Lighting for mosses?

[The Snark]

Mosses can and do indeed grow in "low light" conditions. The thing is, the shade of a forest is often still much brighter than the artificial light we provide in our vivariums. A main reason mosses often don't grow in direct sun is that the conditions are too drying. Consistent moisture is required, or the moss will die or go dormant.

Take a stroll through a virgin boreal fir forest some time. Lots of places where you almost need a flashlight to read a newspaper in the middle of the day. And the moss is always thicker and more verdant on the north sides of the trees.

 

[Biollantefan54]

Couldn't you find a place in the woods near you where moss grows, in a very dark area, and take some and put in a terrarium? Would that work?

 

[varanoid]

People in the dart frog hobby are often quite different than those in the tarantula hobby, only a few of us live in "both worlds" so to speak. Most dart frog people have no problem spending a few hundred dollars on an extravagant vivarium, whereas many tarantula keepers seem to be more of the thrifty sort...keeping spiders in the cheapest sterilite containers they can find with the most economic housing options.

CFL bulbs work, though can produce a little bit of (undesirable) heat. Jungle Dawns: They work, but they're designed for retrofitting older style terrarium hoods and replacing light bulbs. LED light fixtures designed for aquarium use are sufficient, and usually spread the light over the enclosure in a better manner. One of my vivs, a 29 gallon tank, has a 30 inch LED fixture over it that grows Thuidium delicatulum just fine. Cost me less than $40 including shipping, 6500K, 2700 lumens.

Hi. I am one of those that "live in both worlds" and have some comment on your comments.

I spend more money on my dart frog vivs because they don't mess them up like tarantulas do. Most tarantulas will web up plants, eventually killing them or rearrange the substrate to their liking. Even the most active of dart frogs has a very minimal impact on the vivarium. For tarantulas, I have found that simplicity is easier, and cheaper. Tarantulas don't really need lighting. Not disagreeing with anything you said, just adding some color to it.

I use CFL bulbs for all my dart frogs in the terrarium hoods you mentioned. Works great. You can get the CFL bulbs pretty cheap, but you want the ones that 6500k or at least close to that. As vespers mentioned you will get some heat from this. Generally my vivs are a few degrees warmer than ambient room temperature. I would definitely go LED if I had and DIY skills with electricity, or if I could find a fixture for $40. I have to keep my eyes out for that.

 

[viper69]

I'd love some darts, but I always feel like one is raising insects constantly and not enjoying the animals as much. But I do love them a lot.

 

[vespers]

I would definitely go LED if I had and DIY skills with electricity, or if I could find a fixture for $40. I have to keep my eyes out for that.

BeamsWork LED fixtures. I order mine from Aquatraders.