Friday, September 17, 2010

The habitat enclosure.

This morning, nestled tenderly in my inbox between "hot black sluts do it all on cam for you" and "Lifetime supply of Chipotle free click here" (The more tempting of the two offers, not for racial reasons but because I am a man who truly enjoys large burritos) I found a notice that my habitat enclosure had shipped. Here it is:

It's made by a company called Atlantis Underwater Islands, and it's intended to provide dry land for small turtles, frogs, newts and crabs in large aquariums. I will be completely disregarding that intent. Here it is without all the garnish added:

As you can see there are deep depressions for the soil, so it's possible for plants to take root. The "river" is fairly shallow by comparison. A dip in the river rim allows a bit of water to get into the soil every time the air pressure bubbles out and the water level rises slightly (it goes back down a moment later.)

I've pretty much copied, wholesale, how the Aquarius reef base works. Prepare your body for science. In all posts from now on I intend to examine actual undersea habitats of all types because they are kickin' rad and it seems like nobody knows about them. Here's a video tour of Aquarius that explains the moon pool and how it's used to pass surplus air out into the ocean.



Like Aquarius, Hampture Mk.I will rely on a surface bouy to pump air down to it (in order to keep the water out/refresh the atmosphere) and supply power for the lighting. Unlike Aquarius, Hampture will be a glorious bastion of Randian philosophy as practiced by a single dwarf hamster. Pretty much the same otherwise.

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