Greenhab added

Hampture now has an underwater terrarium, for plants and insects.

 

Hampture update

For those wanting to see what the hambros are up to since going back into the water. This is about a week into their submersion.

Recording a stream bed using a dropcam

Beginning the design phase of a new habitat.

The feedback on the current Hampture has been mixed. The average viewer doesn't understand why it's so "small" or why I can't connect the various habitats, as it seems simple in their mind. Attempts to explain issues with ballast weight versus habitat size/buoyancy, and how connecting multiple habitats makes it impossible to remove them without putting all the stress of the weights on the spot where the tunnels penetrate the habitat hulls just kinda falls on deaf ears and is met with exasperation and impatience. "This is what I want to see you do. I don't care about the details of how you do it, that's for you to figure out."

Fair enough, I will. Gotta give the people what they want, right? So, from what I can tell, this is what the people want:

#1. More living space
#2. Multiple habitats connected by tunnels

That informs the new design. It will need to be several enclosures joined by tunnels. But, because they cannot be separate structures or the tunnels will break if I ever try to lift it, this means the enclosures will need to be bolted to a very strong, rigid platform to take stress off the tunnels. So in effect it will be a single structure, but with multiple enclosures. I'll be using the tried and proven X-Large lexan drybox for the enclosures.

The next question is, how many enclosures will satisfy viewers? My initial inclination was two, but why even bother if the improvement will only be incremental? Just one tunnel and two rooms isn't much of a step up. So, there will be three large enclosures in total, joined by two transparent acrylic tunnels. They will be mounted perhaps six inches apart on a one foot by 3.5 foot (or so) platform, either custom milled metal or waterproofed wood. On the underside, I'll bolt six of the standard ballast pods; shallow dry cases each containing two 5lb lead divers' block weights, for a total structure ballast weight of 60lbs, which conveniently is at the upper limit of what I can comfortably lift while hunched over an aquarium.

This leaves a bit of excess weight in case I want to add something like smaller clear drybox "lofts" atop the large enclosures accessible by vertical climbing tunnel. I'll experiment and see whether or not that looks too cluttered. The completed habitat will be ideal in a number of ways:

#1. It's the maximum size it can feasibly be and still fit into the fish tank, and be easily removable from it
#2. It's the maximum practical weight for easy placement, removal, and every day stuff like having to turn it over to empty out the soiled litter while cleaning and resupplying it
#3. It's the minimum number of enclosures and tunnels, I think, needed to satisfy people who want several linked habitats and excess living space for the hamsters.
#4. The excess space means more room for food and additional water bottles, which means they'll be able to stay down much longer than before.

I estimate the completed habitat should come in between $300 and $500. While it's an exciting and extremely practical/feasible design that I can absolutely build, it's also outside of my budget. If you'd like to see it get built in time for the weather to warm up and live streaming of the fish tank to resume, you know where the donation button is.

If Dreamworks did a Hampture movie

Space Hams progress

Just a heads up, I am putting most of my effort lately into finally building the Sky Station, documented over on the Space Hams blog. Significant progress so far, hope to have it functional and airborne when the weather warms up.

Midwater habitat concept

Nothing says a habitat must be on the absolute bottom of a body of water. In fact, because air is so buoyant, the real challenge is keeping them on the bottom. Any air filled structure when submerged behaves very much like a balloon. So, supposing you want your hab to 'hover' at a precise depth in a much deeper lake or part of the ocean. It can be carefully weighted to neutral buoyancy and then fitted with computers that micro manage a smaller ballast tank to keep it at the desired depth, or much more simply, you can just hold it down with a tether. 

This one's not intended for animals, much too small. You'll notice it's partially flooded, this was to keep it submerged; the weight is not as yet sufficient. I'm going to either grow plants in it (short grass probably) or carve a very large circular moon pool in the bottom and use it as an RC submarine hangar. The little radio controlled Graupner microsub I showed off in earlier videos would then have someplace underwater that it can surface and 'park'. What might be neat in the future is to fit it with the electronics from one of those new short range wireless charging pads for cell phones, such that the little sub can charge in its undersea garage, and never have to surface again.

Incidentally, this "tethered balloon" habitat concept borrows from an actual undersea lab of very similar design, Jacques Rougerie's "Galathee" which could, by cable and winch, raise and lower itself like an elevator. This allowed it to also serve as a decompression chamber, or to observe specific levels of the water column.

Anyways still needs some additional weight, and really nothing's set in stone yet. Plants? RC sub garage? Please offer opinions in the comments.