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Questions regarding recent adjustments to subtropical/highlands terrarium

Soopaman

Wants a Hamata
Hey folks, just joined the forums though I have been lurking and reading people's threads for a while.

I have had a subtropical/highlands terrarium set up in a 10g aquarium since July and everything has grown well without issue so far, excepting the venus flytrap (now dead) which doesn't do well in terrariums like this anyhow.

I recently made some changes in lighting, as well as added two more highlands neps. I originally only had N. ventricosa, which seems to be really easy to grow. I have had no problems with mine except the one I abused by trying to grow it out of a hole I drilled in a log (it was going to "look" cool, but the sphagnum stayed too dry as close as it was to the lights), I replanted it and it is coming back, just stunted compared to my other.

My lights were, as of starting, two overhead fixtures that fit incandescent bulbs, but instead I put in the highest powered coiled fluorescent bulbs I could find (26w, rated as 75w if incandescent) and 3500k. These did well, but I recently decided to add in a power compact fixture that has two 65w fluorescent bulbs. I need to get the right bulbs, but right now it came with a 12000k daylight lamp, and a 50/50 actinic/plant bulb, that I do not know the kelvin rating on (but I do know I don't need actinic!)

My issue is that the fixture gets very warm, and now my terrarium is reaching new highs of 80-85F during the day, but I can get a drop to about 65-68F at night. I know N. ventricosa probably won't care, but I am worried the new N. singala 'Belirang' and N. spectalabis x aristolochiodes won't appreciate such high temperatures.

Humidity is around 55-60% during the day, and about 80-85% at night.

Picture of terrarium:
plants_12_28_10.jpg
 
A simple way to get the temperature to drop would be to replace or take out one of your more high-powered bulbs with a less powerful "white" lighted bulb. Any CFL that puts off a whitish light instead of a reddish light will also put off less heat.

If you're worried about the temps being too high you can sacrifice your light output. But at the same time... I wouldn't be surprised if your plants managed to do well as long as they get that hefty temp drop at night.

I've been growing many of highlanders into the 80's for a while now. They aren't exemplary by any means but still doing just fine.
 
The temperature (85F) is not a problem for your neps. As Dexenthes said, they will acclimate to such temperature range. But such temperature range may be a problem for some other neps. Your terrarium is beautiful.
 
Nice terrarium, and I agree, temps in the 80s aren't anything to worry about. If you are worried just use lower output lights.
 
Are the bulbs inside the tank or outside? You can place a small CPU fan between the lights and the tank or on the ballast of the lights and have the fan blow the hot air away.
 
Thank you folks!

Rob, the lights are on top of the tank, so technically outside. I am probably going to set up a CPU fan for the nighttime temps, as I really feel like high 60s aren't low enough. But during the day I am satisfied with the current day temps around 85, as I haven't seen any adverse effects on the plants yet.
 
Something also to consider is that it is probably cooler then the readout on your thermometer down where the plants actually are- away from the lights. My thermometer is higher in my terrarium, like yours, and I never let it get above 80*F there, and for a while I had a thermometer lower in the set up, for whatever reason, and it was usually a good 5* cooler... at least during the day, I never checked during the night.

Hope this helps!
Cj
 
Yeah, you can't see it in the photo, but it is actually directly under a light. I did think about that though, and put the thermometer on the ground where the plants are about mid-day and it stayed the same temperature 80-85, I'll have to test it at night too though. The humidity guage is the one that suffers the most though, as being under a light it shows 30-35% sometimes, but just above the plants is about 55-60%.
 
Hello,
I didn't really want to stick my head out, but no one else has asked...:blush: Is that a D. filiformis in your tank? If it is, are you planning on giving it a dormancy? I could be wrong, but I'm pretty certain dormancy is necessary for that species, or are you just skipping dormancy this year because you maybe bought it late in the season? I dunno, I only have a year experience, so don't take me too seriously! Anyways, amazing terrarium! :drool:
 
  • #10
MH1, yeah, it is D. filiformis var tracyi. I wasn't aware it required dormancy as a warm-temperate, and Peter's book doesn't mention anything about it. I'll have to do some research though. Right now it seems pretty happy, and really likes the new lights. A large tendril has unrolled about an inch and a half in the last few days, and it is sending up several new ones.

And yeah, I'm really new to this as well, so I've got a lot to learn. Thanks for the heads up!
 
  • #11
Good to hear it's doing well! I just thought I would say, just in case! It's never nice to lose a plant (I *think* I've killed my binata by leaving it out in the cold and forgetting to bring it in before it froze solid in about -10C... just hope it regrows from the roots! I looked a while ago too, but nothing was ever specific, but reading in between the lines it sounded like it just needed a cool dormancy (like some of the binatas ;) )
 
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