Plant lights question

[peddro]

i'm making a viv for my future crestie and they don't need a UVB light so i'm not going to bother with the expensive reptile bulbs. i heard that you can use GE linear lights to grow the plants, but i forget where i saw that. anyone know where to get these? what kind specifically?

[froggsong]

GE makes plant fluorescents that they sell at walmart. Plants will also grow very well under incandescent lights. Any type of light has been fine for my plants, and I have been growing the same ones in one tank for some four or five years. The plant fluorescents at walmart do work very well though.

[Green Ghost]

Originally Posted by peddro

... GE linear lights to grow the plants...

Linear lights? Did you mean fluorescent lights?

[strange_screams]

plain aquarium lights do well for shade to partial shade and even some full sun plants, its plants that need large amounts of intense lights that will require the reptile lighting, fruit trees especially citrus and Corsican mint are the only two that come to mind, as well as anything that creates a vegetable like you would grow in your victory garden, intensity is more important then uv , so look for something from 6000 to 10000 lumens for more intense light, aquarium florescent are usually around 5500 to 6500, but even a double strip of T5 florescent lighting should be more then enough for most high light plants, shop lights or office lighting is usually t12 lights, which put out less lumen, so 4 bulbs would be needed for high light needs

fyi, everything is approximate, i dont have the greatest memory, but should be somewhat accurate

[peddro]

yes i meant fluorescent-just not the compact BAD! never use these is you have an animal in the tank!


thanks for the info on lumens!

[Green Ghost]

Originally Posted by strange_screams

fyi, everything is approximate, i dont have the greatest memory, but should be somewhat accurate

Yup sounds right. Peddro, if you want to get away with some inexpensive fluorescents look into a 4ft (48") T12 fixture with twin bulbs, if that's not too big. Just suggesting that because they're pretty cheap at HDepot and it will be more than enough light to grow your plants. They sell them as "shop lights". That's what I used before I put in permanent fixtures.

[Marty]

Originally Posted by peddro

...just not the compact BAD! never use these is you have an animal in the tank!

Why not compact fluorescent? If you use them above the tank in a ventd canopy it will be very good. They give excellent bright light and plants flourish under them. 55W 6500K is all I use in my naturalistic vivariums. If you're doing it yourselfer, you can get them from AH Supply as a kit with a reflector. Good lights and a misting system and you can grow things on concrete

Compact Fluorescent Lighting Kits

[strange_screams]

i don't think they are bad, you jsut have to be careful that you dont put more wattage then the animal can handle, you can easily bake a poor little froggie

[peddro]

there was actually some people who did a big light study and found some interesting results

check it out

UV Guide UK - Ultraviolet Light for Reptiles - UVB reptile lighting on test

[strange_screams]

ok, well yes i could see how that would be a problem
but im talking about regular compact florescent, like you would get from wal-mart, the equivalent of say a 50 or 75 watt light bulb, but its actually 16 or something, in a desk lamp 10 to 12 inches above the top of a screen lid, just for the plants, at 10 hour intervals, with any light you have to monitor the animal and see what is appropriate