Lighting for 4x2x4 encosure

[StarFall]

Hello,
I'm planning on getting a 4x2x4 enclosure from Animal Plastics (A25 enclosure). I was going to build an enclosure myself but found out it would be 100 bucks cheaper to just get one from AP. Anyways, I am planning to make this enclosure bioactive and would like to keep plants in it. However, I can't find any threads about lighting on a cage this tall and I want to know how how much lighting I'd need to grow low to medium light plants in this enclosure.

Sorry if there is a thread like this already, I have discovered that I have quite the talent for not being able to find obvious things. Also if anyone has the A25 enclosure i'd like to see it, I can't seem to find any pictures on the web.
Thank you in advance

[dannybgoode]

For plant growth you need lighting that as close to daylight colour temperature as possible ie 6500k.

Do you have the Jungle Dawn range of led lighting over there? Pretty much the de facto planted viv light source over here. Not cheap but very good.

One of our DIY chains has also started doing a 6500k normal lightbulb which I'm trialing as an alterative (bulbs in the home are usually between 2500k and 4000k depending on how 'warm' the glow of the light - the lower the k the 'warmer' is redder the light is. The higher the k the 'cooler' more blue the light).

That's a quite a tall big viv and plants like a lot of light. A bulb in a viv may look bright but compared to sunlight they'll barely be putting anything out. This though needs to be balanced with what's being kept in the viv so what's going to be in there?

[StarFall]

Thanks for the reply. A carpet python will be in this enclosure. And I may be able to get Jungle Dawn lighting for this enclosure.

[dannybgoode]

A 13W jungle dawn would do it. Nice enclosure for a carpet. I'm just about to build a 4*2*2 for mine. Would have liked more height but I wanted a particular make of viv so had to compromise a bit.

If I'm not happy with it when I'm finished I've got plenty of others that would be happy in it with a bit less height but hopefully the carpet will be just fine. That'll be planted also.

[StarFall]

Okay, thank you so much for the help. I will definitely get the jungle dawn. Also, good luck with your carpet enclosure. I love the look of planted enclosures, and carpets always look at home in one.

[TRD]

As for plant light, you need full spectrum light, and plenty of it. 2000 lumen is bright inside, but about as bright as shadow is outside on a sunny day. Jungle dawn is great over short distances, but 2 ft is quite a lot for it. I would suggest you look into LED light which has lenses and not a flood configuration (like the JD screw mounted strips have). The JD 40W spot might be an option. None of the LED light can be mounted inside of the viv, they are unshielded against moist and very sensitive for it. Also they need good ventilation because the outside of those lights get very hot. Not sure if that's an issue... If it is, there is also T5HO lighting for plant growth which can be mounted inside and can take moist.

[StarFall]

Thanks for the reply. I'm going to go with the jungle dawn. As for mounting and ventilation, that shouldn't be a problem. I can figure out a way to modify the top of the cage so that light can still shine in, but it won't get wet.

[TRD]

Sure, jungle dawn also has 22 watt LED strip. I still think distance between light and ground will be a tad high for those jungle dawns. 13 watt for sure will not be able to effectively light such place unless you place multiple, 22 watt you would already need 2 if you wish to light the whole floor space. If it's just partial lighting then 1 22 watt or 2 13 watt would suffice.