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Separation of light fixtures from enclosure?

Hey all. I am currently working on my design for a custom Nepenthes enclosure. I want to know if I should use a sheet of polyplastic to separate the light fixtures from the enclosure. In other words: will the light fixtures cause problems (ie. lower humidity) if they are actually in the chamber rather than outside the chamber? Thanks.

Once this project is finished, I will probably post a thread on this forum describing it so others can build one, too.

-D. Lybrand
 
it will be warmer, and it will lower the humidity. BUT you might want the warmth for lowlanders, so that's a good/bad thing. any plastic or glass will cut out some light. keyword some. you can still have excellent growth but more light is usually always better. and add an external humidifier for the humidity issues. connect a pipe to the output of the humidifier and reattatch it to an appropriet sized bulkhead in the back of the enclosure. if it's glass you can get it drilled at a good aquarium store (not petco or major chain stores, good ones) for anywhere between 50 and 75 bucks.

that's what i did.
 
Thanks, JLAP. Since I'm going to have one plywood side (covered by 6mm poly plastic, of course), I may be able to make a hole myself. I originally intended the tank to be for highlands, but maybe not. What kind of humidifier do you use? I have seen cheap ones that are pretty small and say they are for appx. 25 sq. ft. I don't think they are to humidify tropical plant tanks, so using one on a 12 sq. ft. tank probably wouldn't be overkill.

-D. Lybrand
 
just a regulat panasonic room humidifier. mine hold about a gallon and a half of water.

you can use it , but you can certainly turn the dials to regulate the humidity. no problem there at all.
 
Okay, that sounds good. I have actually found out that the 6 mil plastsic is very milky white and will block too much light. I am now looking at acrylic panels. The ones at Lowe's have a slightly bluish hue but I think that may be the plastic wrapping. Does anyone know whether or not acrylic blocks out important wavelengths? Thanks.

-D. Lybrand
 
The blue-ish hue is plastic wrapping on the acrylic and, no, acrylic (and plexiglass or glass) do not block essential wavelengths. They also don't appreciably reduce light intensity at typically used thicknesses.

The most important factor determining the quantity of light your plants recieve under fluorescent lights is the distance from the plant to the bulb.

In general, CPs shouldn't be more than 8" away, but no closer than 2". Any further and they may not get enough light; any closer and they may get burnt. The risk of burning is higher when using compact fluros because the bulbs are hotter and they emit more heat. (You can safely place your hand on a fluro tube after its been on for 10hrs, but I wouldn't try grabbing a compact if its been on for more than 30min!)

Hope this helps.
 
Yes, it does help, and I will definately be using acrylic. But it also raises another question:

You say plants should always be within 8" of the light, and I have used this rule with plants under a single fixture. Now my tank will be 3' deep but I wll be using three fixtures with the ideal (5000-5500K, 90-100% RCI) bulbs. I assumed this would provide enough light. Am I right?

BTW, I also plan to use mylar/mirrors/aluminum foil to reflect light in the tank.

Thanks!

-D. Lybrand
 
hmm... iono... my tank is only about 2ft deep . i would use as many CF lights as i can.

personally i use 440 watts of VHO and i could still use more. i really really don't think regular NO lights will cut it since your tank is so deep.
 
Will CF bulbs fit into a normal 40 watt T12 fixture?

-D. Lybrand
 
  • #10
nope
 
  • #11
  • #12
Here's the lighting setup for my terraria:

55 gal: 2 4' fixtures (each holds 2 40W tubes) = 160W
30gal: 2 3' fixtures (each holds 2 30W tubes) = 120W
20gal: 2 2' fixtures (each holds 2 20W tubes) = 80W
10gal: 2 fixtures (each holds 1 23W compact) = 46W

Tubes require different fixtures from compacts. Both types can be found at Home depot or Lowes. Compact fixtures are commonly called workbench clamp on fixtures and sell from $5-10. Tube fixtures sell for $10 (4') or $25 (2' and 3').

Most of my CPs have done very well with this setup, but if you want REALLY good color (especially with VFTs) you may want to go with HO or VHO--but watchout for overheating.

You can buy regular fixtures and tubes and "overdrive" them into HO (which reduces their lifetime). I've never done this, but JLAP has, so he's the guy to go to if you're contemplating this.
 
  • #13
Hey Chloroplast, what kind of compact flourescents do you use on your 10 gallon?
 
  • #14
Okay, the final plan for the frame is set and the tank will actually only end up being 2'4" deep. Will 6 regular fluorescents penetrate that?

-D. Lybrand
 
  • #15
i'd still get a VHO ballast and overdrive NO tubes.
 
  • #16
Okay, that TekLights place seems to be the place to get HO fixtures. I might as well get the HO tubes they sell as well then. Have you found any advantages to overdriving tubes? Where did you get your 440 watt VHO setup? Thanks.

-D. Lybrand
 
  • #17
LLepardGGecko,

I got my compacts from home depot. They sell them in packs of 2-3 for $2-5. But, I got mine on sale for $1.50 for a 3-pack (50 c a bulb)!

All of the CPs in there seem to like it, except for the H.ionasii which seemed to prefer the higher humidity of one of my larger terraria.
 
  • #18
i got my 4x 48inch VHO ballast at marinedepot.com i originally used it to grow coral and other marine inverts.

i have found advantages to overdriving NOs. they don't exactly make 440 watts total but it's extremely close. they burn twice as bright but last half as long. but NO bulbs are cheap and i havn't found a 2 pin VHO bulb and i'm sick of looking so i overdrive NO's.

they also get warmer than if you'd use VHO bulbs on a VHO ballast.
 
  • #19
You could also just get a 430 watt hps. That will reach 3' easy, and you only have to replace the bulbs every year or so. my 2 cents ;)
 
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