Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 11:19:41 -0400 From: Tom Massey <massey@hal.fmhi.usf.edu> To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com Message-Id: <aabcdefg2414$foo@default> Subject: RE: terrariums
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Sent: Monday, July 20, 1998 11:45 PM
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I am planning on building a terrarium soon. I will have virtually
unlimietd glass, but a limited budget ( under $70).
I would most like to know how tall to make it, so that I
will have the most robust plants, and still have room for taller ones
(S.leaucophylla, if possible!). It will be 48 in. long because, I have a
four-tube flourescent fixture this size.It'll be a greenhouse type
terrarium, with pots and trays.
Thank you,
Don Drury
The tough part about large terrariums and aquariums is the strength of the
glass. I have made both a few times. If you have standard window pane
glass, you will be limited to a small terrariuum. A 4 foot long sheet of
even 1/4 inch glass in a terrarium face would be prone to crack just from
the stress of moving it. You could double pane, using two sheets of glass
glued together with silicone or use heavier glass. The last time I built
an aquarium I used 3/8 inch glass for a 30 gallon job. Part of this has to
do with the weight of the water of course, but it also has to do with the
stress put on an glass mounted in a frame.
If you grow the tall Sarrs. under lights you would probably do better with
an intermediate fixture close to the base of the plant as well as overhead
lights.
Just FWIW,
Tom in Fl.
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