Looking for a new challenge

[SueAndHerZoo]

Hi there.
I'm an animal lover, well, "all living things" lover, and I've probably rescued, fostered or owned hundreds of animals in my life time, some common, some very exotic. For the past 7 years or so I've had five saltwater reef tanks running (seahorses, octopus, cuttlefish, corals, etc.) and have recently consolidated a few tanks to downsize. One of the tanks that I've emptied is a very attractive biocube type (totally enclosed, lights, fan, filtration, heat, etc. all built into the back wall or the full cover) and it's in a central part of my home. I'd like to turn that into something attractive and challenging other than a fish tank and was thinking of carnivorous plants. I have very expensive LED lighting in it and wonder if that would be a help or a hindrance to raising carnivorous plants. I know it depends on the colors, the strength, the PAR value, etc. and I don't remember the specifics of the lights off the top of my head but they were certainly more than sufficient to grow saltwater corals of many types.

Anyone had experience using reef tank lighting on these plants? Is this a question I should cut and paste into another section of the forums (since this section probably doesn't get much traffic)?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and opinions.
Sue

 

[Benurmanii]

Welcome! I'm not too familiar with LED lighting (I'm too much of a technophobe and would rather stick with my cheap amd easy T8s and T5HOs), however, I'm sure that others who are a lot more knowledgeable on the subject would be willingnto help. Maybe [MENTION=10989]nimbulan[/MENTION] would lime to discuss some PAR myths as well.

Anyways, ask around, ans you should eventually what carnivorous plants would do well for you!

 

[jeff 2]

Bonjour

What are the characteristics of your led ? °kelvin , watt , lumen , etc?

jeff

 

[jimscott]

I'm no expert in lighting, but there are aquatic carnivorous plants you can grow in a fish tank, like U. gibba, U. foliosa, and Aldrovanda vesiculosa.

[/URL][/IMG] U. gibba colony

[/URL][/IMG] U. gibba flower

[/URL][/IMG] Aldrovanda

 

[nimbulan]

I suppose it depends on the color temperature and power of the light. I know a lot of aquarium lights lean strongly towards blue (color temperature around 10,000k) and really aren't suitable for regular plants. Temperate aquatic plants will need very strong light as well.

 

[DragonsEye]

If you haven't already done so, determine what temps your tank experiences with the lights on. That will impact what plant options are available to you.

Orchids may be an additional option for you.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Thanks for the comments..... glad to see this is such an active forum! I didn't know there were carnivorous water plants - that's interesting, but honestly I'd like to skip the water in this tank for a while. I've got enough water woes with the other tanks.

I'll have to try to dig up the specs on the light but not sure I'll find those - I'll take a better look when I get home from the office. Regarding the temperature of the tank, I always kept it in the 80's due to the inhabitants but I'll put the lights on for a while now that the tank has no water in it and see what it reads.... good suggestion.

Thanks all.
Sue

 

[SFLguy]

Are you looking to do a planned tank type of setup or just growing plants in pots in the tank? Would they be getting a drop in temperature at night inside the tank? How's your water (tds if you know)? Things that could work well long term in a tank would be Mexican Pinguicula, Utricularia, some tropical Drosera, and maybe some Nepenthes depending on the size of the tank though you'll eventually have to cut them a bit in a few years

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Are you looking to do a planned tank type of setup or just growing plants in pots in the tank? Would they be getting a drop in temperature at night inside the tank? How's your water (tds if you know)? Things that could work well long term in a tank would be Mexican Pinguicula, Utricularia, some tropical Drosera, and maybe some Nepenthes depending on the size of the tank though you'll eventually have to cut them a bit in a few years

Hi there. I could do either...... leaves the plants in pots or plant them in the tank. Yes, there would be a drop in temperature at night when the lights are off, unless you tell me I need to buy some sort of heater to keep it consistent. My TDS is not an issue because I have an RODI system so I would water the plants with that water, and in case you misunderstood, I don't want the tank to be full of water anymore..... I want this tank to NOT be something I'm doing water changes on, topping off evaporation, etc. This one will be a dry tank (except for watering the plants, keeping humidity at proper levels, etc.)

Thanks again for the feedback.
Sue

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Regarding existing lighting: the tank has upgraded twin 55w T5 Power Compact lamps (two sets of 2) giving 110 watts output. I purchased an after-market LED unit that runs at the same time as the T5's which consists of 4 or 5 rows of blues, whites, reds and greens. I believe those are controllable as to what colors I want on and when, but honestly I haven't played with them in ages so don't remember. Sorry, wish I were more helpful but I always seem to write these posts when I'm nowhere near my tank.
Sue

 

[Dexenthes]

Welcome to Terraforums and it's good to hear that you want to try your hand at some carnivorous plants.

I have been growing in terrariums for years in systems that sound much less sophisticated than yours.

If your setup can reliably produce highland growing conditions (70-80 degrees during the day - 50-60 degrees at night) then you are in luck and you can grow some of the most fantastic of all plant species (IMO). If you can only reliably provide intermediate or lowland conditions, there are still a number of awesome species you could grow. Some of the most interesting or exotic looking plants that may do well in a planted terrarium in the long run include but are not limited to:

Various Heliamphora species or hybrids.

Compact Nepenthes species such as N. campanulata, N. argentii, N. ampullaria, N. bellii, and their associated hybrids.

Almost any terrestrial Utricularia species but the most exotic and desirable of which are the Utricularia sect orchioides species which include: U. reniformis, U. nelumbifolia, et al.

Cephalotus follicularis

The carnivorous bromeliad species.

Genlisea sp.

And of course there are no end to the wonderful sundews or Drosera that you could plant in such a tank. A couple of my favorites for terrariums are D. capensis, D. prolifera, D. schizandra, D. adelae.

If you haven't heard about it yet, remember to look up plants you are interested in on CARNIVOROUS PLANT PHOTO FINDER to find out more about what they look like and where they might originate from.

 

[SFLguy]

Hi there. I could do either...... leaves the plants in pots or plant them in the tank. Yes, there would be a drop in temperature at night when the lights are off, unless you tell me I need to buy some sort of heater to keep it consistent. My TDS is not an issue because I have an RODI system so I would water the plants with that water, and in case you misunderstood, I don't want the tank to be full of water anymore..... I want this tank to NOT be something I'm doing water changes on, topping off evaporation, etc. This one will be a dry tank (except for watering the plants, keeping humidity at proper levels, etc.)

Thanks again for the feedback.
Sue

Well either will work but the planted tank will take more planning. The temperature drop is needed for some species so knowing what that is will help us with suggestions for what you can grow [emoji16]

An RO unit would be perfect, many if not most carnivorous plants require water that is low in tds to grow. (I understood what you meant [emoji6] )

If you have the specifics on the drop in temperature at night or can get it, that will further help us but from your description I believe your best bet will be intermediate Nepenthes species and possibly Cephalotus and some of the hardier Heliamphora species and hybrids

 

[SFLguy]

Woops didn't see Dex's post, listen to Dex, more experience there haha

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Earlier I provided the specs on my T5 lights, now here's the update on the LED's. I was wrong about them being multi-color.... this set that goes in this particular tank is only blue and white, as follows:

features Dual Daylight and Dual Actinic LED spectrums. Dual Daylight with 8,000K/12,000K white LEDs and Dual Actinic with 445nm/460nm actinic blue LEDs. 120-degree lenses deliver a uniform light spread over your entire aquarium with optimal color blending.

Now to stick a thermometer in the tank with the T5's on and with them off to see what the temperature range will be... stay tuned, and thanks again for all the outstanding assistance!
Sue

 

[nimbulan]

You can try the LEDs with CPs but don't hold your breath. With a color temperature that high there will be very little red light in comparison to the blue and a lot of plants won't grow well under that sort of lighting.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

You can try the LEDs with CPs but don't hold your breath. With a color temperature that high there will be very little red light in comparison to the blue and a lot of plants won't grow well under that sort of lighting.

So you think I'm better off using the T5's without the LED's?
Sue

 

[nimbulan]

I can't say for sure. Different plants react differently to different lighting conditions. I've been told that too blue of light can cause Nepenthes to flower (probably a stress reaction) but I don't know where that limit is.

 

[Dexenthes]

I've pretty much only ever used florescent light bulbs to grow my Nepenthes and Drosera. That being said I have never flowered a Nepenthes and my collection is not the most vast compared to some of the other growers around here. It seems to me that Nepenthes and most other carnivorous plants respond favorably to having more light as opposed to having less.

If it's some T5's with a combination of LED bulbs that you are using, I would suspect that would be more than fine to grow many carnivorous plants.

Right now I've got highland Nepenthes and some subtropical Drosera, Heliamphora and Cephalotus growing fine under conventional Wal-mart T5 light bulbs and a couple of clamp lamps with compact florescent and one or two LED bulbs. They work just fine IMO.

In my experience most carnivorous plants are not very picky about the light they get as long as they have enough.

I put the plants I care most about closest to the lights and they grow best. Temperature and humidity are usually the most limiting factors for many of the most desirable species. Increased lighting makes plants grow faster and fuller but many plants can withstand somewhat low-light conditions while not really thriving.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Sounds like my best bet will be to try some plants and let them tell me what they need (more light, less light, more heat, less heat, humidity, etc.) You know - good old trial and error. Next time I have a day off I will gut and scrub the tank to get rid of any saltwater residue, dried up algae, and, oh, remove the crushed coral from the bottom. And from what I'm reading on the forums it's probably best to have a false bottom (couple inches of water) in there?

Newbie question: when I'm growing saltwater corals I need to replace my T5 once or twice a year for optimum effect..... do those same needs apply when lighting plants or are they less picky about the age of the T5?
Sue

 

[Benurmanii]

I just want to add, in regards to aquatic CPs, you won't actually be doing any water changes. In fact, a lot of people find it beneficial to let the water sit and develop micro fauna before putting the plants in. All you would really do is refil the water as it slowly evaporates away.