Posted by Double J on May 12, 2003 at 14:58:39:
In Reply to: would the reptile carpet be okay? posted by Kyle £. on May 12, 2003 at 13:48:50:
I have had tremendous results in keeping plants alive and healthy in my frog tanks, so much so that my bromeliads pup, and my orchids are thriving. NowA good CHEAP way to keep some of the low-pight locing plants alive is to go to Wal-Mart, and buy a fluorescent under-cabinet fixture. These work quite well for keeping some species of plants alive and they are usually about 7 dollars fot the entire unit whch includes the fixture, bulb/tube, built-in switch, and 6 foot cord. For my first couple of vivairums, they worked uite well in keeping such plants as pothos, dieffenbacchia, philodendrons, and other low-light cheap tropicals. Java moss grows fine under this lightng as wel. I have even had bromeliads pup under a mere one-tube fixture with a plant grow tube (a 4 dollar tube). However, I have since changed my vivarium lighting types to accomodate more "difficult" plants like orchids and bromeliads and MOSS!! with fabulous results. I tried the dual tube fixctures with decent results, but now I have converted to 6500k screw-in compact fluorescents. I can get them relatively cheap (due to employee discount where I work of course) and MAN, My orchids are growing like crazy, and it looks like they are going to flower. My broms are pupping like mad, and my moss is growing fast for moss. So, tailoring the lighting to your plants is important, and plant placement in the vivairum is also very important as well.
So, good luck
Double J
