Viv lighting...

[craigbhoy]

Was thinking of fitting a natrual sunlight strip light to my tank, does anyone else do this and is it ok??

I was looking at an 8 watt bulb for reptiles, which is the weakest type i can see, as i'm sure t's dont need that much sunlight. It would only be on for a couple of hours a day at most.

Also thinking of planting some sphagnum moss in a corner of the tank, again is this ok in other peoples opinion and would the natural sunlight from the lamp help that grow??

 

[kristal_kaos]

???

u will be inviting other problems, like mold and unwanted bugs and stuff I think by adding living plants? I hope Im wrong, but I do remember someone telling me about that when I was thinking of making a 'real' setup

 

[Stylopidae]

u will be inviting other problems, like mold and unwanted bugs and stuff I think by adding living plants? I hope Im wrong, but I do remember someone telling me about that when I was thinking of making a 'real' setup

Right now, I'm experimenting with carrots in my AGB tank. We'll see how that goes. Right now, there's no problems with it.

I've seen naturalistic vivaria and they are a bit more difficult to properly keep. I'm more of a fan of the plastic type.

 

[phil jones]

thats a joke ? or are you doing it if you are then keep us up to date with it ??

 

[Stylopidae]

thats a joke ? or are you doing it if you are then keep us up to date with it ??

I'm dead serious. I was bored one day and buried part of a carrot in the substrate of my AGB tank and it's sprouting as we speak (or read). Just cut off a carrot an inch below the wide (unedible) end and then bury it with the top peeking out of the dirt and it'll sprout.

There's very little light in my bedroom, so that's why I don't know if it'll work out just yet. The millipedes haven't shown an interest in the sprouting carrot (normally one of their favorite foods), which only strengthens my position that they can't become plant pests.

 

[monitormonster]

From what I have heard, many T species dislike direct light in their cage....

 

[Cerbera]

Hmmm. I too would question the suitability of any artificial cage lighting, although my reasons are mostly confined to those about excessive heat, and that T's do indeed dislike bright light of any sort. I could also go on about disrupted day/night cycles etc etc

I think it would be OK to use cool LED tank lights only if the spider has a choice of going where the light can't get, and can still access everything else it needs while in the dark. After all, it cannot close any of its eyes, so any point light source placed close to it is not going to be appreciated unless it is too dim to effectively illuminate the tank.

Ideally, if a light has to be there, it shouldn't be on at night perhaps, because of disruption to the animals normal day/night cycles, which surely defeats the point of it being there at all ?

Just my 2ps worth...

 

[craigbhoy]

Thanks everyone for a reply.

As i said it was just a thought and just to see if anyone else done this. Unsure if i will go for it or not.

My idea was that the hide would be positioned so that no light entered it, and as my room is quite dark during the day at least there would be some natural(ish) light. With a 8 watt bulb there should be no overheating issue.

 

[cheetah13mo]

Like Cerbera, I'd be concerned about the heat. You can easily keep a lamp well above the cage and the surounding temp can raise 10 or more degrees. Even with a very low watt bulb that is red. It would make it very easy to warm things up and dry things out too quick. Sorta risky if you aren't on top of it all the time.

 

[Giantsfan24]

Its kind of a shame since it seams most T.'s are nocturnal(i know mine are). Short of night vision goggles, how do we observe them?

 

[Giantsfan24]

Anyone? How does everyone see there T.'s at night?

 

[P. Novak]

Red and infrared lighting. They can't see the red lighting and I'm pretty sure nothing can see infrared.