lighting for my enclosure

[Frogboy99]

hi there i am sorting out lighting for my motorbike frog tank (i live in Australia). i was wondering if a plant light would hurt them or burn them in someway effecting their health. the light that i am looking at getting is a 130W 6400K CFL Energy Saving Light White Large Reflector Grow Kit Hydroponics. is it ok to get this light as i am worried about the frogs hhealth if there aare any other lights that will allow the plants to grow and thrive but wont be harmful to my frogs please let me know

[Malduroque]

You should be fine with CFL though 130 watts of it sounds like a lot unless you have a large tank.

I have been using off the shelf "day light" CFLs which come in at 5000-6000K depending where I buy them. I use them on all my tanks be it toad or tree frog but as an example in my 60 gallon, which has been going for almost 8 years now and houses grey and green tree frogs, I have three 23W (100 watt equivalent brightness so they say) and two 13W (60 watt equivalent) for a total 95 watts. All of my plants are thriving. All of the current frogs are doing great and those that have perished over that 8 year span were from the original group and I had them 5-6+ years which is a full life for those little guys.

[Krispy]

You should be fine with CFL though 130 watts of it sounds like a lot unless you have a large tank.

I have been using off the shelf "day light" CFLs which come in at 5000-6000K depending where I buy them. I use them on all my tanks be it toad or tree frog but as an example in my 60 gallon, which has been going for almost 8 years now and houses grey and green tree frogs, I have three 23W (100 watt equivalent brightness so they say) and two 13W (60 watt equivalent) for a total 95 watts. All of my plants are thriving. All of the current frogs are doing great and those that have perished over that 8 year span were from the original group and I had them 5-6+ years which is a full life for those little guys.

I agree. Ive seen that very bulb burn plants too. A company called Ottlite sells my favorite full spectrum bulbs, and ive tested every full spec imaginable.


A close second, and readily available across the globe:




They work pretty good and come 2 for $10usd here. The ottlite is about $18usd a single bulb and kinda harder to find.

[Krispy]

On a side note. Have you considered leds? Just google 6500k led grow light. Shopping shows rolls of it very cheap. That was going to be our next investment.