Friday, May 29, 2015

Greenhab 2.0: Watering mechanism

In the process of rebuilding Greenhab (the first was destroyed when I tried to use the dishwasher to clean it, only for it to partially melt) I decided I don't want it to be a single use gimmick. I want it to really work, and be able to stay down permanently.

Two problems with the last one: 1. too cold, and 2. no way to water the plants without bringing it up. I solved 1 by adding resistive heater pads.

They may or may not be too warm, if so I can add an inline potentiometer to throttle how much current they receive. I thought I'd solve 2 by adding a second tube just for water.

But, I hate adding extra surface connections, Quickly becomes an ugly, unmanageable tangle. Instead, I've worked out that I can simply inject water into the existing airline, letting the compressor push it down to the plants. This means Greenhab 2.0 will never need to be resurfaced.

Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Scratch that last post, Aqua Bubble is lost

Could swear I'd seen it recently but after several days of searching I just can't put my hands on it. That's a shame. Currently in the process of building a new greenhab after the dishwasher partially melted the last one, so hopefully I'll have something new to show soon.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Summer mini-expeditions

As I've not been able to afford to do much work towards completing the really big habitat, and the weather outside is getting nice and warm, I thought I'd do some short term stuff in natural bodies of water.

There are some ponds, lakes, and creeks nearby. Some even have reasonably clear water. My thinking was to take the battery backup air compressor, a length of air hose and the aqua bubble. Then emplace it on the bottom for 10-15 minutes at a time, running the compressor off its internal battery.

I would of course film this from underwater. I'm expecting it to be neato to finally get some decent footage of the aquabubble somewhere other than the aquarium. More to come.