> Hello I am slowly setting up my terrarium and have a few questions about
> some of the requirements.
> Firt of all let me describe my setup so far.
> 65 Gallon Tank
> 2 - 48" floresent plant lights
>
> I also have a glass lid but am not sure if I should use it or not. Is
> it better if I do.. I heard that some of the uv rays from the lights
> will be lost if going through glass. Is this true.
Probably, but then many of us grow plants in glazed greenhouses or
behind house windows, so it can't be that much of a problem. I think
most people use a lid to keep the heat and/or humidity in - without
it your terrarium will have an environment a lot more like that of
whatever room it is in.
> As stated above, I have 2 48" tubes.. Do you think that it is better If
> I add 2 more tubes? I dont want to have too much.
I've no terrarium experience myself, but Barry Meyers-Rice's
instructions on the web (go to CP home at
http://www.hpl.hp.com/bot/cp_home/ and follow the links from there)
say to use 4. I might have mentioned the other day, but if you have
a camera with a lightmeter giving numerical readings, then you
could compare aiming it at your lights (from the same distance as the
plants), with aiming it at the sky. Perhaps better (to avoid erratic
results from getting the lights or the sun in the field), then place
a sheet of white paper where the plants would be, and aim the camera
at that. While mentioning Barry's pages, I don't think he
mentions how to heat the terrarium - merely how to avoid excessive
heat from the ballast of the lights. Maybe he's in a warmer climate,
or he keeps his house at a higher temperature than mine, but I feel
I'd have to supply some heat if growing Nepenthes, otherwise temps
could get down to maybe 15-15C at times.
> So far I have 2 VFT's and 3 small Pitcher plants. BTW how large will a
> VFT and the Pitcher plants grow in a 65 gallon tank.
VFTs won't outgrow you - maybe the usual 6 inches across or so, and
not very tall unless you count flower spikes. Do you mean Sarracenia
pitchers? Many varieties get rather tall - maybe 2-3 feet. Neither of
these need very high temperature or humidity, so a terrarium isn't
compulsory. Or do you mean Nepenthes? In which case the size all depends
on which species.
-- Clarke Brunt (clarke@brunt.demon.co.uk)