would this system work?

Scorpendra

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
1,499
i was thinking about this for a long time, and i think i figured out a way to constantly have high humidity in a T tank besides having misting systems or a fish tank nearby. i drew a diagram of my idea. bear in mind that this is just a hypothesis, and may or may not work efficiently in real life.



the bottom part contains a drawer full of water. the water evaporates through a divider that is attatched to the tank's walls (hotglued or something) and into the substrate from the bottom. there is a thin layer of gravel to keep the substrate from falling through the divider. from that point up, it's a normal terrarium. the drawer slides in, allowing for changeing the water without disrupting the setup. what do you guys think?

Rob
 
Last edited:

common spider

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 10, 2005
Messages
483
That is a very good idea.But if you have over 40+ T's to make something like that might take a long time.

I also wish there was a better way at keeping my animal room at 70% humidity all the time but for now I use 2 warm mist humidifiers that I have to fill 2 times a day which sometimes can be a pain in the butt.

I would very much like to see your idea when you get it all done and ready to try out.

You know how you have the bottom of the tank you would have to use a glass cutter to make holes or openings in the tank so the water would evaporate and make humidity I think.
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 22, 2004
Messages
3,886
Neat idea in principal. Though it might just be easier to make a wet setup with very good ventilation. Using the right material for the devider would be crucial also because moist substrate weighs tons. So once the substrate sucks up all that moisture there is a high risk of the devider bending. You can't use glass because of the gravel (it could break), you can't use plastic unless it's very thick because it might bend. You can't use a metal mesh because that also would just bend obviously. If you're gonna use a metal plate then you should go with stainless or aluminium.

Whatever you do, you'll most certainly have substrate falling through the devider over time, not much though but don't expect the drawer to stay clean. I'd suspect you might get quite murky, or dirty water after a few weeks, with algae growing, just like in a fish tank and it might start smelling.
 

ballpython2

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 28, 2007
Messages
1,670
That is a very good idea.But if you have over 40+ T's to make something like that might take a long time.

I also wish there was a better way at keeping my animal room at 70% humidity all the time but for now I use 2 warm mist humidifiers that I have to fill 2 times a day which sometimes can be a pain in the butt.

I would very much like to see your idea when you get it all done and ready to try out.

You know how you have the bottom of the tank you would have to use a glass cutter to make holes or openings in the tank so the water would evaporate and make humidity I think.
You say you use humidifers, if yours is like mine it should have two settings low and high. if you put it on high you'll have refill them a lot. if you keep it on low it will last much longer. so if yours is like mine keep it on low and the water should last twice as long
 

Mina

Arachnoking
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 4, 2005
Messages
2,136
I just put gravel under the substrate a couple of inches deep. Then put a tube in the corner that goes through the substate to the gravel and pour in water. It evaporates up and works well.
 

Scorpendra

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
1,499
Neat idea in principal. Though it might just be easier to make a wet setup with very good ventilation. Using the right material for the devider would be crucial also because moist substrate weighs tons. So once the substrate sucks up all that moisture there is a high risk of the devider bending. You can't use glass because of the gravel (it could break), you can't use plastic unless it's very thick because it might bend. You can't use a metal mesh because that also would just bend obviously. If you're gonna use a metal plate then you should go with stainless or aluminium.

Whatever you do, you'll most certainly have substrate falling through the devider over time, not much though but don't expect the drawer to stay clean. I'd suspect you might get quite murky, or dirty water after a few weeks, with algae growing, just like in a fish tank and it might start smelling.
the divider would be made of thick plastic.

as for the water getting murky, that's why the drawer can be freely removed; so it can be cleaned as well as refilled. and the way i see it, the gravel would at least slow down the substrate.
 

Cirith Ungol

Ministry of Fluffy Bunnies
Old Timer
Joined
Dec 22, 2004
Messages
3,886
the divider would be made of thick plastic.

as for the water getting murky, that's why the drawer can be freely removed; so it can be cleaned as well as refilled. and the way i see it, the gravel would at least slow down the substrate.
I don't think you'd get much substrate into the drawer, but you might get loads of small particles in it. For example if using peat, the dust is so fine, nothing can stop it. But chunks wouldn't make it I'm sure.

If you ever build it, be sure to document it! :)
 

TheNatural

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 12, 2005
Messages
1,163
hi molitor,

I think you dont need all that system, just put more gravel and the thing will work as well

example:

 

Scorpendra

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
1,499
there's the issue of the water becoming stagnant due to lack of filtration. hence why i designed the water source to be removeable.
 

common spider

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 10, 2005
Messages
483
I know if I keep them on high I have to fill them alot but you are right if I keep them on low then I have to fill them once a day.:8o
 

elyanalyous

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 23, 2006
Messages
484
That looks like it would work, and having a tray that comes out would prob be a good idea, so like you said you could change it. also you could attach a heat mat to the bottom of the drawer i think, to heat the water up, to increase the humidity in the tank above.

deffinity post a DIY if you do end up going with this idea, it is interesting
 

Thoth

Arachnopharoah
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 9, 2005
Messages
1,321
The design the Natural shows is a common design. In Dart Frog enclosures you commonly find a bottom layer of LECA (light expanded clay aggregate) (as opposed to gravel only because it is lighter) over which is mesh and then the substrate. For planted terrariums you'll often find a layer of gravel over which is a layer of charcoal then substrate (i have several enclousures set up like that).

The point is not to fill the gravel layer with water but it is there to allow for drainage to keep the substrate from becoming swampy. The excess water then works its way back up into the substrate via capillary action/evaporation.

Not to say you design won't work just; it would, its more complicated than it necessary.
 

Pyst

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 7, 2005
Messages
266
I just put gravel under the substrate a couple of inches deep. Then put a tube in the corner that goes through the substate to the gravel and pour in water. It evaporates up and works well.
This is exactly what I do too Mina. I've got my T.blondi set up this way. 2" of gravel followed by roughly 6" of coconut coir. I hot-glued mesh to cover the top of the tube to keep crickets from going down in it. Make sure to use metal mesh instead of the plastic type. Crickets will eat the plastic mesh and then get trapped down in the gravel.
 

Scorpendra

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
1,499
Not to say you design won't work just; it would, its more complicated than it necessary.
i believe the only really complicated part of it would be assembling the boards, since everything would have to be lined up and measured perfectly. using an existing tank would make things worse, since i'd have to remove the bottom for the divider. i do intend on making it someday, but not any time soon, possibly after the schoolyear ends and i have three months of free time.
 

ribnum

Arachnopeon
Joined
Mar 1, 2007
Messages
39
just try

just try the set up.. how will you know if you will not conduct an experiment???
 

Scorpendra

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Feb 16, 2005
Messages
1,499
yeah, i will definitely try to make it in the future, when i get a (non-burrowing) terrestrial that requires high humidity.

Rob
 
Last edited:

bushbuster

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 11, 2006
Messages
344
I just put gravel under the substrate a couple of inches deep. Then put a tube in the corner that goes through the substate to the gravel and pour in water. It evaporates up and works well.
Yep, ditto to that here as well, my M. robustum loves to dig up the wet rocks and build a cone out of 'em to the entrance of her lair, lol
 

billopelma

Arachnolord
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 20, 2005
Messages
604
Minus the draw, the system you are describing is commonly known as a false bottom. Many people use them for humid scorp species, and it is generally considered tried and true. Most T's don't have such high rh requirements so it is not typically used for them. Depends on how dry it is where you live, I guess, as to whether it would be worth doing. I could probably get away with it in the winter, but by summer I'm fighting to get the rh down. Do a search here on 'false bottom' and you will find 8 or 10 pages of related posts.

Bill
 

funnylori

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 27, 2006
Messages
581
If you are worried about the water becoming stagnent in the false bottom of the tank, you could always drill a small hole near the bottom and cork it... Granted, you would have to make sure you can find a plug that will work/seal well. And, you would have to be very careful to drill the hole the right size.

Good luck on your tanks!
 
Top