I am setting up an enclosure for a panther and have pretty much everything listed in the caresheets. I like to grow plants and I have a spare Kessil H380 that would pretty much grow anything I would put in the cage. The kessil is ~100 watts and I would compare it to what a 250 MH bulb would grow. It has two spectrums a purplish grow setting and a flowering magenta, it has uva aswell. I have tested the impact of running the H380 with the heat bulb and uvb bulb and the basking temperatures have been fine. My plan is to run it on the grow setting. I have searched on the forum for folks who use either MH, HPS or LED's with a few things coming up. I would like to know with the heat being controlled, will the light be too intense for the chameleon?
Kessil LED
- Thread starter DavidL
- Start date
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
Try pm'ing @Extensionofgreen if he doesn't pop in here to answer. What size enclosure are planning on? I will be running a sunblaze 46 over my diy 4w x 2d x 4h enclosure. From what extension said to me though, there is no such thing as too bright. Out of curiosity, are you coming from planted tanks or...?
I have the reptibreeze that is 2' x2' x4'. That sublaze looks pretty good, do you have a plant in particular you want to grow?
As for me, I grew highland nepenthes in my basement up until I had an allergic reaction to a kelp fertilizer and had to get rid of my collection. So I am left with a decent amount of ballasts, reflectors and other lights to put to other purposes like this. And after I get a feel for the chameleon, I probably will put in a vigorous nepenthe hybrid. I have always been a fan of n. glandulifera and its hybrids and am curious to see if the chameleon would drink from its nectar glands
. Of a side note I'm suprised about how many different supplements that are used for reptiles that have kelp in them.
As for me, I grew highland nepenthes in my basement up until I had an allergic reaction to a kelp fertilizer and had to get rid of my collection. So I am left with a decent amount of ballasts, reflectors and other lights to put to other purposes like this. And after I get a feel for the chameleon, I probably will put in a vigorous nepenthe hybrid. I have always been a fan of n. glandulifera and its hybrids and am curious to see if the chameleon would drink from its nectar glands
. Of a side note I'm suprised about how many different supplements that are used for reptiles that have kelp in them.
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
The sunblaze is left over from other hobby, planted tanks lol. I've been "out of" the hobby for a bit now though. I bought the sunblaze at point I was looking at doing either a high light planted or a fowlr tank. That's where I recognized kessil from lol.
My flora list currently is dark mystery pilea, silver pink and red nerve plants, ficus benjamin and umbrella bushes. Still need a pothos pot and I want a bleeding heart to put center back. May get some more pilea and fittonia to fill the "ground cover" area when I get that far along.
My flora list currently is dark mystery pilea, silver pink and red nerve plants, ficus benjamin and umbrella bushes. Still need a pothos pot and I want a bleeding heart to put center back. May get some more pilea and fittonia to fill the "ground cover" area when I get that far along.
savage13
Avid Member
A quad fixture of T5 is the way to go 3-65k bulbs and 1 UVB bulb... Kessil Led work fine if you're growing soft corals or some Lps corals.. Now SPS corals i alway had success with combination of T5 and MH.. But for reptiles stick with what works don't try to reinvent the wheel. Good luck...
Scottsquatch
Chameleon Enthusiast
Savage13 is right. Can't go wrong with the quad. One UVB and three 65k. Tried and true.
Extensionofgreen
Chameleon Enthusiast
That LED set-up will likely cause most plants used in Chameleon enclosures to burn. A 40 watt LED spot will scorch any foliage that is closer than 6-10” and that goes for plants that grow outdoors in full sun. It would be overkill and while it would work for lower ground plantings, it will burn most other plants, close to the top. Now, if you plan on mounting the light several inches or a foot above the enclosure, that will due, but often the spectrums they run LEDs at for optimum plant growth are skewed far to the red/purple side and that distorts the way chameleons see there environment. You need to stick with bulbs in the 5000-6500k spectrum, with the exception being a couple basking spots, which are often in the 2000-3000k range.
Flowering plants do great with a combo of 5000-6500k and 3000k bulbs. I grow flowering plants for competition, so I’m well versed on the subject. Yes, people are growing carnivorous plants, marine invertebrates, pot, and other things under skewed spectrums for optimum output, but it’s usually unpleasant to see the plants under, because the true colors are distorted and as mentioned, those spectrums are not appropriate for reptiles.
Flowering plants do great with a combo of 5000-6500k and 3000k bulbs. I grow flowering plants for competition, so I’m well versed on the subject. Yes, people are growing carnivorous plants, marine invertebrates, pot, and other things under skewed spectrums for optimum output, but it’s usually unpleasant to see the plants under, because the true colors are distorted and as mentioned, those spectrums are not appropriate for reptiles.
Extensionofgreen
Chameleon Enthusiast
Reptiles see colors differently, because they can see UVB light. Yes, there are cases of reptiles stressed by inappropriate lighting types/spectrums/colors. Think of waking up one day or seeing a flash of light and suddenly having everything you were used to being a different color! It would take you a while to remember that you must STOP at a STOP sign, because the traffic sign is no longer the familiar red. Hmmm, now which color traffic light do I use? Will you recognize your food all of the time? I’ve seen so many reptiles kept in “adequate”, but dimly lit, depressing enclosures, and it always shocks me how people don’t look at their enclosure and think of how poorly it compares to outdoor sunshine. With captive breeding, animals are more accustomed to artificial light and do well enough, but I can see the difference in every animal placed in a carefully lighted enclosure or outdoors.
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