# using vivarium?



## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 4, 2011)

hi, i have an empty vivarium around the house its 4ft x 2ft x 2ft glass doors the length of the front and everything else wood with two ventilation holes one on each side at the back, one high one low. is there anything usefull i could do with this? i know i would have to cover the front atleast but is it worth using or not? i was thinking with lst thered be enough room for a plant or two/a veg side maybe. 
it already has lights set up in it(not the right one) but i would think it would be much quicker than starting from scratch.
any thoughts anyway?

also just for the sake of asking are uvb/uva bulbs of any use? have a 6 ft one lying around is all 

hxxp://www.petco.com/product/102889/Zoo-Med-Reptisun-10.0-UVB-Bulb-for-Reptiles.aspx?cm_mmc=CJ-_-CID-_-3116206-_-10412456&AID=10412456&PID=3116206&SID=izig&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.petco.com%2Fproduct%2F102889%2FZoo-Med-Reptisun-10.0-UVB-Bulb-for-Reptiles.aspx%3Fcm_mmc%3Dcj-_-prod-_-feed-_-352683
im guessing not but worth asking anyway.

the viv is similar to this pic.

if its worth the effort what would need to be done to it. im sure id have to cover the whole interior in something reflective but what else.
cheers any help appreciated


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## pcduck (Aug 4, 2011)

looks like a great clone room.

I have used a uvb bulb I did not tell any difference, but it may have not been big enough. I know a couple of our members use then with great results. I am not sure but I think BBfan may be one of our members that uses them. Maybe he will pop in and be of more help.


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 4, 2011)

corrections its a 4 foot long tube, think 60watts? just from memory though. 

cool i was expecting it to be totally useless so a glimmer of hope anyway.
i would only be growing small amounts anyway maybe a tiny sog kinda thing. how many plants would be the limit with this? i would probably only grow 5 at most anyway. only trying to stop buying so much would be nice to be somewhat self sustained


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 4, 2011)

would a 600watt MH light be too hot/not have enough coverage/be too close to be usable with plants in pots(heavily lst'd)? 

hxxp://www.tarahydroponics.com/magnetic-ballast-kit-600w-p-175.html

this is just the first deal ive found that sounds cheap enough and decent, any problems using a MH light in such cramped conditions, theres a 400 watt one there too.
or are cfls the only option? or maybe flipping it on its side.

another edit: found some 150 and 250 hps lights+ballasts just there. what would be the best option for this? or should i take this to the lights section, not really sure where this fits.


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## The Hemp Goddess (Aug 5, 2011)

I really recommend some kind of air cooled reflector or cooltube.  Amazon has a 600W with a digi ballast in a cool tube for under $200 USD and that includes shipping.  How much to ship that mag ballast?


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 5, 2011)

The Hemp Goddess said:
			
		

> I really recommend some kind of air cooled reflector or cooltube.  Amazon has a 600W with a digi ballast in a cool tube for under $200 USD and that includes shipping.  How much to ship that mag ballast?



im not sure on shipping for that site but have a vague memory of it being free. not sure though. anyway found a better site yesterday much better selection and shippings 19euro which isnt much. havent found a cooled product yet though, but still looking. 

hxxp://hydroponics.eu/lighting-c-24/easy-kit-s-40
they have many all in one deals with ballast bulb reflector etc at different wattages.
also AGRO lights combination of MH and HPS they say. better all in one maybe for this situation.. 

amazon seem have a weird thing about not shipping electronics here for some reason, not sure if it would apply to this but just have had hassle in the past.

do i need 600 watts? would that not be overkill for this size cabinet? im not against buying it moneys not a big problem up to a few hundred anyway but if it creates more problems cooling wise it might not be worth it for me. any way i could split off a small area for veg with this? or is that asking too much. could possibly buy one MH for veg and one HPS for flower at lower wattages? just not sure whats best to do with this. 
guide me:confused2:


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## WeedHopper (Aug 5, 2011)

I would use T5s for that cabinet. Best bang for yur buck for such a small space. I have a 4ft 6tube that puts out 30,000 Lums.


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 7, 2011)

ill check them out hopper,

i found some cool tube reflector fittings on that site i see i need a fan with this, will anything do or is there specific cooltube ones, any sticky on this? i cant see anything on it is all. ill go have a search again now anyway.

with a cooltube fitting would this be better than the t5?


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 7, 2011)

ok well ive been making a shopping list... 

does this look like enough to get me up and running and keep heat down? 
i live in a cold enough country and plan to be growing during the winter. it gets pretty cold which might help.. was thinking of having light cycle in reverse when 12/12 so during the nights when its cold the lights would be on might save me needing a heater at nights aslong as its lightleak proof. 

chose the son agro bulb was reading and heard that is great for keeping plants bushy and short which would be handy in my situation(correct me if wrong) 
i saw plans for a home made carbon scrubber i might try to make that to keep down smell though its not my main concern also found a website selling cheap ozone generators might get one if needed
400 watts seemed like enough(maybe too much?) and with the cooltube hopefully not too hot.
lumens per square foot would be 6000~ horizontaly or 13000~ if its vertical? im not sure im doing this right though or if height needs to be taken into account.

also if im drawing air through the cooltube could i connect that to a scrubber to keep down smell or would it need a separate extractor? and does the one i have in the cart look like it would be enough or might a pc fan do for such a small area? its the smallest one that fits the 12.5 cooltube or is this easily attachable to all sizes? cant find much to read on this kind of stuff but im sure itll make sense once i have it in hand.

planning on ordering tomorrow if nothing changes my mind. also if the cabinet is too small and unworkable i have a few closets around i might try instead which are a bit bigger but would prefer this.

lots of questions sorry but just want to make this work and not waste money.

express shippings free so thast the total anyway


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## WeedHopper (Aug 8, 2011)

Im not sure ya could run HPS in such a small place without some kinda heat issues.


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 9, 2011)

i thought with the cooltube it might be ok no? 
have put off ordering till the weekend anyway might dowsize to 250wats atleast and look more into flourescent.


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## Hushpuppy (Aug 9, 2011)

If your cool tube is inside of the cabinet, that is going to be close with the cabinet laying on the 4ft side. It will not take long for the plants to be up into the light and burning themselves. I would have recommended doing it with T5s also as they don't produce much heat and the plants can grow right to them without problems. Nor do they take up much space. However you have already purchased the HPS system so My suggestion would be (if you are handy and space will allow for it) cut a large hole in the top of the cabinet and fix the cooltube on top of the cabinet so that it isn't in the grow space. You would have to build a reflector box that would sit over the cool tube but this would help keep the heat out of the cabinet. You would basically build another cabinet on top of the existing one but it would only be as tall as needed to encase the cooltube. Then you could also place your air ducting and scrubber there rather than having it be conspicuous on the outside or in the way on the inside. Another option would be to buy the vented cooltube reflector hood that has a wide footprint. It could sit directly on top of the cabinet and with a hole cut into the top of the cabinet large enough to just have a lip for the edge of the hood to be suspended above the inside of the cabinet. Then you again could build some kind of extra cabinet that would enclose the hood from being seen but still allow it to be cooled.


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## Hushpuppy (Aug 9, 2011)

since you have not ordered anything yet check out basementlighting.com They are in the UK and they have single fixture T5ho lights which would allow you to put as many as 10-12 lights in that cabinet, which should be enough lumens to support a small stealth grow. It will be challenging for you but if you can get it right, it should work nicely. I saw a guys grow where he was using T5s and was doing ScrOG within several 2ft shelves. He had it working quite well.


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 10, 2011)

hey hushpuppy, havent bought anything yet anyway.
i was thinking of having the cabinet vertical if using a hid but im sure itd still be problematic. having a look at that site now think ill do that for now and i can always get a cooltube if needed around flower and try to build that extension hood id say id be ok to do that im partially handy. 
ill start with something workable and upgrade when needed.

its the Sunblaster T5HO propagation light yeh? looking up some info now. cheers for the help


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## WeedHopper (Aug 10, 2011)

This was with T5s  http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showpost.php?p=707605&postcount=2


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## 7greeneyes (Aug 10, 2011)

WeedHopper said:
			
		

> This was with T5s http://www.marijuanapassion.com/forum/showpost.php?p=707605&postcount=2


 
what a beautiful plant Weedhopper! gj


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## WeedHopper (Aug 10, 2011)

Thanks.


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 14, 2011)

10 t5's on the way so ill try to cram them in and hope it works out. looks great hopper


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## 7greeneyes (Aug 15, 2011)

Dude,

you are goining to see A great turnaround once u install those bad boys. Awesome!

Peace, 7GE


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 16, 2011)

thanks, hope so anyway still have a good few things to get before i can start. extractor on the way now too.

have been looking at seeds and thinking of doing something like 2 autos and 2 sativa(with lst) switching to 12/12 once the autos are done and the others are ready to flower. could give me more room to flower the others then, any problems with this? i would be lst'ing the sativa types to keep them from hogging too much light and hope the autos wouldnt take up too much room so would this work?(could stagger planting if regular seeds didnt need that much veg etc.)

just an idea anyway i would like to try some autos just to have something quickish. might try an all auto grow for a first one if not to get to grips with things


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## Balerion (Aug 17, 2011)

starting a 3 chamber for my first grow. tired of contacts falling through to the point where i'll risk anal rape. just ordered a wardrobe 3dr dresser for only $130. have ministry seeds coming- Angelmatic (autoflowering so ill get good buds quickly but low yield ). you guys seem to be in your genesis as well so im lookin for a few grow buddies since i cant talk about fight club. my real friends have big freakin mouths.  I also have big bud xxl coming.

the best stealth set up ive ever seen was made from a wardrobe like this so im going to try to emulate that. it had whats called a crog which seemed to double the yield. so im not going to go small for my first system because i'd like to have sativas in there, which grow tall. have to make sure the trichomes are foggy and not amber or else it will cause couchlock i hear. looking for a daytime sativa and nightime indica- the perfect day.


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## Balerion (Aug 17, 2011)

thunderdunk, those autos will grow pretty compact. good for small systems and stealth. yield might be low, like an oz or so. but autos are highly recommended for beginners because of their resiliancy. they have ruderalis in which they spring up faster than all the others. originated in the himilayan northern india region so they are short, fast, and bushy. 
I'm getting angelmatic auto-fem. supposedly its known as a perfect wake and bake and puts you in a great mood to start your day. birds chirpin, all that ****...


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## Bogart Mc Thunderdunk (Aug 17, 2011)

hey sounds good, yeh im ok with small yield not trying to sell anyway and a few ounces would do me a good while. haha they sound good, disney effect. i was thinking lowryder easy ryder (lowryder#2 x ak 47) but ill check them out. get like 15 free seeds or something ridiculous with attitude so ill try a few of their autos mixed in too id say. not sure if ill have anything other than autos the first time now. but who knows buying a few regular strains to have the choice atleast


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