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Setting up a new 5 gallon tank

I'm setting up a new (well, not really new, I've had the tank for a while) tank to grow some Neps and Pings in and I have a few questions regarding lighting:

1) It will be illuminated by two 18 inch flourescent tubes, 15 watts each (I think that's what they are). I have to get new tubes for the fixtures and I'm wondering if I should just go with all cool white like my other terrariums or experiment with some Gro-Lux tubes. Where do you guys buy Gro-Lux? Are they worth it? I think I just like the purple hue! Haha!

2) I do believe that this will be enough light for the size tank that it is, but I'd like some opinions. Will 30 watts of flourescent lighting be enough for a 5 gallon tank?
 
5 gallon will be SMALL.... maybe for 1 nepenthes... but even then theirs not many lowlanders that will fit in youre 5 gallon, what species where you thinking of?
 
30W over that area should be enough. But I tend to agree with nepenthes_ak; 5gal is rather small for neps. Unless space is really an issue, you're better off with larger tanks as the setup cost:growing space ratio is much less. If space isn't an issue, you might want to consider using a grow rack for neps--lots more space, easier to maintain, and cheaper in the long run.
 
30 watts should be good. You can turn the tank on it's side if you want. You can get Gro-lux at homedepot/lowes. I don't think they work any better, but the purple glow is cool.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I'm still not sure if I want to go through with this new tank since I already have more than enough plants as it is. I just have this nice little nook in my desk that would be perfect for a 5 gallon tank.

Ah, the temptation!
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I went ahead and got two 15 watt tubes today, one cool white tube and one plant and aquarium tube. Home Depot didn't seem to have those Gro-lux tubes that everyone uses, but the plant and aquarium bulb seems to have the same purple-ish glow.

They're obviously both 15 watts, but the cool white tube has a lumens output of 870 while the plant and aquarium bulb only has a lumens output of 410. Supposedly it has a better spectrum for plants and has a color temperature of 2700k as opposed to the 4100k of the cool white tube.

I use cool white tubes exclusively on my other two terrariums (they work really well) but I wanted to try something different with this smaller tank and now I'm wondering if it's even worth it to keep the plant and aquarium bulb when I can just take it back and get a cool white tube that has twice as many lumens.

Or I could just try out this new light combination and see how the plants react.

Hmmm...any thoughts?
 
hey...wow...did u get the 24 inch plant and aquarium tube? T12 and F30 or something..?? I was sooo close to buying it. But couldn't find a small fixture with a wall plug so i stopped. Now instead I am using 2 desk lamps both diffrent. One is lights of america sunlight desklamp at 6500K full spectrum, 82 CRI and 1200 lumens equivalent to a 120 watt incandescent.
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the other is a 20 watt fluoroscent OTT-lite plant lamp. My vft's are definately growing under them...so I guess they can HANDLE my conditions. The new lamp is making traps redder. so i guess its good.
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But let me warn u....lol!! a desk terrarium is soo distracting. I used to look at it every 1 hr or even less.
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Now though I covered all sides with al foil. One side though is AL foil taped to a cardboard. So during morning Its open when the plants get sunshade + 2 lamp lights(16hrs). At evening once it darkens I just put backthe cardboard and the light is bouncing back in for maximal to the VFT's.

I know that maybe light is still not enough..but thats all I can do for now...atleast till next summer.
 
With having two bulbs over my 5 gallon, the temperature gets into the high 80s/low 90s, which I don't think is quite ideal for most Nepenthes. I'm growing mostly highlanders in there, so I tried putting only one fixture/bulb on top. The temperature stays in the mid 80s this way, but obviously there's less light.

Also keep in mind that we've been having somewhat of a heat wave lately, so winter temps will be about 5-7 degrees cooler on any given day.

What do you guys think? Keep the two bulbs for a total of 30 watts but with higher temperatures, or nix the second bulb for a total of only 15 watts and keep temps a bit cooler?
 
That is one of the problems with having a small terrium. Like a small GH or small fishtank. They are harder to keep the temps regulated. Larger tanks are easier to keep stable. What about connecting a small PC fan to blow across the bulbs disipating some of the heat so it doesn't increas the tank temps as bad. Abviously more light is going to be better, but I duno if trying to do this for a 5 gallon os worth the trouble. That is why I am not going that elaborate with my ten gallons, but when I do a big one I will go elaborate! A PC fan or some type of fan blowing over the bulbs might be your best bet because I would vote for more light. Your plants will grow much better, and its almost imposible to get to much light on them when using florecents. Yet the heat you do need to take into consideration.
 
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Thanks for the advice. What I decided to do is move most of my lowlanders into the smaller tank and keep the highlanders in my bigger 20 gallons. I also have some Mexican Pings in there, along with a Pygmy sundew.

The tank now has 30 watts of cool white light over it (got rid of the plant/aquarium bulb so I could have more lumens - plus I just like the glow of cool white light much better).

I hope my plants acclimate well to their new conditions.
 
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