hey all,
working off a thread on terraforums.com i decided to make a self watering terrarium. this is basically a flood and drain design that's automated with a fountain pump on a timer. The drain is a syphon that forms as the water fills up the tank.
Here's a couple of really poor quality pics:
So, the five gallon bucket below the tank is the resevoir. Inside is a 75gph fountain pump with a tube going into the tank (the tube on the left). The two tubes on the right are for drainage. As the water fills the tank, it pushes into the drain tube, then back down into the bucket; automatically starting the siphon. As the water level builds up to the second tube, the second siphon starts which creates an equilibrium with the incoming water, effectually holding the water level stable (in this case, at a depth of 2"). As long as the pump continues to run, the water level will stay at this level. Obviously, when the pump shuts down, the pump tube will also become a drain as the water pushes back down, and the tank empties relatively quickly.
i thought there might be some cool applications for all the terrarium guru's over here, so i thought i'd post this up.
as always, criticisms/comments/advice are always welcome!
working off a thread on terraforums.com i decided to make a self watering terrarium. this is basically a flood and drain design that's automated with a fountain pump on a timer. The drain is a syphon that forms as the water fills up the tank.
Here's a couple of really poor quality pics:
So, the five gallon bucket below the tank is the resevoir. Inside is a 75gph fountain pump with a tube going into the tank (the tube on the left). The two tubes on the right are for drainage. As the water fills the tank, it pushes into the drain tube, then back down into the bucket; automatically starting the siphon. As the water level builds up to the second tube, the second siphon starts which creates an equilibrium with the incoming water, effectually holding the water level stable (in this case, at a depth of 2"). As long as the pump continues to run, the water level will stay at this level. Obviously, when the pump shuts down, the pump tube will also become a drain as the water pushes back down, and the tank empties relatively quickly.
i thought there might be some cool applications for all the terrarium guru's over here, so i thought i'd post this up.
as always, criticisms/comments/advice are always welcome!