Which light bulb should I use???

16 years ago

Hello;

I'm sure this question has already been answered but, I have a vivarium with plants (some examples: parlor palm, bromeliads, orchids, sheet mosses, peperomia, gynura aurantiaca) and a few frogs, but the plants arent growing fast at all. The sheet mosses are from my yard and get about five hours of direct sunlight a day, and I also want that moss covered look. I think one problem is in the lighting.

I currently have one (50 or 75 watt) heat lamp bulb designed for reptiles, as I have a green anole in there too. I also have one Zoo-Med Reptisun 10.0 bulb (10% UVB, 5% UVA). The terrarium is near an east facing window.

I recently went to my local pet store for crickets and saw some potential options:

-Nature Sun (makes light that is close to sunlight)(I don't feel like paying $40 for this, though)

-Fish Tank bulbs (put out 10,000 k, there was this one which made a light which was bright, also 10,000 k, but looked dark blue to humans, looked cool to me)

-Bulb made by Zoo Med which put out about 10,000 k, light maxing in blue and red spectrums for max plant growth, said was good for terrariums too.

-T5 bulbs which were expensive, not right size for my 18" lighting fixture.

-Zoo Med Iguana Light

I'm not very knowledgeable about bulbs, I've researched some but have not been able to find a lot of information. So, which bulb should I use.

My main concern is the health of the animals in the cage. I would need to replace the Reptisun bulb and would have to sacrifice UVB light.

~Chris~

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Comments (5)

taz6122
16 years ago
None of the above. All of the lights you listed are no good for plants and way over priced. The T5s would work but not in a T8 fixture. Go to walmart and buy some 21" 14w T5s for around $10 each(fixture and all) if they will fit in your vivarium. T5 bulbs are not expensive if you buy them at a big box store like lowes, home depot or walmart. I use 4 21" 14w T5s on all my 10 gallon tanks and plants grow good. Even high light plants like venus fly traps and pitcher plants do well.
tropichris
Original Author
16 years ago
The terrarium's length is 24", height 18". I could not find any 18" so I would probably have to go with the 21". Is 21" the smallest size thay make T5s in? I have also heard that LEDs make good light supplements. Ideally I would like to grow low light and high light plants.
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taz6122
16 years ago
They do make 18" but they are a little harder to find in the big box stores. The 21" should be a perfect fit for a 24" space. The bulbs are 21" but with fixture are more like 23 1/2". I use them on 20" tanks and just lay them across the top. Another good thing about the T5s they are linkable so you can plug them into each other and only one outlet is needed. If you are having a hard time affording T5s you won't be able to afford good LEDs.
yankeedog
16 years ago
worry about wattage, dont worry about the type of bulb. I did quite a bit of research on this with regard to aquatic plants and a bit of experimentation awhile back. Having fancy bulbs is not so important. Having enough light (wattage) is. The advice to buy lots of cheap bulds is spot on. Any type of light will work, even incandesents, but florescent but out less heat and are cheaper to run.

Yankee Dog
makgalleries
15 years ago
I agree with yankee dog. I go to Home depot and buy the 150w equivalent spiral compact florescent bulbs in daylight color.
They are mega bright, cheap, and put out more light then a t5 and t8s. I used these light in hydroponic setups for years and have always had amazing results. No fancy fixtures needed. just a 6$ clamp reflector and a CFL.