Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I posted this question a few days ago under a diffrent, older topic, but I think people missed it, so I will post it again.

I am planning to convert the hood on my 30 gal vivarium to CF. The 96 watt kit from AH will fit, but I am wondering if this is too much light. The tank is only 16 3/4 inches tall, and when it is finished I plan to have almost half of that taken up with substrate. I don’t want to blind my frogs, but I want my plants to grow well. I'm also worried about the heat produced by the lights. If I use a 55 watt kit I would have room to squeeze in a ventilation fan, but if I use the 96 watt kit there will be no room for a fan. What do you guys think?

Thanks for the help.
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0.0.5 Blue Dendrobates Auratus
3.2.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Hymenochirus boettgeri)
2.2.0 Asian Floating Frogs (Occidozyga Lima)
1.1.0 White's Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)

If you set up your terrarium a few months before placing your frogs in there (which is a practice I recommend anyway), you won't have a problem with blinding your frogs. Utilize some large broms or other "tall" tropicals, and they will create a canopy which provides plenty of shade.

As for heat buildup, I would think that you can regulate that by using some small shims to adjust how close the light hood sits to your glass/plastic terrarium cover. I have my 120 watt light hood sitting with one side raised by 1/2" so that the temp is only raised by 3-5 degrees when the light is on. I personally don't think that 96 watts is overkill, and I certainly don't think it is harmful.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

I use a 96 watt CF from AH Supply on a 45 gallon tank, the only thing I had to do is elevate the light above the tank by 6 inches and mounted a fan underneath blowing across the top of the tank to keep the heat down. Without the fan it heated up way to much even 6 inches about the tank.

WOW, Tom, that's hot! Perhaps the reason I don't have this problem is because my ballast is actually located on the exterior of the hood, and not directly in the hood. I don't know. Another reason may simply be that I use a metal hood (the bulbs are in the same 2'x 2'office fixture they came in). Metal tends to conduct heat, and perhaps the fixture is acting as a heatsink.
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Homer W. Faucett III, esq.
Purveyor of Trivialities and Fine Nonsense

Just offhand, it sounds a bit much. I use a 65 watt in about the same situation, and everything is growing nicely. Also, watch out for the heat build up if youre using a canopy. Again, I think 65 watts would be about right.

How long is a 65 watt CF "bulb"? I wonder if I could use a 65 watt bulb in the 55 watt kit from AH supply. Thanks.
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0.0.5 Blue Dendrobates Auratus
3.2.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Hymenochirus boettgeri)
2.2.0 Asian Floating Frogs (Occidozyga Lima)
1.1.0 White's Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)

My fixture is 24" long. I THINK you can go from a 96 to a 65, but not a 55 to a 65 (you can go down, but not up). Emphasize THINK. ANyone else know for sure? You could ask AHsupply. BTW, I think 55 would be fine too, unless youve got tall plants that would block light. Please post if you find out whether the above is true or not.
Divegod

Hatered is brewing
People are dying
Armys are fighting
And I layer here waiting
waiting for it to all meltdown
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2.2.3 Orange Leucs
1.0 ventrimactulatus Blue leg
0.0.4 Orange galact

Always looking for female vents and plants

I havent orderd the kit yet, so I cant look at the ballast. Can somebody look on their ballast and tell us what it says? I will e-mail AH and ask them too.
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0.0.5 Blue Dendrobates Auratus
3.2.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Hymenochirus boettgeri)
2.2.0 Asian Floating Frogs (Occidozyga Lima)
1.1.0 White's Tree Frog (Litoria caerulea)