Richard Posted November 22, 2016 Report Share Posted November 22, 2016 Ive been thinking of setting up a little lighted terrarium for overwintering a few plants that won't survive the cooler temps of my greenhouse. I've recently found an old fish tank lighting unit. I was thinking of mounting it inside a small vivarium I have, will it be bright enough? Obviously I'd have to change the tubes to something more suitable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naoki Posted November 24, 2016 Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Richard, you probably need to give a bit more info so others can reply. What is the size of grow area, how far is the plant from the lamps, what kind of light (it looks funky, but is it 24W T5HO?), what kinds of plants etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted November 24, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 24, 2016 Hi Naoki,The tubes are 24 watt high output T5's. Replacement tubes are available with colour temperatures of 4100k, 9000k and 15000k.I'm only looking to illuminate a small area barely larger than the tubes themselves and the plants grown will be mainly Genlisea, Utrics and small Drosera that are too tender to be grown in my greenhouse over winter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 I'd go for the 4100K tubes. The high values are very blue and red is better for plant growth, something like warm white works well for me. My adelae is growing like a weed under warm white LED. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted November 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 Do you have a photo of your setup at all Manders, I'd be interested in seeing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manders Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 (edited) Richard, Here's an old one from 2007, old fish tank and some lowland neps, lit by two 20w fluorescents. https://www.flickr.com/photos/27266802@N03/shares/775aLb and a more recent one with the LEDs, more of a nursery for sick plants than anything. https://www.flickr.com/photos/27266802@N03/shares/5QiaA1 Edited November 25, 2016 by manders Bad spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naoki Posted November 25, 2016 Report Share Posted November 25, 2016 Looks very nice, manders! Richard, I don't have any experience with Genlisea, but 2 bulbs of T5HO is probably good for 70cm x 30-40cm area for the others. Maybe you can keep it about 30cm or less above the leaves. From 1 bulb, you'll get about 70 micromol/m^2/s of photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD) (about 410 footcandle) at 30cm. So from 2, you'll be getting above 100 micromol/m^2/s. It isn't a lot for Drosera, but it will do ok. My Utricularia seems to do ok with less light than typical Drosera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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