Very Simple Highland & Ultra Highland Setup

[southbaytraps]

Simple Breakdown - Use some sort of sealed tank, place a riser inside the tank, then use a water chiller and pump to drive cold water to a set level an inch or so below your nep's. Why I went in this direction, some pics of the prototype and how I'm going to improve the system were already posted here

I'm pretty excited with the initial results and didn't want to spam all the forums out there, but wanted any ideas/criticism/improvements from icps members. Especially since I need to cover about 5x the square ft of this little tank shown.



Thanks! 

[Kgrizzlefoshizzle]

Wow MIke.. This is KGrizzlefoshizzle on Instagram by the way lol.. Huge fan of all your stuff. Southbaytraps is def responsible for my addiction to cps... I recently made the transition to LEDS was wondering if 9 band is sufficient for growing ... Didn't ha e the extra cash to go for the KIND led yet... So I don't have 12 band. Hope 9 is ok... Any input?

[southbaytraps]

Hey!

I think I received your message but have been potting around the clock! Totally understand your reason for choosing so a bit more affordable. If I am correct, yours has UV/IR diodes as well? If it does, I'm going to say that is a big plus.

My testing and experimenting almost never ends... So I tried so many LED's and eventually found some that had produced almost no heat and growth was amazing... So the hardest part about answering this question is that you should see better growth with both 9 and 12 band LED's over T5's but the light balance is very important.

From my experience, most of the 9 band LED's are heavy in the reds 620-660ish ... That isn't always the worst thing but at the same time a more balanced spectrum works best in my opinion. Just keep an eye on your plants, stay on the cautious side by given them some distance from your new light at first.

You should be good

[Kgrizzlefoshizzle]

Hey MIke, the highland collection has grown out of control thanks to you lol.. I have an old salt water 75 gallon tank sitting in my shed.. Thinking of using this same type of set up .. My only question is.. How the heck does a water chiller work? I've looked at a view videos on YouTube and still can't figure it out lol.. Any input on setting it up would help.

Hope all is well. 👍😄

[southbaytraps]

Hydroponic water chillers like the ones I use for terrariums and grow tents are designed to chill water down to near freezing temperatures if desired. Once water is cold it takes a lot more energy to warm up compared to air so depending on the application it is most likely a better choice than freezer chests or air conditioners.

The chilling unit itself is fairly expensive but does not use much electric(50-75 watts when daytime temps rise). The one I used for this 40 gallon terrarium is now chilling an 4ft x 4ft grow tent, with multiple levels all packed with seedlings. So the investment of $300-$400 is well worth it in that you will have plenty of room to expand in the future.

If I got off topic... Hydroponic water chillers require a submersible water pump to work. The water pump sits inside your terrarium and drives water out a hose, into the water chiller. The chiller simply drives the water back to your tank. It takes a few hours to bring temperatures down, during that time it will run a bit harder but once the desired temp is reached the chiller will maintain the temperature using very little energy.

When used for real hydroponic applications they would have nutrient solutions pumping through them so in general they are built pretty tough. I use food grade peroxide and dump some in the water every so often to keep things clean.

From my experience, using a chiller is the most efficient way to grow highland/ultra-highland neps and heliamphora inside. The growing conditions are very consistent regardless of room temperatures. Lights go on, temps rise to optimal levels, lights go off and the cool water ensures a hefty temperature drop.

Eventually I will get around to showing all the different applications I have used chillers for... Both inside and in the greenhouse. Hope this helps