that I got for free, and it was filthy...
I spent an afternoon cleaning the 3 inches of black-green muck from the bottom of the 38 gal tank, washed and sanitized the inside and outside, and applied a cheapo oil based stain over the exterior of the stand.
I started reading on this forum a couple weeks ago cause I was interested in growing canna and thought a good way to experiment with controlling a grow environment on a small scale would be to use this tank setup. With a little experimentation I might learn a few things before I got seeds. So I bought a few things and used other things I already had on hand. Basically my setup consists of:
- (4) 23W CFL lights, sockets with 'Y" fittings for 2 bulbs per socket
- USB fan with AC-USB converter
- seedling heat mat with temp controller
- min/max thermometer with humidity sensor for inside the tank monitoring
- a server cabinet fan with temp controller for exhausting the excess heat
The tank is in my basement, 61-65F average temp with 27-35% humidity
The CFL lights and USB fan are on a timer set at 16/8 hours on-off, seedling mat set at 76F and its on 24/7. I made a lid using a 2'x3' piece of roof flashing and mounted the server fan and CFL lights to it. Besides roof flashing being easy to work with (and I already had it), its shiny for reflecting light and dissipates heat well. The server fan is set to kick on at 77F. The front of the lid has eight 1/2" holes for drawing in cool air when the server fan kicks on.
Average 24 hour temps and humidity inside the tank run about 70-77F, 27-31% with the seedling heat mat on. Without the seedling heat mat I run about 61-77F, same humidity. The server fan kicks on about every 30 min during the day and runs for about 20 seconds.
Currently I have a couple tomato and marigold plants growing, they are looking ok without much stretching, I have then about 8" from the CFL's. Future plan is to use this setup for seedlings until they are about 6-8" tall, then transfer them to a closet with a decent LED light.
Anyway, I thought you DIY'ers might get a kick out of this. Feedback is welcome.
jb
I spent an afternoon cleaning the 3 inches of black-green muck from the bottom of the 38 gal tank, washed and sanitized the inside and outside, and applied a cheapo oil based stain over the exterior of the stand.
I started reading on this forum a couple weeks ago cause I was interested in growing canna and thought a good way to experiment with controlling a grow environment on a small scale would be to use this tank setup. With a little experimentation I might learn a few things before I got seeds. So I bought a few things and used other things I already had on hand. Basically my setup consists of:
- (4) 23W CFL lights, sockets with 'Y" fittings for 2 bulbs per socket
- USB fan with AC-USB converter
- seedling heat mat with temp controller
- min/max thermometer with humidity sensor for inside the tank monitoring
- a server cabinet fan with temp controller for exhausting the excess heat
The tank is in my basement, 61-65F average temp with 27-35% humidity
The CFL lights and USB fan are on a timer set at 16/8 hours on-off, seedling mat set at 76F and its on 24/7. I made a lid using a 2'x3' piece of roof flashing and mounted the server fan and CFL lights to it. Besides roof flashing being easy to work with (and I already had it), its shiny for reflecting light and dissipates heat well. The server fan is set to kick on at 77F. The front of the lid has eight 1/2" holes for drawing in cool air when the server fan kicks on.
Average 24 hour temps and humidity inside the tank run about 70-77F, 27-31% with the seedling heat mat on. Without the seedling heat mat I run about 61-77F, same humidity. The server fan kicks on about every 30 min during the day and runs for about 20 seconds.
Currently I have a couple tomato and marigold plants growing, they are looking ok without much stretching, I have then about 8" from the CFL's. Future plan is to use this setup for seedlings until they are about 6-8" tall, then transfer them to a closet with a decent LED light.
Anyway, I thought you DIY'ers might get a kick out of this. Feedback is welcome.
jb
