> cat hobbies/archive/paludarium-build.nfo

Hobby: Paludarium & Aquatic Habitat Construction

Status: Archived (2018 - 2021)

> System Overview

Building a paludarium requires balancing a terrestrial terrarium with a fully functioning aquatic ecosystem. Rather than relying on off-the-shelf timers, I engineered a custom microcontroller-driven environment that actively monitored and adjusted the internal climate to sustain delicate plant and animal life.

> Core Automation & Ecology

• Arduino Environmental Control: Designed and programmed an embedded controller to continuously monitor and regulate internal temperature and humidity levels, ensuring optimal atmospheric conditions.
• Dynamic Weather Simulation: Programmed custom logic for the lighting arrays to simulate natural sun cycles (sunrise/sunset) and randomly generate cloudy weather patterns, reducing stress on the ecosystem's inhabitants.
• Biological Cultivation: The environmental stability achieved through the automated controls allowed for successful plant propagation and the breeding of various fish species within the habitat.
• Expanded Marine Projects: During this same era, I also applied these habitat-building principles to construct and maintain a thriving saltwater reef tank housing various corals and marine fish.

> Visual Outputs & Demonstrations