# Bromeliad lighting time



## greenthumbs (Nov 6, 2015)

Hey everyone! I set up a new viv (20x20x11 inches) a few days ago, but I don't have any livestock. The viv contains a maidenhair fern, a white rabbit's foot fern, a peperomia (caperata I think, but I'm not 100% sure), and a few fireball bromeliads. It's not going to have any livestock for at least another week. Would it be safe for me to leave the lights on 24/7 during this time to help the plants grow? I'm mainly interested in giving the ferns a head start. If I'm not mistaken, bromeliads use CAM photosynthesis, so they can only take in carbon dioxide at night. Will keeping my lights on constantly for a week significantly harm the bromeliads? Would it be better for the other plants to leave the lights on, or would it be better overall to keep them on during the day and off at night? How many hours of daylight is recommended for plants like mine? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!


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## emallard25 (Jun 28, 2012)

12 hours on 12 hours off is usually the rule of them. In my experience, too much light is a bad thing. Keeping your lights on 24/7 for a week straight will surely end up damaging some of your plants. Even the bromeliads, who can take more light, will end up with burns if exposed too long. I've learned that when it comes to plants, and just proper vivarium care in general, patience is key. I hope this helps.


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## rvsur (Dec 13, 2010)

emallard25 said:


> 12 hours on 12 hours off is usually the rule of them. In my experience, too much light is a bad thing. Keeping your lights on 24/7 for a week straight will surely end up damaging some of your plants. Even the bromeliads, who can take more light, will end up with burns if exposed too long. I've learned that when it comes to plants, and just proper vivarium care in general, patience is key. I hope this helps.


I made this mistake with mine when I was setting up my most recent viv. I was blasting my broms with 20w and 30w led spotlights from a few inches above and it seems to have left some burns that I now have to wait out and one of them seems to have the colors faded a bit. Almost else in the tank seemed to love it, but I'm not sure how long it will take for them to come back.


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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

greenthumbs said:


> Hey everyone! I set up a new viv (20x20x11 inches) a few days ago, but I don't have any livestock. The viv contains a maidenhair fern, a white rabbit's foot fern, a peperomia (caperata I think, but I'm not 100% sure), and a few fireball bromeliads. It's not going to have any livestock for at least another week. Would it be safe for me to leave the lights on 24/7 during this time to help the plants grow? I'm mainly interested in giving the ferns a head start. If I'm not mistaken, bromeliads use CAM photosynthesis, so they can only take in carbon dioxide at night. Will keeping my lights on constantly for a week significantly harm the bromeliads? Would it be better for the other plants to leave the lights on, or would it be better overall to keep them on during the day and off at night? How many hours of daylight is recommended for plants like mine? Any help is appreciated. Thanks!


You set the viv up a few days ago, and you're planning on putting 'livestock' (frogs?) in there in another week? I'd wait longer than that, to give your viv a chance to cycle. Preferably a month or so.

I wouldn't leave the lights on 24/7, just provide a relatively normal photoperiod.


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## TJ_Burton (Jul 22, 2015)

Bromeliads are not overly demanding plants, but they do require ideal conditions if you want them to color up properly. 6000K to 6700K color temperature works the best in my experience.

As for intensity, Bromeliad neoregelia does need quite a bit of light in order to color up to the fullest. I personally found a sweet spot at around 12,000 lux at the top of the rosette. I do recommend that the intensity of light is arched over the course of 12 hours. low ends being around 6000 lux, climbing to 12,000 lux at the half way point (high noon). 

A lux meter is your friend! Helps you understand how light is being distributed in your enclosure, where the hot spots are, and how much light particular plants will be receiving where you've placed them. Otherwise you are shooting in the dark and basically have to play "musical plants" until you find the right spot for each.

Below is an example of how proper lighting can pay off.

Quick side by side of my Wild Tigers. The one on the left is how they looked when they arrived (and is kept under 4300 lux of LED lighting) the one of the right is in the enclosure and under the Radion XR30w Pro LED fixture and receives 8000 to 12,000 lux over the course of the day. This photo was taken about 2 weeks after I received the plants and put them in their respective enclosures. The difference is very noticeable, and the plant on the right is actually much more colorful now than it was when this photo was taken at a couple weeks ago.










Whether you use T5HO, LED, or MH, it is important to provide enough of the right light in the right way to get the most out of your broms.


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## macuser (Oct 8, 2015)

i also read somewhere that if you dont have frogs in your tank yet, you can take the top off your tank so your plants get more uvb or something. something to consider.


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## TheCoop (Oct 24, 2012)

TJ_Burton said:


> Bromeliads are not overly demanding plants, but they do require ideal conditions if you want them to color up properly. 6000K to 6700K color temperature works the best in my experience.
> 
> As for intensity, Bromeliad neoregelia does need quite a bit of light in order to color up to the fullest. I personally found a sweet spot at around 12,000 lux at the top of the rosette. I do recommend that the intensity of light is arched over the course of 12 hours. low ends being around 6000 lux, climbing to 12,000 lux at the half way point (high noon).
> 
> ...



6700k is perfect, you can actally run a 16 hour cycle with great success without frogs in the Viv.


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

macuser said:


> i also read somewhere that if you dont have frogs in your tank yet, you can take the top off your tank so your plants get more uvb or something. something to consider.


UVB from where? Your windows are filtering all of that out of your house. Unless you are putting reptiglos in your house fixtures, i'm not seeing where UVB is coming from and how opening the top of a viv is going to let more in.....Also a low level of UVB is far from bad for frogs and some people have noticed it doing some good.


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## macuser (Oct 8, 2015)

Rushthezeppelin said:


> UVB from where? Your windows are filtering all of that out of your house. Unless you are putting reptiglos in your house fixtures, i'm not seeing where UVB is coming from and how opening the top of a viv is going to let more in.....Also a low level of UVB is far from bad for frogs and some people have noticed it doing some good.


the uvb would come from the vivarium lighting and there cant be frogs in the tank because they would escape if the top was off, not because uvb is detrimental to their health.

edit: so our biopod will come with 'Sunlight LED light panel with 5% UVB @ 294nm'. i'm not sure what any of that means, but i read that the glass top can block some of the uvb out and its beneficial for the plants to take the top off, but you dont want to do it with frogs in the tank because the frogs would escape.


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## Rushthezeppelin (Oct 6, 2015)

macuser said:


> the uvb would come from the vivarium lighting and there cant be frogs in the tank because they would escape if the top was off, not because uvb is detrimental to their health.
> 
> edit: so our biopod will come with 'Sunlight LED light panel with 5% UVB @ 294nm'. i'm not sure what any of that means, but i read that the glass top can block some of the uvb out and its beneficial for the plants to take the top off, but you dont want to do it with frogs in the tank because the frogs would escape.


Ohhh with the biopod.....well taking the top off to give the plants more UVB doesn't really do anything anyway. Plants don't utilize UVB for photosynthesis, they utilize part of the visible spectrum.


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## TJ_Burton (Jul 22, 2015)

TheCoop said:


> 6700k is perfect, you can actally run a 16 hour cycle with great success without frogs in the Viv.


Somewhat misleading to say, but true provided the output isn't too much for the plants; too many hours of light that is too strong will lead to burning.

6700K (6,700 Kelvin Color Temperature) can be perfect, but color temp doesn't tell you the exact makeup of the light provided by the fixture or bulb. Decent bulbs or fixtures will also provide a color spectrum chart measured in nm (nanometers) that will give you a better idea of the composition of the light being transmitted. This way you can make sure the light peaks in the necessary areas best for photosynthesis (660nm and 440nm). I have found that bulbs between 6000K-6700K will generally peak where you need them to depending on the brand. Some brands of 6000K bulbs can perform better than other brands of 6700K bulbs with plant growth, and also the other way around.

Light output is also a concern when looking at a lighting schedule; that is why I was also pointing out the lux that I have found works best for bromeliads. Providing too little light for more than 12 hours wont do much to benefit the broms, or aid in their coloration. Too much light for less than 12 hours isn't great either, and for more than 12 hours can lead to burning.
If lighting broms without an arch, 7000-8000 lux is perfectly safe for 12hrs or more, but ideally, you'd want the light to arch from 6000 to 12000 lux morning to noon, and then back down to 6000 lux by the late afternoon into the evening. Sunrise/sunset gives you the ability to really blast your broms with light and encourage that deep coloration you see in broms kept outdoors, while reducing your risk of burning them and the other plants in your vivarium.

Personally, I'd suggest that you set the schedule for the lighting with the frogs in mind; you won't need to go back to change it later, and the plants will be adjusted to it. It will also give you an idea of how your plants will fair under your lighting choice long-term since the schedule is going to revolve around the frogs anyhow.

I'll admit, I am a stickler when it comes to lighting bromeliads effectively. I go into a level of detail that most folks just won't bother with... but I blame my background in reef lighting and keeping SPS.


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