Plant and Light Questions...

[kairu]

hello world,

now i'm not to sure if i'm posting this in the correct place, but i thought this forum made the most sense.

i am interested in poison dart frogs not only for their magnificent color and diurnal nature, but for the specific requirements needed to be maintained in captivity.

right now i am currently in the "research stage", finding all important information re: species, care, housing, feeding, etc and beginning to design my terrarium (thinkin... 25-30g)

now i want to use live plants and is what my question is regarding. my plan is to use a 1/2 glass, 1/2 screen terrarium top, separated by hinges, with another piece of glass cut to cover 60% of the screen section of the top. the glass cut out is used to retain more humidity while allowing some circulation. (please note, a mister will be used to keep humidity up to par)

.... now is it alright for me to suspend the florescent fixture (going to use a household natural white or daylight florescent) above the full glass portion of the top?, or does it need to be placed over a screen portion of the top? the reason why i want to suspend it over the full glass portion of the top is to prevent any moisture coming from the screen section of the top and destroying the florescent fixture. Also, im going to suspend the florescent fixture so the bulb doesn't generate any heat inside the terrarium)

the reason i ask this is because i know that with specific reptile bulbs (ie; Repti-Glo, Zoomed, etc) they can't be placed over glass because the glass will filter out the needed uva/uvb rays and it becomes useless. does this apply to standard florescent bulbs (or non reptic bulb), that do not produce large levels of uva/uvb rays?

will the live plants benifit from the light produced even though it is behind glass?

note: i want to use plants that...
1) can stand high humidity
2) don't grow to be to large (will be figured out after i know dememntions of terrarium)
3) don't require a large amount of light
... any suggestions!

ty for taking the time to read my long post.

Kyle

[DendroTerra]

All my frogs have fluorescent lights over glass and it works fine. My plants love it too. It mostly filters out the heat, which you want, as making a hot box for your frogs makes an unhappy, or dead frog.

Some of my tanks are sideways so the light hangs over the glass and goes across my small screened portion of the top.

On another note, I use small computer fans sitting on top of my screen, blowing upwards & out. This keeps the viewing capabilities of the tank up, and does cool a bit, as well as offer air circulation.

[dartdigger]

I use plants from the tropical section at Lowes or Home Depou and they have always worked really well for me!

[JamesJcbM]

i am also woundering if i put frogs in a bigger aquirum if they will be able to sort out and find their food.

[Todd S.]

Tons of plants you can use without a ton of light
1 thing tho is always make sure you use bulbs that are 6500K . Ive found that when Im setting up a 4 ft rack, a 4'T8 shoplight ficture with 2 6500K daylight bulbs is great!
Heres a list of plants that dont require obscene amounts of light.. however dont give them too little light or they will not do well. they can get stringy or just rot (Im only naming species/varieties that I work with so this list doesnt get too outta hand and actually Im not even gonna list them all LOL)

Calathea micans
Begonias including:
bipinnatifida
rajah
quadraliata ssp nimbaensis
'Red Planet'
'Lubbergei'
'Granada'
Selaginella including:
erythropus
uncinata
moellendorfii
martensii
pallescens
plana
flabellata
emmeliana
serpens
kraussiana
Maranta(Prayer plants)
Pilea including:
involucrata
spruceana
grandifolia
Peperomia(Plant these higher in the viv):
prostrata
SP Panama
quadriangularis
orba
turboensis
meridana

Episcias:
'Suomi'
'Longwood Gardens'
'Silver Sheen'
'Silver Dust'
'Acajau'

Jewel Orchids:
Macodes petola
Ludisia discolor var. nigrescians
Goodyera schlectelania?

Syngoniums tho they can get big.
Syngonium rayii (Stays quite small)

These are only a start Ill list more later!

Todd