Terrarium

[Aaron_CP]

On my terrarium I have a lid that is half lighting fixtur and half glass lid (making it a combined lid).

I was wondering if this lid will keep humidity and if it is supplying enough artificial light.

I am trying to get a bigger variety of plants, so If anyone has really young plants available I could send a SASE.

 

[mindmaze128]

moving to terrarium forum

 

[joseph]

I'm taking a guess here, 10 gallon tank with single 15 watt florescent tube? If I'm guessing correct then the lid does somewhat hold in humiditiy as long as you didn't punch out the opening on the backside. The light however is quite questionable. Two tubes is basically a minimum for a 10 gallon tank. It's a matter of what you want and how much you can spend. dual tube lids are cheap and I would at least recommend going that far. If you are willing to spend up to a hundred dollars let me know and I'll point you to a good source for high intensity compacts lids (I use one on my 10 gallon).

joe

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Additional question from the locked thread:

He everyone,

I am getting a 20-30 gallon aquarium for my CP's. How should I go about getting a way for all the water to filter out of the dirt and leave instead of keeping the dirt soggy and spongy. My plants will be planted in the dirt not in pots so I need to think up a way to get the water to filter out. Anyone have any Ideas?! And how should I go about lighting this aquarium?

Thanks all,
-Aaron

 

[Tony Paroubek]

I am guessing you will be growing high light plants like VFT, Drosera etc.

If the terrarium will be receiving some natural light you can probably use a couple fluorescent tubes to suppliment. If the plants will be living mostly with just artificial lighting then even the 2 tubes will probably not be enough and you should consider a 2 2tube fixtures for a total of 4 tubes.
Tony

 

[cchang]

What I learned this fall... the one 15 W is enough to keep them alive, but you won't see much results.  2 bulbs is great... I now use 4 fluorenscent bulbs and my plants have been soooo happy.  They're growing pitchers and turning red.

I also covered each side with tinfoil to keep the light inside the terrarium.  A regular household desk fan blows over the small space between the tank and light to lessen heat and to provide circulation of air.  The tank is also half covered to provide some humidity.

Aaron… here’s something you might want to try.  Take a piece of plexiglass and cut it so that it’s slightly larger than the inside of the tank.  If you match one corner with the bottom of the tank, the plexiglass should slant to the one corner.  Drill a hole in the corner you selected in both the plexiglass and the tank.  Use a glue gun to fully seal a rubber or plastic tubing to the plexiglass.  Run the tubing through the hole in the tank and place the plexiglass inside the tank.  Be sure to use supports beneath the plexiglass.  Use the glue gun to fully seal the plexiglass in place and also glue the area where the tube exits the tank.  Place more rocks on top of the plexiglass to level out the surface.  On top of this, you can place your planting medium.  By doing this, the water will soak through your medium, into the rocks, hit the plexiglass and runoff into a corner where it drains out of the tank from a tube.  No pump required, no removable false bottom.  If you’d like a removable bottom, it might be better to custom build the entire terrarium yourself.  Just a thought….

 

[cchang]

what's with those funny numbers in my post? I didn't see them there in the preview....? Oh well...

 

[Aaron_CP]

hey guys,

Thanks for all the info on my terrarium. I now know that I should use 4 fluorescent lights. WHat I need to know now is what kind of fluorescent bulbs to use.

Thanks Again,
-aaron

P.S.
If you could tell me the answer to my question that would be great.

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Aaron have you read the sticky post at the top on Lighting? Swords put alot of great info in there also.

Most people use a mix of coolwhite and warm white bulbs. You can also get daylight or sunshine bulbs. Don't bother with the fancy bluish growlights. They put out less light typically and are more expensive.
Tony

 

[cchang]

I use 4 Sylvania Gro-Lux... so it's pretty bright... The plants seem to love it. They're growing like crazy... vft's, nep and sarracenia. Later, when they need to be replaced, I'll do like what Tony said... 2 cool, 2 warm.

 

[Spectabilis73]

hello,
How many light bulbs do I need for a 30 gallon aquarium? thanks
Spec73

Please answer soon cause I haven't been able to put inone plant in my terrarium cause I have no lighting

 

[Tony Paroubek]

Does the terrrarium get any natural light? and what kind of plants do you want to grow?

If the plants are going to get some natural light from a window then you can probably get away with 2 tubes. If not then I would shoot for 4 tubes.
Tony