Phyto Growth Chamber...

[sntlewis]

I got tired of the mess with liter bottles and shop light... So plywood and 6500K flexible led strips from Amazon...

Grows a bit slower that the shop light or PAR38 that I used as well. I attribute this to cooler temp.

Holds five 1/2 gallon pretzel, pickle, BRS etc... jugs

 

[Skydvr]

What about painting the inside of that cover white or lining it with reflective material to maximize the light that gets to the containers? It might help a little.

How air tight is that? I wonder if a sugar water and yeast mixture to produce CO2 would boost growth, or even be worth it.

 

[sntlewis]

It is not "air tight" per se as the power for the leds and airlines come in through the back (see dark spot on bottom left). I tried sugar water/yeast to boost CO2 some years ago with the "normal" two liter bottle & shop light arrangement. I could not see much difference.

The inside is painted "ultra white" from Lowe's so there is some reflective properties. It would be interesting to see if a truly reflective material would help. Thus far I am harvesting phyto in about 3-5 days where with a standard Par38 6500K bulb (which was directed right onto the container) would be 3-4 days.

 

[Skydvr]

Not a huge differrence then. Maybe an extra container to compensate if you need it.

From the picture it looked like the hinged section wasn't painted. Probably just my screen.
Aluminum foil would be simple enough and cheap enough to try for a quick experiment.

I was thinking of doing something similar once I expand from two 1L Erlenmeyer flasks on hommade stirplates. Looks good.

 

[sntlewis]

I was concerned about the led strips being effective, but they are working well.

Grow led strips might be better... next time [emoji41]

 

[Skydvr]

Yeah, that might have been a better option. Hind sight.....

You might be able to suppliment with some red or blue strips.

 

[Zephrant]

I burned out my grow LED strip lights in a month by letting them get too hot in an enclosure. Probably not a problem in this case, but wanted to mention it.

 

[sntlewis]

Well the longevity of the LEDs is something to consider. If they go out I can fall back rather quickly to PAR38 bulbs if needed. I might go to LED grow strips at that point for a test.

And so the great experiment called Reef keeping continues....

 

[sntlewis]

Well the longevity of the LEDs is something to consider. If they go out I can fall back rather quickly to PAR38 bulbs if needed. I might go to LED grow strips at that point for a test.

And so the great experiment called Reef keeping continues....

Update... all continues to go well. Phyto max's out in 3 - 4 days...

 

[Kyl]

Mind sharing more pictures of this setup?

 

[sntlewis]

Mind sharing more pictures of this setup?

No problem. Just be advised that the algae grows really quickly. I was used to running 5 2liter bottles in daily rotation. I can only run 3 to 4 day cycles. I'm hoping to use the other two slots for pods but haven't implemented that idea.

 

[Kyl]

Still thinking of making something like this, but I'm super space limited. I really like your flip top setup, nice work.

 

[sntlewis]

The flip top took some time to envision, measure, think, cut, measure again, cut again..

I built a frame first out of 1x2 pine to make sure that it worked and then covered with Th in plywood. Then finished...

Took more time to paint than anything else, inside was ceiling white and outside matched my wall color..

Leds finally had to be notified down.

 

[sntlewis]

The flip top took some time to envision, measure, think, cut, measure again, cut again..

I built a frame first out of 1x2 pine to make sure that it worked and then covered with Th in plywood. Then finished...

Took more time to paint than anything else, inside was ceiling white and outside matched my wall color..

Leds finally had to be notified down.

Sorry hotglued!