# Lighting a 36 inch tall vivarium?



## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

I've recently purchased an Exo Terra medium X-tall terrarium, which is 24" wide, 18" deep, and 36" tall. I've got a few ideas as to what might provide sufficient lighting for this viv; though I'd like to see what some of you lighting experts have to say or recommend, or what you guys would consider using?


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## CronicdenDro (Jun 27, 2015)

I guess the first question to ask is do you want LED or T5HO. Personally I think T5s look the best for planted tanks but LEDs will save you a lot more money in the long run. T5s can also be used to heat the tank and create a temperature gradient while LEDs should have almost no affect on your tanks temperature. I myself bought two SunBlaster T5HO fixtures for my tank and would recommend them to anyone. They have the perfect spectrum for growing plants and the bulbs they produce are rated to last two years instead of only one. Two 2' fixtures should provide plenty of light for your tank. You could use three if you want even better light penetration to the bottom but wouldn't be necessary.


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## HistoCrazy (Jul 14, 2015)

JPP said:


> I've recently purchased an Exo Terra medium X-tall terrarium, which is 24" wide, 18" deep, and 36" tall. I've got a few ideas as to what might provide sufficient lighting for this viv; though I'd like to see what some of you lighting experts have to say or recommend, or what you guys would consider using?



i use the current satellite pro plus light so far so good.


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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

Thanks for the responses so far. I was thinking along the lines of LED. The two things I've originally been considering:

*The Green Element EVO Quad 24"* (Beamswork?):

EVO Quad 24 LED 6500K (TR)

28 three watt LEDs with lenses, 4320 Lumens...should have decent light coverage being 23.00" x 9.25", and decent penetration with the optics on the 4 rows of 3w LEDs. Maybe Pubfiction could comment on this fixture?

*Jungle Dawn 40w MEGA Plant Grow Spotlight*:

Jungle | Dawn® |40 |Watt | MEGA | Plant | Grow |Spotlight

Supposed to be sufficient for tanks over 3' deep according to the Arcadia website. I'm guessing that I'd need more than one for my viv, considering they're concentrated spot lights? Perhaps Todd could comment?

If anyone has any experience with the above, or has other options they would like to share, feel free to discuss them here.


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## MasterOogway (Mar 22, 2011)

I have a slightly larger version of your tank, a 36x18x36, and a 30" 4x24w T5HO light (CurrentUSA) above it and it is *not* enough light. I'll be adding an LED strip to it at some point, maybe a couple spot lights as well. My broms at the bottom of the tank have been dying back though, and even my broms half-way up the tank have been losing color.


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

I use 20 Watt bulb from Tinctman herps and lights up my 36" tall tanks really well. plants at the bottom do nice as well.


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## pdfCrazy (Feb 28, 2012)

I have this exact tank, and I run 2 x 90 watt led's a 54 watt compact flourescent, a 13watt jungle dawn and 3 x 18" t5 (non HO). The upper 1/4 of the tank.....plants burn, mid-50% and everything grows CRAZY WELL, The bottom is well lit in spots , but still alot of shadowing and dark spots. I highly recomend LED spot beams for the bottom of the tank.


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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

Julio said:


> I use 20 Watt bulb from Tinctman herps and lights up my 36" tall tanks really well. plants at the bottom do nice as well.


Do you have any pics of your viv/light set up?

I saw Idris is now selling a 27 watt LED light that he claims will light a 36" deep tank. Since they're basically a long but "skinny" bar design, wouldn't you perhaps need 2 of those to get enough coverage for the whole viv?




pdfCrazy said:


> I have this exact tank, and I run 2 x 90 watt led's a 54 watt compact flourescent, a 13watt jungle dawn and 3 x 18" t5 (non HO).


 How do you fit all of that stuff on top of your tank??


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## Venutus1 (Feb 13, 2010)

JPP said:


> ""
> 
> *Jungle Dawn 40w MEGA Plant Grow Spotlight*:
> 
> ...


These are pretty potent and "shoot" the light.
I personally would use say two of those spots in a 36 x 36 x 18 to create like streams of sunlight breaking through the canopy... and use a double bulb ho t5 for the ambient lighting w/ an Arcadia 6% uvb (over screen stripped top) & 6.5k daylight. 
cheers!
Todd


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## JPP (Mar 25, 2015)

Venutus1 said:


> I personally would use say two of those spots in a 36 x 36 x 18 to create like streams of sunlight breaking through the canopy...


The one I have is just the 24" wide Exo Terra though, not the 36".


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## Julio (Oct 8, 2007)

I have pics on my Instagram accnt 

Look up dartfrogs

I use 1 20 watt bulb and lights up the entire tank


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## Sktdvs14 (Oct 20, 2014)

Same as with Julio. I've got the same tank you do 24x18x36 and I use a 20watt LED bulb from Tincman (Idris) and it lights up my entire viv.


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## MasterOogway (Mar 22, 2011)

Sktdvs14 said:


> Same as with Julio. I've got the same tank you do 24x18x36 and I use a 20watt LED bulb from Tincman (Idris) and it lights up my entire viv.


What's the lumen/par output on those?


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## Sktdvs14 (Oct 20, 2014)

TarantulaGuy said:


> What's the lumen/par output on those?


Beats me, I've never tested them. I'm sure Idris can answer that question for ya ! Aka Tincman


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## ChrisAZ (Sep 6, 2012)

I bought several 55w PL style power compact fluorescents with reflectors from AH supply a while back, they can reach 3' deep no problem and grow plants great!











Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Smotz (Jul 20, 2015)

JPP said:


> I've recently purchased an Exo Terra medium X-tall terrarium, which is 24" wide, 18" deep, and 36" tall. I've got a few ideas as to what might provide sufficient lighting for this viv; though I'd like to see what some of you lighting experts have to say or recommend, or what you guys would consider using?


I bought 2 of these and attached them to the underside of my bakers rack. @ 6000 lumens, it seemed like the best deal.

Elf 900 6500K LED Pent 36" 0 50W Freshwater Plant Tetra Discus 90cm 120x | eBay


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

How have the lights you purchased been looking, I was eyeing the same ones.


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## SLEEPiNG GiRL (Oct 15, 2015)

I have a 0.5 6500k unit for the back top of my 36" tall exo and a 3w unit for the front/depth. The 0.5w would struggle to light more than 18" adequately for my needs. I guess it depends what plants you're growing. I'm considering swapping the back 0.5w led unit for a 1w version or dimmed 3w. It doesn't seem to have quite enough for what I need.

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## B-NICE (Jul 15, 2011)

Here's the ELF, mine has 12000 lumens. That's a 36Hx36x18d. My light is 72" because I'm getting another one.


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