New enclosure lighting

Millwright

Millwright

Established Member
I have been working on a new enclosure for my male Veiled and eventually a Male Panther.
Enclosure is 60” wide 54” tall and 26” deep. It is divided into two 30” wide sections. I’d like to keep a hibiscus as the main plant of each enclosure.

I was thinking T5 HO’s for the uv. The rest I’m not sure about. I do have 2 48” freshwater quarium led’s that were never put into use.
 

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2 T5 HOs accross hte top was not enough to keep my hibiscus healthy. I ended up having 2, and rotating them from window light to cage every 3-6 months. Odds are you will need either 2 HOS and 2 50 watt basking lights, or 4 HOs in single bulbs with reflector hoods.
 
Beautiful build!!! Idk if 4 HOs will be enough to not have to rotate out either. I'm running a sunblaze 46 on my not as nice build (thread on it is here in the forums) and was advised I'd likely still have to rotate them out if I wanted hibiscus. @Extensionofgreen may be able to give you an ideaof what light you need to not have to take them in and out. He has been my "plant savior" so far in my journey. In the last weekend update I posted with my plants just sitting in there I still have 2 true lumen flora bulbs so it's still a bit "dark" but it'll give you an idea on what 6 t5ho will look like lol. My guess though would likely be metal halide. I have meant to ask him if led "flood lights" would get me in the ballpark too though since I also have two similar to this one I've had lighting my attic for insulation work. Mine are a different brand but still 50w https://www.amazon.com/LEDMO-Waterp...509472984&sr=8-3&keywords=50w+led+flood+light.
 
Talk with Todd Goode at lightyourreptiles.com, email him some pictures of this enclosure and he will tell you and provide exactly what you need. He's the lighting guru of the chameleon world. He's very knowledgeable and personable. He'll get you set up with some great stuff. Hope this helps!
 
i used a quad fixture with the 12% bulbs and a plant bulb and it still wasn't enough to keep a hibiscus alive... it bloomed like 2 flowers in 3 weeks and started to go down hill right after. i just got a jungle dawn LED spotlight so the combination of the two might be enough, but i haven't gotten a new hibiscus. both are from Todd at lightyourreptiles.com.
 
dshuld said:
Beautiful build!!! Idk if 4 HOs will be enough to not have to rotate out either. I'm running a sunblaze 46 on my not as nice build (thread on it is here in the forums) and was advised I'd likely still have to rotate them out if I wanted hibiscus. @Extensionofgreen may be able to give you an ideaof what light you need to not have to take them in and out. He has been my "plant savior" so far in my journey. In the last weekend update I posted with my plants just sitting in there I still have 2 true lumen flora bulbs so it's still a bit "dark" but it'll give you an idea on what 6 t5ho will look like lol. My guess though would likely be metal halide. I have meant to ask him if led "flood lights" would get me in the ballpark too though since I also have two similar to this one I've had lighting my attic for insulation work. Mine are a different brand but still 50w https://www.amazon.com/LEDMO-Waterp...509472984&sr=8-3&keywords=50w+led+flood+light.
Click to expand...
I just read your post. Are you also a saltwater reef keeper also?
Long story short I had a 150 gallon reef tank. 2 months ago my house got hit by lightning and burned. Hence the new enclosure for the chameleon’s. I lost me reef tank but threw my Veiled in a bucket and saved him.
Anyway I’m thinking of using SB black boxes (fresh water version) for lighting along with 2 T5 HO to provide the UV.
Your build is looking good by the way.
 
dshuld said:
Beautiful build!!! Idk if 4 HOs will be enough to not have to rotate out either. I'm running a sunblaze 46 on my not as nice build (thread on it is here in the forums) and was advised I'd likely still have to rotate them out if I wanted hibiscus. @Extensionofgreen may be able to give you an ideaof what light you need to not have to take them in and out. He has been my "plant savior" so far in my journey. In the last weekend update I posted with my plants just sitting in there I still have 2 true lumen flora bulbs so it's still a bit "dark" but it'll give you an idea on what 6 t5ho will look like lol. My guess though would likely be metal halide. I have meant to ask him if led "flood lights" would get me in the ballpark too though since I also have two similar to this one I've had lighting my attic for insulation work. Mine are a different brand but still 50w https://www.amazon.com/LEDMO-Waterp...509472984&sr=8-3&keywords=50w+led+flood+light.
Click to expand...
Thank you for the compliments.
I’m thinking T5 HO’s for the uv and hopefully LED’s for the plants. I’ll look up the links you provided.
 
Millwright said:
I just read your post. Are you also a saltwater reef keeper also?
Long story short I had a 150 gallon reef tank. 2 months ago my house got hit by lightning and burned. Hence the new enclosure for the chameleon’s. I lost me reef tank but threw my Veiled in a bucket and saved him.
Anyway I’m thinking of using SB black boxes (fresh water version) for lighting along with 2 T5 HO to provide the UV.
Your build is looking good by the way.
Click to expand...

No, I'm crossing over from planted tanks. I had bought the 46 at point I was thinking of redoing 1 of my 75s as a fowlr tank or a highlight co2 injected planted. The black boxes are nice fixtures too. I looked into them and decided to stick to t5ho so I could just change bulbs and go either direction tank wise lol. What's in the fixture now in the pic is 4 ge starcoat 6500k with the two true lumens though for reference.

That sucks about the lightning hit though!!!
 
Great looking set-up. I would ask Todd as well. He is crazy helpful with this kind of thing. You’re gonna need a ton of light for the hibiscus. I would bet one of his quad’s, your LED’s, and some strong basking lights may do the trick. The LED’s are great supplemental lights, and can provide high PAR levels for the plants. My only concern is if that amount of light would possibly be detrimental to the chameleons in any way.
 
Lighting aside, some plants are prone to issues when grown indoors. Hibiscus indoors are magnets to foliage mealy bugs, spider mites, and other plant pest. Strong lighting will help, but I still think they are more trouble than they are worth. If you are determined to keep a hibiscus, I would start with a minimum of 4 HO T5 bulbs over each and better 6 bulbs. LED spots burn foliage not at least 8”-10” beneath them, though floods could be useful, such as the outdoor security types. I am available to assist, but I second recommending a conversation with @Venutus1 for particular product information and as source for bulbs and fixtures. He isn’t the only source, but he is a helpful, reputable, asset to the hobby and that’s the type of person I like to spend my money with.
 
Sounds like you already got pointed in the right direction light fixture-wise but I still had to chime in and say great work with the new setup! That's exactly what I was going to do with my 2 male panthers but everything got put on hold due to a remodel...
 
That looks great. I have not grown hibiscus plants indoors but have had a lot of success with 250 and 400watt MH growing other plants that need a fair amount of light. Probably would need to mount it 1'-2' above for heat purposes. I would wonder with T5's how much penetration you would get for the entire plant.

I know some folks struggle more with heat than others with MH so you would need to consider your general ambient conditions if you go that route. Here in Michigan, I have found the heat produced to be more benefical than not.
 
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