[Guest]

Is there a rule of thumb for lighting for plants in terrariums like there is for reef tanks. X amount of light per gallon size of tank.

 

[andersonii85]

Is there a rule of thumb for lighting for plants in terrariums like there is for reef tanks. X amount of light per gallon size of tank.

It really depends on what plants you want to use for your terrarium.

-Justin

 

[Guest]

Well, just standard tropicals and broms, etc.
Nice frog btw.

 

[andersonii85]

Well, just standard tropicals and broms, etc.
Nice frog btw.

The broms are pretty straightfoward. They just need bright light. For a ten gallon aquarium I usually use 1-2 compact fluorescents... this usually puts out between 1200- 3000 lumens depending on what bulb(s) you choose. I have had broms flower in this type of lighting. Although, the placement of the brom will really dictate how much light they get. As you may have noticed there is no real standard. In the system I described above you could grow most philo's, peperomia's, syngonium's, and rex begonia's. Again, placement is key as is moisture. I usually choose my lighting first and then choose plants to suit it, but the opposite can work I guess.

By the way, thanks. If there is any plant in particular you want to try I can (as well as others on the board) give you advice... as you may know that if there is a tropical plant out there, chances are someone has become curious and tried it in a viv.

Later,

Justin

 

[Michael Shrom]

Most of the plants in my terrariums do well on low light. I find 1 to 2 wide spectrum flourescant light bulbs sufficient for health and display. I do use muffin fans for ventilation for some of the orchids.

 

[Guest]

Well, the tank I am finishing is a 30G tall and I have 2 55W 21 inch 6500K PC bulbs with a reflector. What I am wondering is should I use one bulb or both? I'd like to plant it similar to the one on the Blackjungle site, but no orchids. Just tropicals, broms, tillandsias, etc.

 

[Dancing frogs]

I think one would be plenty to grow just about anything in that size of tank. One thing to consider if you're thinking of using two of the 55 watt bulbs is how much it will heat the tank up. Also how much room on the lid it will cover, it is kind of a pain to have to move a light fixture everytime you feed or mist. Actually I think one of the 55 watt cf's would be perfect all around for a 30XH.
Good luck!

 

[Guest]

Wow! One 55W will be enough to grow Broms and such? I thought they needed more light than that. Cool, now I have an extra bulb for another tank :lol:

 

[Guest]

I had A 55g setup with a 2x 65watt BriteLite setup on it. This was definitely enough light for the tank, so one 55watt for a tank roughly half the size will be fine. The only problem I had was the heat created by the lamps which I believe caused the death of a couple tincs (I had problems keeping the temp below 80). Definitely consider looking into fans for cooling the lamps (This is one thing I must do before setting my tank back up) or at least allow for a open air space between the lamp and tank top to aid in heat dissipation.

 

[Guest]

So 1 55W 6500K bulb is enough for a 30G tall? Awesome. I should be ok with the heat as I am using a hood from an old 29G fish tank with built in fans. I am going to wire the fans to a HVAC thermostat to that when the temp exceeds a set amount the fans switch on.

 

[Guest]

One 6500k should be enough. your tank is a couple inches higher than mine but I had no problems getting my broms to grow bright, compact and pups.

Please post pics on your fan setup when you do it. I still have yet to see a Viv with detailed fan setup (especially one controlled via thermostat)

 

[Guest]

Tim, it would be simple. You just use a single stage thermostat found at any home improvement store. I'm in the HVAC industry, so I have them laying around. The t-stats works off a 24v control, but using 12v in this application would work perfect. You'd have a 120/12v transformer to the stat and mount it inside the hood and wire the cooling wire from the stat to the fan. Set the stat at say 80 degrees and whenever that temp was reached the stat would make sending power to the fan. When the stat was satisfied, power would break turning the fan off.

When I get around to doing it I'll take pics to post.

 

[Guest]

That sounds real easy. I would definitely consider doing that. I might have to by a canopy for some of my tanks just to hide the electronics for tank and light ventilation then. Would it be possible to do something for humidity?

 

[Guest]

You could get a humidistat and wire it to a fogger or humidifier.
http://www.allergybuyersclubshopping.co ... #technical

 

[Guest]

OOPS! I screwed up. My tank is a 37H not a 30G like I thought. It's 30"lx12"wx22"h. Does that make a difference? Will one 55W PC do with that size tank? A 30G is only 16" high, the 37H is 22" high.

 

[Moe]

Im not trying to start some lighting argument, but i always follow the 1.5 - 2 watts per gallon rule.

M.N

 

[Guest]

that should be fine also had a 29g setup with a 65watt BriteLite and a 37g is only like 4" taller. I didn't have any heating problems with this setup, but I screen top on it and an active water feature for humidity. You should still be fine with one. If your really concerned try two 36watt bulbs, because a 110watts of PC is gonna be REAL bright on tank that narrow.

 

[Guest]

Thanks guys. I was thinking 1.5w per gallon which would give me 55.5 W. Harry from Cloud Jungle is gonna put together a plant package and placement tips after I send him pics when I'm finished building. He's a great guy.

 

[Guest]

Well, I just received my 55W 6500K PC bulbs from Pet Supply Liquidators and man are they bright! I connected just one bulb over the tank and it lit up big time. I guess one bulb was right, thanks guys.

 

[Guest]

Just because I can't ignore this...

Is there a rule of thumb for lighting for plants in terrariums like there is for reef tanks. X amount of light per gallon size of tank.

There is no rule of thumb for light in reefkeeping, at least not for anyone who knows what they're doing. You can have all sorts of "watts per gallon," but if you don't have the proper intensity of light or PAR for corals to achieve photosaturation...then you're crap out of luck.

"X watts per gallon" is a phallacy and flat out irresponsible husbandry.