Lighting a Vertical Vivarium

[Treesniffer]

I just converted my horizontal 20gal to a vertical and now discover the problem with proper lighting for a combined Grey Tree Frog/Hydroponic Terrarium. Lighting will most likely sit on top and go through glass to get to the plants & frogs. I am new at this so any help in determining beneficial lighting, considering the matter of glass obstruction, would be appreciated.

[John]

I use exo terras hoods with the screw-in fixtures (not the tube ones, the regular light bulb sockets). They cost about $20-$30 online. I put 20 watt spiral CFL bulbs from Walmart in them. Just make sure you use the "Daylight" kind of bulb. They have a color temperature between 5000 and 6700 Kelvin.

[DonLisk]

My plants in the 15 vertical are out of control with the setup John mentioned above. The bulbs you want at walmart are the reveal 6500k daylight ones. Perfect for a 20 vertical.

[sajane]

can you use these light bulbs on timers?

[DonLisk]

Sure you can use timers. I have mine on timers.

[John]

All my frog lights are on timers.

[ViperJr]

can you use these light bulbs on timers?

All kinds of lights can be used with a timer, since they only switch the power off and on. It's just the same as when you push the button yourself. The only problem if you're using dimmers with flourscent, which will not work. I think it's possible with some home built electrical components, but I'm not sure. Just a little side note

[Treesniffer]

I use exo terras hoods with the screw-in fixtures (not the tube ones, the regular light bulb sockets). They cost about $20-$30 online. I put 20 watt spiral CFL bulbs from Walmart in them. Just make sure you use the "Daylight" kind of bulb. They have a color temperature between 5000 and 6700 Kelvin.

Thank you John and others. I'll use this. Hopefully the glass on the top will not deflect the beneficial rays. The small screen on the front is in an awkward position and very small. I believe in the future, ventilation might be a problem when coupled with the lights where they too, to be in the same location. Fingers crossed.

[sajane]

logically it seems like you could use them on timers but the box says not to and my husband feels strongly for some reason (most likely financial) that I cant.

[John]

Are you sure you're not confusing timers with dimmers?

[sajane]

cfl's right? no the box says do not use with timers or dimmers

[ViperJr]

Comapct flourescent lights are flourescent tubes, just in the form of a bulb and thus more practicle. They are perfectly fine to use with timers. I use it, along with probably thousands of others. When you have a timer, it just stops and starts the electricity flow to it. On or off. Just like when you press the button.

If you want to read more about it, take a look at wiki:
Compact fluorescent lamp - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[UncleChester]

Some kinds of timers have a little bit of power still flowing in the 'off' position and can apparently cause problems with CFLs, like they try to turn themselves on when the timer is 'off' and this can reduce the life of the CFL or even cause them to flicker (see the Wiki link Viper gave, or DEQ - When to use CFLs for more).

That said, I just use cheap mechanical timers I picked up at Home Depot and they work fine with my CFLs and with all the people here who use them I wonder if you have to go out of your way to find a timer that causes a problem. I've hade some going for a couple of years at least, so if they are reducing the lifespan of my CFLs it's not that big of a deal.

The timers make it much simpler, and probably save me money in the long run from the times I would have forgotten to shut the lights off (I wish my oven had a timer!).

[ViperJr]

UncleChester:
The problem you are describing can only happens in electronic timers (not mecanical). And from what I understand, it's just old versions of electric timers that have this issue.
Still a goos point though, but like you said, even IF this would happen, you probably increse the lifetime since you can't forgot to turn it off.