Trying to set up a 10 gallon terrarium

[Pk93]

Hello, it's been quite a while since I have posted on this forum, Ive become pretty busy/stressed out with college and working in between semesters, Im glad to be back though . Unfortunately most of my CPs didn't make it through this past year , but Im going to try my hand at them again (hopefully with better results this time around). This time Im going to try growing some in a terrarium (Ive wanted to build a terrarium for quite a while anyways); Im thinking of growing various Utricularia (I currently have U. flava and U. calycifida), smaller Drosera and Pinguicula, and I'd love to try my hand at Heliamphora again and maybe a Cephalotus; Im not too sure with the compatibility of these plant's growing conditions though. So far I only have a 10 gallon terrarium and a stand I have made from eggcrate...
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At the very least I need to work out lighting and humidity. I want to try my hand at building an LED grow light, probably using the MakersLED heatsink kit, Im just not too sure how many LEDs I should use (Im leaning towards using Cree XM-L2 cool and warm white LEDs and maybe some Luxeon Rebel red and blue LEDs as well). As for humidity Im a bit lost; I've seen people use ultrasonic humidifiers made for rooms (rigged into their terraria with hoses) as well as smaller ultrasonic humidifiers made for keeping reptiles; unfortunately I don't think I have the space to set up a room humidifier, and Ive read that the reptile humidifiers don't last very long. Any suggestions?
Thank you!

 

[Zath]

I can't say anything about your lighting one way or the other, but as for humidity, I just cut a piece of thin plexiglass out for the lid (with scissors, no less), and a couple notches for my fingers, and one for cords. During the day humidity stays pretty locked in at 80%. It goes down to about 67-70 when the lights are off. I don't add anything extra, just the water trays and the tub my aquarium heater sits in.

 

[Pk93]

Thanks for the reply!
I'll have to look into making a plexiglass lid; by chance, do you know how thin the plexiglass you used is?
Thanks again!

 

[Zath]

Thanks for the reply!
I'll have to look into making a plexiglass lid; by chance, do you know how thin the plexiglass you used is?
Thanks again!

It didn't say, but I'm thinking it was no thicker than .031 (1/32"). You need something a little more serious than craft scissors to cut anything thicker, I would think.

 

[NatchGreyes]

Just FYI Utricularia flava is now Utricularia chrysantha. I can tell you that both that species and U. calycifida are quite tolerant of a wide range of conditions, but U. calycifida likes it on the cooler side (like highland Neps), in my experience. Others may have different experiences.

 

[Pk93]

Thanks Zath and NatchGreyes! I'll have to look around for some thinner plexiglass .
woops, I accidentally wrote U. flava instead of U. fulva >_<; nice to know current nomenclature if I ever run into U. flava (U. chrysantha). Thanks for the culture tips too .

 

[UnstuckinTime]

My experience with plexiglass as lids for high-humidity terrariums (for poison dart frogs) is that they warp in a matter of weeks. Did you do anything special to avoid that, Zath? In the end, I went with making something like this, and it's worked great. Good luck! Hope this helps.


-CJ

 

[Zath]

My experience with plexiglass as lids for high-humidity terrariums (for poison dart frogs) is that they warp in a matter of weeks. Did you do anything special to avoid that, Zath? In the end, I went with making something like this, and it's worked great. Good luck! Hope this helps.


-CJ

I didn't do anything special. I was looking into making a glass top, but I needed something right then, not three or four days from then, lol. My next (probably 40-gallon) build will include a custom hood with glass panels.

If the plexi on my 20 gal. warps to the point of being unusable, I'll cut a new one. The sheets are large, and I believe I can get two lids out of each one.

 

[Pk93]

Thanks for the replies! UnstuckinTime, that looks awesome; if I ever get a larger terrarium I will certainly try and make a lid like that, but if I were to do this with my current terrarium I think getting my plants out or moving them around would be sort of difficult.
Today I went to a nearby lowes looking for some plexiglass to make my lid, I learned that they cut the stuff for free; I ended up having them cut a relatively thick piece of plexiglass to size .
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I still have to drill a hole in the plexiglass (so I can put a cpu fan in the terrarium) and make some sort of handle so I can remove the lid (it's going to fit very snug). I also have to figure out how many LEDs I need; Im thinking of getting 6 Cree XM-L2 warm white, 6 Cree XM-L2 cool white, and some blue and red LEDs of some kind (probably Cree XP-E2 or Luxeon Rebel).. LEDs are so expensive