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Thread: Lighting for terrarium plants..bromeliads

  1. #1
    kittiekuddles
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    Default Lighting for terrarium plants..bromeliads

    I need help with terrarium plants lighting. The tank is 31" deep and 72" long (used to be my reef tank)
    I have several fixtures that i have accumulated throughout the years but i dont know if any of them will work

    ok fixture one i think is out, 72" long Metal Halide 3x250 watts (gives off an insane amount of heat)

    fixture two is a 72" long power compact fixture 4x96 watt daylight 6500k. this was the fixture i was going with until i plugged it in and saw two of the bulbs were corroded with salt creep, so i removed those busted bulbs and tried the remaining two bulbs to see if the four pin plug was still working and luckily it is, so i just need to buy two replacement bulbs @ 43 dollars each
    or...can i just use the two bulbs that work instead of using all four? that would put me at 2x96 watts of daylight

    next we have the standard 72" strip light that came with the tank with two basic flourescent bulbs, very dim, i think each bulb is 20 watts, i imagine this is not a good choice?

    ooo wait found one more fixture lol..ok this one is one of those reptile metal dome screw in type fixtures, its the kind that clamps on, but with the lid their is no way to clamp it on so i would just have to sit it right on top of the glass cover (if this is ok i can buy two more of these fixtures) but wont the bulb break the glass or be a fire hazard?

    the plants i will be keeping are mainly bromeliads, pothos, ferns, zebra plant and other tropical common house plants
    the tank is covered with glass aquarium lids

    phew im pooped writing that...thanks in advance

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  3. #2
    Scog
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    Fixture 2 sounds good, but if you do decide to add more bulbs I recommend a warm white tube or 2 to broaden the light spectrum for the plants. You may also enjoy the more neutral tone they produce together with the daylight bulbs.

    Sam

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    Default Re: Lighting for terrarium plants..bromeliads

    I agree with Sam. Of course, you could get daylight spectrum bulbs for the other fixtures too. The daylight spectrum bulbs are often sold as "freshwater" bulbs in the aquarium business. Generally they have color temperatures in the range of 5000 - 10000 K. I prefer those about 6500 - 6700 K.
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  5. #4
    kittiekuddles
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    Default Re: Lighting for terrarium plants..bromeliads

    thanks so much
    i went ahead and replaced the two broken bulbs with the same as the others, 6500k
    their werent many options for pc square pinned bulbs
    does pc daylight bulbs emit any uv rays at all?

  6. #5
    Scog
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    Default Re: Lighting for terrarium plants..bromeliads

    Probably not in any significant quantity, the plants should be fine though and its better for the frogs if there is not too much. From what I hear normal glass like that used in most bulbs filters out the majority of uv light. Specialised uv bulbs have to use different glass so it gets through.

    Sam

  7. #6
    Tony
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    Default Re: Lighting for terrarium plants..bromeliads

    Never mind, I should read the whole thread before I reply.
    Last edited by Tony; November 21st, 2010 at 08:53 PM. Reason: problem solved before I posted

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