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CF lighting for My terrarium

I'm currently keeping a Capensis and a few VFT's in an exoterra terrarium it's 18"x18"x18" the plants are about 8-10" from the lighting I currently have wich is 2 26watt daylight CFL's They seem to be growing well. the only problem I see is the sundew isn't producing dew. I've checked around and the most common cause is not enough light. I checked out quite a few sites and stores and wanted to get some opinions on an 18" 96watt quade bulb kit its the SmartPaq 10,000k/460nm: 1 x 96 watt Quad anyone had any experience with something similar? Here's the link to the kit in question

http://www.petstore.com/ps_ViewItem-idProduct-CU01615.html


Thanks
 
what are you planning on doing about the VFTs winter dormancy that it needs, starting here in a couple months?
 
Not a prob

I live in Virginia so that's not a problem I could probably set the outside if I really wanted to:)
 
Nice lights. I don't think I would go for 10,000k actinic though. All you really need is a compact flourescent daylight or coolwhite which is somewhere between 4000k-6500k.

Something like this would be great. Search around and the internet and you will find other fixtures. Or you can even buy just the bulbs in various wattages etc.

http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/bright-wing-150w-6500k-7900-lumens


Just a note though... some compact fluorescent bulbs do not have a ballast built in so you have to be careful if you buy one to screw into a normal incandescent fixture that it is self ballasted in the bulb.
 
Lack of dew is probably due to insufficent light intensity. That coralife bulb is fine but they have a special connector so you need a fixture that fits it.
 
how long have you had the capensis that isnt producing dew?

what are your conditions inside this exoterra setup of yours.

no need to buy super huge cfls you can find things that work at your walmart or target just buy the biggest ones they have :)

if your going to expand your set up ever I'd recommend the tube lighting that most users use for indoor set ups, I used CFL's for my first setup and its much more expensive to buy appropriate CFL lighting as compared to buying the tubes. and the tubes cover alot more area. just gives you something to consider....
 
A simple daylight CFL bulb screwed into a reflector lamp fixture would do the trick. The nice thing about the CFL is the intensity is much better since you have all that light coming from a small point vs a long tube. So they work better for high light loving plants. It's hard to beat the old shoplight with 4' tubes though for cost and function. They just aren't that intense so need to be close to the plants.
 
how long have you had the capensis that isnt producing dew?

what are your conditions inside this exoterra setup of yours.

no need to buy super huge cfls you can find things that work at your walmart or target just buy the biggest ones they have :)

if your going to expand your set up ever I'd recommend the tube lighting that most users use for indoor set ups, I used CFL's for my first setup and its much more expensive to buy appropriate CFL lighting as compared to buying the tubes. and the tubes cover alot more area. just gives you something to consider....

+1

Spend $85 for a shelf/rack setup at Lowes. Buy 2-3 T8 fixtures at Walmart for $10 each. You can use T12 fixtures and bulbs too of course. T12s produce a bit more light per bulb but aren't as efficient per watt. Buy some good bulbs for them and you're set and have much more room to work with.

It's what I did and what many many others have done here on the board (which is where I got the idea).
 
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