Algae Terrariums

[Zarquan]

There does not appear to be a situation where algae terrariums are a good choice in the base.  They have the requirements of an early game oxygen generation device, but an extremely high amount of work and technology required to get them to work properly (for an early game item) and they always take too much duplicant work (making them bad for the late game).  But I really want to use them because they are the most resource-efficient oxygen producing machine in the game.  And you can always just build a pit for your CO2 and save it for slicksters.

The main issue is the sheer amount of duplicant work required.  If you play on fatalistic, you can't afford to drip water them because soggy feet over time is enough to get 100% stress in the early game.  I would have my dupes feed the terrariums and clean up the terrariums outputs from overhead ladders or doors, but they have to go down there to empty them.  Then they have to deliver the polluted water to the bottle emptier.  This takes forever and can lead to contamination if you use wash basins, which can easily lead to food poisoning in the early game.  Therefore they have to deliver algae, water, flush out the polluted water, and deliver the polluted water to the terrarium.

Then there's the tech requirements.  If you want to keep the system germ free, you can't afford to have wash basins in the colony.  That means you need sinks, meaning you not only need to research sinks, but you have to build the plumbing long before you should have to.  You also need to be able to clean all the polluted water you are creating or the water will run out fast.  After that, if you don't want polluted water in the base, you need to research deodorizers   That means you need liquid pumps and water sieves.   All in all, it takes a lot of research in the early game just to get this thing working.  The starting oxygen will run out long before you get all this done.  Plus you want interior decor.

I feel all of these issues would be solved in a vaguely realistic manner if there were an option (like a toggle) to automatically dump the polluted water as liquid out of the terrarium as it is created without dupe interaction, like a natural gas generator does.  You can still easily drip water them with mesh tiles and then all you would need in the early game to make it feasible is mesh tiles, a reservoir for it to dump in to, a pump, and a water sieve.  That would make them potentially useful in the early game by reducing the dupe workload and allowing wash basins to be used along side the terrariums without risk of random contamination.  It would also make them a good way to use algae in the late game in an efficient manner to produce extra oxygen.  You can easily get the required tech for this before the oxylite runs out with one level 5 researcher.  I feel like this change would give me more choices in how to produce oxygen.  The choice would be against a system that takes a lot of space but is more resource efficient or a scheme that takes less space, but I get less oxygen. 

Spoiler

Drip watering terrariums with nat gas generator style dripping. 

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[Ambaire]

Windows snipping tool, upload to imgur, post direct image link here.

 

[Zarquan]

1 minute ago, Ambaire said:

Windows snipping tool, upload to imgur, post direct image link here.

 

Normally I use in-game screenshots, but I'm being a bit lazy today.

[Ambaire]

If there was an option to hook them up to a pipe system, I'd use them a lot more. (I think the last time I used one was in the occupational upgrade.)

Oh, could we get an option to hook a liceloaf maker to a pipe system, too?

[Kabrute]

and a pipe inlet on the super computer please.

[Zarquan]

4 minutes ago, Ambaire said:

If there was an option to hook them up to a pipe system, I'd use them a lot more. (I think the last time I used one was in the occupational upgrade.)

Oh, could we get an option to hook a liceloaf maker to a pipe system, too?

I also think this would be a viable solution.  However, machines that put things in to pipes tend involve electricity.  Not to mention it would be less realistic.  They flush it out manually because the water in there went bad and algae doesn't come with a build in pump.  I feel draining it on the ground would be more realistic.  Unless you add an optional power requirement to the terrarium that allows it to pump in to pipes. But they don't have any buildings with optional piped inputs or outputs that I can think of off the top of my head.

[Kabrute]

Back around to the OP let me say that I do use the terrarium for puft farming.  By letting pwater sit as such it feeds 3/4 of the puft types available.

again this is more of a lategame use so still not really relevant to your point :/

[Zarquan]

45 minutes ago, Kabrute said:

Back around to the OP let me say that I do use the terrarium for puft farming.  By letting pwater sit as such it feeds 3/4 of the puft types available.

again this is more of a lategame use so still not really relevant to your point :/

I hadn't thought of using pufts in this way.  The only problem with this strategy is that the polluted water evaporates slower than it accumulates.

[Kabrute]

I think the bottles pass that ratio limit around 30,000kg I don't remember the exact value but they will evaporate faster than they build up as long as they Can offgas.

[ImpalerWrG]

Agree, simply dripping the water out of a Terrarium makes sense, it's how just about every potted plant works, you have a tray under it to catch the water.

If the water INPUT could be delivered by pipe (either as an 2nd tier building, or as an option for Dupes to hand deliver to any building that has an unconnected pipe inlet) would then solve 90% of the labor issues.

[Oozinator]

7 minutes ago, ImpalerWrG said:

....

If the water INPUT could be delivered by pipe (either as an 2nd tier building, or as an option for Dupes to hand deliver to any building that has an unconnected pipe inlet) would then solve 90% of the labor issues.

So many ways to create O², i am against piping into terrarium, because it should stay early game object, with high workload.
In some situations they are good, like exploring and creating a "breath stop".
When piping would be needed, they would no longer be interesting for that..

[Zarquan]

6 hours ago, Oozinator said:

So many ways to create O², i am against piping into terrarium, because it should stay early game object, with high workload.
In some situations they are good, like exploring and creating a "breath stop".
When piping would be needed, they would no longer be interesting for that..

I dont think they are so great for that because duplicants would have to spend a ton of time running around to keep them running.

6 hours ago, ImpalerWrG said:

Agree, simply dripping the water out of a Terrarium makes sense, it's how just about every potted plant works, you have a tray under it to catch the water.

If the water INPUT could be delivered by pipe (either as an 2nd tier building, or as an option for Dupes to hand deliver to any building that has an unconnected pipe inlet) would then solve 90% of the labor issues.

If you look at the design in my spoiler, you can see a design that uses polluted water dumping and drip watering simultaneuosly.

I think making the water drip out makes it an option for the early game as a work intensive oxygen system (though not as intensive as it is now) and a different option in the late game (super-efficient oxygen from water and algae to suplement the oxygen rooms.)

[Oozinator]

Just now, Zarquan said:

I dont think they are so great for that because duplicants would have to spend a ton of time running around to keep them running...

Not when you use them "the right way" ^^

 

[Zarquan]

I don't advocate for them being piped.  I don't hold as strong feelings about it as you, but I think it feels wrong because terrariums don't involve power.  I just want a capture polluted water and release polluted water setting.  When you capture the polluted water, you have to manually empty it (so we can still use it as is).  When you set it to release, it just dumps it out the bottom and you need to have a reservoir to hold it.   That way, it can actually be useful in an oxygen production room.  (By the way, when I say "oxygen room", I usually mean an oxygen production room.)  

[vovik]

Well, algae can be put into terrariums that grow and offgas... and what can be done manually can be done automatically... we already have deoxidizers, but they are not terrariums... and in real life its so hard to make a tank with algae that can generate oxygen... so hard...
Really why we cannot research advanced algae terrarium that can be used easier? And why the heck algae terrariums dont grow algae still? With doubled workload they should give some algae back?  

[ImpalerWrG]

Now that light is not just binary but has measurable intensity it would be a simple matter to adjust the Terreriums rate of CO2 -> O2 on the light level and have it produce none with not illuminated.  That would make more realistic and more the challenge into base design rather then labor.

[Zarquan]

4 hours ago, Smuch said:

(/edit:decided to post the content of this post  in a more apropriate thread. Is there  way to delete posts on this forums ?/)

There's an "Options" drop down where you can hide the message.