[Asael]

Hey, my name is Asael and this is my first post. I have been studying on dendroboard more than I have ever done in school lol . I am currently building a custom vivarium from some of my old kitchen windows that i had to tear down. The dimensions of the vivarium are 28Lx30Wx20H and i am hoping to get some thumbnails when i am done building it. My question is what kind of lighting should i use for the vivarium, the only problem is that i want to be able to see through the top glass. Is there some kind of lighting i could possibly hang from the ceiling to be close enough to the vivarium that it will be able to light up my vivarium without it covering the top glass? If there is any what kind should i use? Please help! and Thank You for your time.

 

[Pumilo]

First off, lighting is for the plants, not the frogs. The frogs are fine as long as they get enough light to hunt by. For the plants, you want something in the 65K to 67K range. Of course it has to be bright enough to grow the plants. How high above the tank are you thinking? If you are still fairly close, you might go Power Compact/Compact Florescent. If you are talking 3 feet above the viv, you may have to look into Metal Halide.
Kudos on building your own viv from scrap glass. If you are building it anyway, and thinking about thumbnails, why not consider going a little higher for climbing room? While it's not necessary, I build all my thumbnail vivs a full 24" tall. I think they enjoy the extra climbing room.

 

[Asael]

Thank you for your help I appreciate it. I am thinking of having the lighting about 15-18 inches above the vivarium. I would have made my vivarium taller but when I started building it I wasn't planning on getting thumbnails but then my brother got a pair of vents and it inspired me to want to get a pair of thumbnails too. I am almost done with my vivarium I just need to attach the door to it i will be able to post some pictures sometime this week and again thank you.

 

[Pumilo]

OK, well you can certainly do thumbs in a 20 inch tall tank. Just didn't know how far you were in construction. 15 to 18 inches above the viv you may be able to get away with a single 96 watt PC if you have a good reflector. Check this out. 96 Watt Bright Kits

 

[MeiKVR6]

In my opinion the glare from the super high-intensity lights you'd need to keep the light that far away on a small tank would be enough to make me not want to do this.

Reminds me of the sunken garden vivarium with it's lighting hanging a few feet high:

Granted that had natural light to, but still. You want to keep the light up high for more viewing area?

 

[Pumilo]

That's true. You're going to get quite a glare from raised bright lights.

 

[deboardfam]

+1 to above.. your better off sitting an exo terra hood or something on the glass.. so you can at least see down through what part it doesnt cover. Glare is ridiculous on the top and makes viewing near impossible.

 

[Brotherly Monkey]

even working under HIDs, for short amounts of time, is huge PITA, couldn't even imagine having to live around one

 

[Asael]

Thanks for your help and i will do a little more research on this project and thank you both for your opinions If there might be a better way of doing the lighting please let me know.

 

[Brotherly Monkey]

If you're willing to do some light construction (only if you were worried about aesthetics), an limit the background to a lower height, you could use some florescent at an angle, shooting down into the viv, from the back.

Nothing I ever personally done, but seems like it would work