifier (goes on below 70%) does a decent job circulating air also. I'm thinking about adding another full time circulation fan that would blow more up/down.

Yeah, there is a lot of heat involved. The hood has glass on the bottom and ventilation holes. The top of the terrarium is a piece of 16mm double wall vinyl greenhouse panel. It is in my basement and the temps in there stay below 85ish in the summer.

 

[Dexenthes]

Excellent setup. You definitely aren't short-changing any of your plants on their requirements.

I particularly like your two layer approach with the super sun-heavy plants on a top tier and the jungly plants below. This is a good example of easy ingenuity for growers of all genera.

 

[flasker]

It looks great and plants seem happy!!!

 

[theplantman]

Looks like a steamy wonderland. Pretty cool--and nice colors you're able to get, especially on those Sarrs!

 

[Midnight Sun]

Thanks everyone. Yeah, I've been pretty happy with it. I have a misting system in mind for down the road... then it will be close to automated.