# fridge tad incubator quick build



## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

had an idea last night while building the frog room and trying to figure out where to put stuff that use to be in the rooms. two items were fridges. one is a small one that i will use to store beer... straight and simple, right by the desk easy access. the other went to this
started with a fridge








disassembled the door and cut foam out, saws-alled the rough opening, then bent the metal back over the inch of foam, laid the glass into rest on the metal then calked it in place.









added hand cut glass shelves, the wire ones were sketchy

















controls added for temps (there is redundancy and i know the temps dont match, the unit was on before the temp sensor was added








capable of holding about 100 tads in these specimen cups on three shelves with a lower bin for tad food, straws, suckers, what ever you need.
light goes on and off with the rest of the tanks (LED no heat)

























waiting for the caulk to dry so i can clean it all up.


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## frogface (Feb 20, 2010)

Great idea!


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

Nicely done!


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## stevenhman (Feb 19, 2008)

Nice! What's that nifty temperature control thingamajigger you got there?


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Ahhh that's a hydro farm Thermostat 





Cheapest one I could find, that is plus or minus a degree


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

I think with everything minus the fridge I bet this only cost me $60 but really all the items were just sitting around so I think it was a great use of the items that were collecting dust. Can't wait to clean it up tomorrow and see it finished.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Keep an eye on it during the break in period, I've seen modification on fridges used for microbiology incubation cultures that resulted in temperature stratification. The volume may be small enough for that to not happen, but you may want to consider the option of adding a small fan to ensure that the temperatures are even from top to bottom. 

Was there any reason to leave the freezer compartment or are you also using that for storage? 


Ed


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Ed 
Yes I thought that out and am monitoring. The hydrofarm thermostat is up in the freezer part (this would be the warmest area) the second thermostat is at the bottom. I will monitor it, but a fan wouldnt be a bad idea. The reason the freezer has been kept is because this is a still fully functional fridge if thigs should change.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Cool.. thanks for the clarification.. But that means you could still store temperature stable things in the freezer section. 

Ed


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Yes that is true.... Now im curious what else you thinking could be worked with in this little fridge?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

motydesign said:


> Yes that is true.... Now im curious what else you thinking could be worked with in this little fridge?


Since you put a front window in it, you could add LED lights and grow plants that require cool temperatures (like orchids and if larger highland Nepenthes)... 

You could use it as a reptile egg incubator

you could use it to grow edible mushrooms... or medicinal mushrooms.. 

I could go on and on... 

Ed


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Haha well Ed, LEDs are already installed... Anything fun I can do with it and my microscope? I'm not big on bacteria and such, however maybe if there was something you could enlighten me about that would maotivate one?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

motydesign said:


> Haha well Ed, LEDs are already installed... Anything fun I can do with it and my microscope? I'm not big on bacteria and such, however maybe if there was something you could enlighten me about that would maotivate one?


How about scraping some of the green slime off the side of a tank, floating it in a petri dish for 24-48 hours and take a look at the cool protists that should be in it.. I would bet on rotifers for sure and possibly tardigrades... 

Ed


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Ehhh, I stick to looking at poop.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

Then you are missing out on a huge world of cool things.. If you were into Sci-Fi did you ever read Surface Tension by James Blish? It's a decent short story. 

There are so many cool things... 

Ed


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

No haven't read it, unfortunately I read thousands of pages a year of crap written about things I don't care about, I should def try to get some reading I truly cared about. I think the last thing I read I wanted to that was fiction was dontes inferno ... With that came reading a dictionary and a few Italian history books as well as the word gnawing about 4,000 times haha


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

motydesign said:


> No haven't read it, unfortunately I read thousands of pages a year of crap written about things I don't care about, I should def try to get some reading I truly cared about. I think the last thing I read I wanted to that was fiction was dontes inferno ... With that came reading a dictionary and a few Italian history books as well as the word gnawing about 4,000 times haha


I liked the original as well as the Niven/Pournell take on it.... But we digress from the thread.. there are a lot of things you can do with a set-up like that... 


Ed


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Well I guess then I'll just need to see how it goes, I'm really quite excited to use this little toy


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

well it seems as if i have 2 degrees of difference in the fridge, not anything horrible. but i am now wondering if i want to keep it? it would be nice to have the known variability, the question is how controlled is it? anyway, only in the first24 hours of testing, so well see how it goes?


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

ed, any issues you can foresee with tad/egg development and the frequency of the fan going 24/7?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

motydesign said:


> ed, any issues you can foresee with tad/egg development and the frequency of the fan going 24/7?


 
As long as the humidity stays up, it shouldn't cause any issues. The only real risk would be if the fan was causing things to dry out more quickly. 

Ed


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Alright, installing a fan today then. Thanks for the help.


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## Spaff (Jan 8, 2011)

Moty I don't want to highjack your thread, but one of Ed's suggestions is exactly what I'm trying to do. Ed, I have a glass door fridge and I'm trying to use it to grow cooler growing orchids. My questions though are how would you recommend going about controlling temps inside and what type of LEDs do you recommend? I'm trying to grow mostly Pleuros and maybe Oxyglossum Dendrobiums.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

I would suggest contacting Todd (screen name Venustus) or another expert on LEDs to ask them about the ideal lights.. I'm not up on all of the differences. 

With orchids, keep in mind that your going to need air movement so a fan with some good temp controllers (I would suggest asking Motyldesign for suggestions since he knows more about it than me) is what you probably want as your going to need to avoid stagnent air. 

Ed


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## Spaff (Jan 8, 2011)

Ok I'll see what Todd says about the LEDs. I currently have a small desk fan inside. My day temps are in the 70s to about 80 but the nights drop to the high 40s and then back up to 70 before dropping since all I have for control right now is a timer. I know that swing is nowhere near ideal. I'd like to see the nights stable around 55.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Spaff let me get on that control design. The LEDs is really quite simple. It's all in the wave length. Here is a wave length of a 50/50 mix of white led/warm white led I put together. Then the sun over laid ... You can make this pretty cheap or buy from a vendor. I'll reply tomorrow on the rest


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## Spaff (Jan 8, 2011)

Thanks for that information motydesign! My only continued concern is the amount of light that they put out. The orchids I'm trying to grow have low light requirements, but they will still need at least 1000-1500 foot candles. I just don't know enough about them to be sure they'll meet the light requirements. I look forward to your response on this and the controller.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

okay Spaff the first issue i assume youre having is the max allowable temp. 40 degrees is pretty much standard max in the food industry and this is why you cant keep it warmer at night. so youll need to run another thermostat in series with the fridge. something like this!
http://www.amazon.com/KegWorks-Freezer-Temperature-Controller/dp/B0002EAL58
then plug your timer into that then timer into the wall. 

ed brought up a good point of stagnant air and orchids. now the issue is how do you get fresh air in the fridge and not waste electricity cooling the air outside of the fridge? this becomes a question of allowable funding for this project? i tried to keep this as cheap as possible and could only come up with an idea about a solenoid valve that the plunger would cover the hole at night and then open mid day or however you wanted to program a timer. the other was a electric damper, but then youre getting really out of the reasonable area in budget and would require tins of modifcations and 24V power... and so on. so now i dont have enough info to continue... i need to know if your day time temps are too hot currently and what the above mentioned budget could be?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

You can avoid stagnent air by simply having the air move inside the refrigetrator, it doens't necessarily require air exchange with the outside of the refrigerator. 

Ed


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

oh... well if thats the case, then an internal PC fan for $5 would be plenty. this is what i did last night to the fridge and only took 20 min. placement was behind the freezer with a 1" gap between fan and ceiling with direction blowing down. 

this would not matter with your build spaff as i am using mine as a destratification fan, yours would just need to circulate air.

side note on my build i had open cups of water on the shelves last night, constant humidity is at 75% HOWEVER, the thermal tape i used to hold the heating element on the glass didnt like this and no longer held ahahah... well back to the drawing board for affixing the heat cord to the bottom of the glass


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## Spaff (Jan 8, 2011)

If the fridge is allowed to function as a fridge, it takes the temperatures down to about 37, so you're right about the issue with too low temps. The reason I have it on a timer is because it only runs when the timer kicks on (the rest of the time it's just an unplugged fridge essentially). The timers I could find with the three prong plug were only set with increments of 15 minutes, so the fridge almost reaches its actual set point of 37 in that time. Then the fridge turns off and it warms up to about the temperature of the room before kicking off again, so the timer really isn't ideal

Do you think I could just use the thermostat you linked and do without a timer or would I need to plug the thermostat into the timer, so it only kicks on when it's my "night" period?

If I understand what you've said already correctly, I need to go with the second option above because the thermostat should only be active at night when I want it at the set temperature. I just want to make sure I'm correct with that.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

yes that is correct, this allows you to let it cool off at night and warm up in the after noon. let me know if you have more questions.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

well added my light bar to give plant growth a heavy start! thats why its red


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## bsr8129 (Sep 23, 2010)

Not sure if i missed it but what are you using to heat the fridge? I made something simular but more simple to culture flys in the garage, I didnt add the glass and used some under tank heat mats conncted to a reostat I had laying around. Also how did you run the wires?


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

oh im just using heat tape/cord for heat (i think 35watt , i cant remember exactly) and the hydrofarm thermostat


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Came across this thread again and thought i should give an up date, been 5 months and all is great in this little fridge design.

i did upgrade the fan to a 210mm which is in the freezer part pointed at the glass front to minimize condinsation. other than that it hasnt been touched (not even the temps) its been verry stable from transition of winter into summer. about 30 tads to froglets have been morphed out of it have only lost 3 tads so far. the water change method i have been using is the simple add water when needed.
anyway just thought id share.


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## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

Very nice! Funny i saw this thread the other day. Needless to say im picking up a wine cooler today and have flexwatt and a thermostat on order. Thanks for the inspiration!


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## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

I might of missed it but what is your set temp on your thermostat to keep your water around 78*?


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

by direction of a very intelligent person on the boards who helped me on initial setup up early in the thread, i was directed to keep a nice stable 80*F and lots of air circ to insure the stratification never over heated the top  so far i like how everything has gone! there was even some data that i might be able to look up that showed the best temps for proper tadpole development and we followed this information.


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## Dizzle21 (Aug 11, 2009)

motydesign said:


> by direction of a very intelligent person on the boards who helped me on initial setup up early in the thread, i was directed to keep a nice stable 80*F and lots of air circ to insure the stratification never over heated the top  so far i like how everything has gone! there was even some data that i might be able to look up that showed the best temps for proper tadpole development and we followed this information.


Thanks!

So is that 80* ambient temperature, or water temp. I got my Stat set right now for 80*.
I got a fan running now seems to help significantly.


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## motydesign (Feb 27, 2011)

Dizzle21 said:


> Thanks!
> 
> So is that 80* ambient temperature, or water temp. I got my Stat set right now for 80*.
> I got a fan running now seems to help significantly.


ambient temp is water temp. with the fan running, there is no where in the fridge that is off more than .2*F and that could easily be the +- of the temp gun


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