  
Cozmic (Cozmic)
| | Posted on Monday, July 07, 2003 - 11:40 pm: | 
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Here are some pics of the fruiting chambers I have been building. It's not quite a terrarium, nor is it an aquarium. It's more of an island in a box... Islarium?
A standard rubbermaid type of bin with an aquarium heater embedded through the side wall.
A plastic tray sits above the water, 4 inches above the floor of the bin. 1/16 of an inch holes are drilled in it to allow humidity to flow evenly.
A closeup of the tray.
The roof acts as a drip shield for condensing water. Water runs down to the edges and falls back into the bin to be recycled. The angled shape prevents water from hitting the mycelium.
The side walls of the roof are hand sanded to fit the bin ledges and provide a good seal.
Side view of the project.
Top view of the project.
Tray side view from the top.
These are kind of a bitch to build, but a fun project anyway. It's kind of an all-in-one wonder, that should provide maintenance free harvesting of cakes. I also bought a terrarium UV lamp to put on top of the tank and run for a few minutes each day.  
I'm dunking my first cake right now... more pics to come 
Oh, one more thing... this is the new camera I got... Takes shitty ass indoor pics is why I did this outside, but it was only 80 bucks  |
myco domesticus (Mycophil)
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 12:12 am: |
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lookin neat !
quiet a drilling job on that traybottom |
Zap (Zap)
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 03:27 am: |
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so how much you chargeing to make me one? |
Cozmic (Cozmic)
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 04:33 am: |
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Here's a couple updates. I just got this one up and running, so humidity is still kind of low.... But cool nonetheless.
As for your question about how much they cost Zap... well they are a bit pricey to make. I use some pretty heavy plex that costs quite a bit. Plex for one tank is $25, aquarium heater is $20, terrarium UV lamp was $27, and the rubbermaid type bin was $8. Plus they take about 15 to 20 hours to cut, sand, and glue the whole thing together . |
faht (Fahtphish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 04:48 am: |
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DAMN!! 80 smackers eh? whew! the design is really neat and and i really like the A-frame lid, so don't think I'm putting you down, but here, the sixth picture down is an example of a fruiting chamber that costs $11.50, only took 15 min. to set up and you can stack 'em. Again don't think i'm putting you down cuz a year ago i would have been all over that design. Very nicely presented btw.
faht |
Cozmic (Cozmic)
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 04:58 am: |
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Part of the intent was to make a self sustaining system that I didn't have to monitor or mist... the other part of it was simply to take up my time cause the cakes were taking so damn long to colonize. Let's just say I needed something to occupy me |
faht (Fahtphish)
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 05:02 am: |
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i know how that goes!
let us know how it works.
faht |
psillyme (Psillyme)
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 12:52 pm: |
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Wow! That's a like a penthouse suite for shrooms. Nicely done. Couple of questions: 1) Are you planning to automate air exchange when you fruit and, if so, how; and 2) What steps are you taking to keep contaminates out of the standing pool of water at the bottom? |
Hippie3 (Admin)
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 01:22 pm: |
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definite archive material
nicely illustrated, i'm sure this will help many down the road of time.
thx for sharing.
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Cozmic (Cozmic)
| | Posted on Tuesday, July 08, 2003 - 04:12 pm: |
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Psillyme... 1)Actually, I was thinking about adding the automated air exchange to these by mounting computer case fans to the side. I was considering drilling holes in the wall similar to the ones in the tray, placing a tyvek sheet over the holes, and then mounting the fan(s) over the tyvek. It should provide enough filtered air exchange. We will see what happens . 2)I'm using a hydrogen peroxide/water mix in the tank. It should keep contaminants out long enough to pull a couple of flushes from a batch, then I will just clean out the tank for the next run.
Thanks for the compliments . |
Cozmic (Cozmic)
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 07:54 am: |
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As suggested... I added that ventilation system to my prototype unit. At first the ventilation was too intense and sucking out all the humidity, so I added a tyvek sheet underneath it. I'm monitoring the tank for recalibration of humidity/chamber temp/ventilation now. Last I checked, it's working out great. Plenty of mist on the lid, and the chamber temp is a solid 77 degrees.
The mycelium on this cake is recovering nicely. I pulled it out of the dunk last night, and it's already growing a soft, new, fuzzy coating.
Next cake is in the dunk now... will post updates when fruits begin to pop up! 
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Hippie3 (Admin)
| | Posted on Wednesday, July 09, 2003 - 12:24 pm: |
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a friend of mine has been playing with tyvek filters on his rubbermaids too.
but you may find the fans a bit excessive, keep an eye on moisture content of your cakes, etc. |
Cozmic (Cozmic)
| | Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2003 - 01:18 am: |
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I have come to the conclusion that it's best to just have the fan on at the same time I'm doing lighting... Like 30 min 2x a day. After switching to having the fan on only periodically, the tank looks like it has a cloud inside of it... Very, very foggy.
So far everything is going clockwork though. The cakes look outstandingly happy.
Thanks to everyone at Mycotopia for their advice, examples, and pictures. This project afterall, is a hybrid combination of everything I have read here. |
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