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Post by dragonflydust on Jan 30, 2012 3:09:22 GMT
Okay I have an old reptile terrarium (exo terra 18x18x18) that I want to convert into a Venus Flytrap terrarium.
Still in the researching stages considering I'll wait until after winter before trying anything.
Now I have three 5.5 Fluker's dome lamps I want to reuse for lighting this terrarium. (My window is useless even in sunny weather)
What light bulbs would you recommend in these dome lamps? I plan to have 4 inches worth of soil so the plants would be 13 inches away from the light sources.
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Post by lectric on Jan 30, 2012 21:39:20 GMT
Have you considered that Dionaea needs a Dormancy period? Growing them in a terrarium may be fine for the rest of the year, but during the winter they need to go dormant and unless you put the terrarium in the outside of your house, they wont go dormant, so they'll be weaker every year and at some point they will die.
Also, the fungal infections are more likely to happen in bad ventilated terrariums.
About the lighting question I can't help you, sorry.
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Post by dragonflydust on Jan 31, 2012 1:46:24 GMT
Have you considered that Dionaea needs a Dormancy period? Growing them in a terrarium may be fine for the rest of the year, but during the winter they need to go dormant and unless you put the terrarium in the outside of your house, they wont go dormant, so they'll be weaker every year and at some point they will die. Also, the fungal infections are more likely to happen in bad ventilated terrariums. About the lighting question I can't help you, sorry. On the dormancy issue, heating in the upstairs part of my house is practically nonexistent. (To the point that we no longer use the upstairs part of the house and pretend we live in a one-story house) I'll just move the plants from downstairs to upstairs during the winter and then bring it back down in the spring. As for fungal...after caring for a gecko that has the EXACT same humidity needs as a Dionaea, I learned over time how to detect possible mold issues fairly well. Plus Exo Terras are designed with ventilation in mind so I should be good. However I still need help in understanding lighting... |
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Post by blackboxstar on Feb 1, 2012 16:47:41 GMT
This might not be a perfect setup, but we use a light hood that was designed for reptiles, it has 1 flourescent tube light and 3 or 4 places for screw in heat bulbs. We use a combination of day light and white light compact flourescent bulbs (CFL).
We put aluminum foil in the top of the hood (above the CFL's) to reflect the light that was sent upward back down to the plants.
We also installed a mirror across the back of the tank and aluminum along the sides. We use a sheet of plexiglass to regulate humidity and a light timer to set the photoperiod. Any plants that need dormancy live outside in our bog garden.
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Post by blackboxstar on Feb 1, 2012 16:48:42 GMT
I forgot to mention: the tank is a 55 gallon tank. We have had it set up for eighteen months and have yet to deal with mold (algae is another story entirely).
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Post by dragonflydust on Feb 1, 2012 20:11:38 GMT
This might not be a perfect setup, but we use a light hood that was designed for reptiles, it has 1 flourescent tube light and 3 or 4 places for screw in heat bulbs. We use a combination of day light and white light compact flourescent bulbs (CFL). We put aluminum foil in the top of the hood (above the CFL's) to reflect the light that was sent upward back down to the plants. We also installed a mirror across the back of the tank and aluminum along the sides. We use a sheet of plexiglass to regulate humidity and a light timer to set the photoperiod. Any plants that need dormancy live outside in our bog garden. That would work especially with the tinfoil idea! Thanks! Too bad where I live is not a bog environment tho. Jersey temperature are way too unpredictable these days. I don't want to risk it. Maybe I should nix the soil bottom idea and keep them in pots inside the terrarium for mobility's sake. |
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