Hey all, I'm new here (this is my second post) and had a question for you. I would like to grow some live tropical plants in the tank with my emperor scorpion, to help keep humidity up and to just make the tank look better, but I have heard that any kind of UV light is bad for them (the scorpion), is this true? If it is, is there any real good way of growing plants in the tank that wont stress the scorpion to much? I have a light set up all ready to go but am not using it yet. It is a stand alone florescent (sp.) light with a zoomed full spectrum tropical grow bulb in it, 15 watt. In case you wanted to know.
growing plants in emperors tank?
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I really don't use real planrs with my emps. I tried once, but the UV lighting is very bad for them so i tried regular lighting, which of course didn't work and the plants died off. Plus, Scorpion burrowing may also destroy the plants. IMO, id stick to fake plants.
OK, heres another question for you. One of the reasons I wanted live plants is to help with the humidity. I live in Colorado, so there realy isnt much humidity here to begin with. The screen on my tank is covered with plasic wrap shrunk with a heat gun so it looks good. I only have four little slits in the plastic wrap to act as air holes, and even with daily misting I cant get the humidity above about 75%. Any help would be appreciated.
Here is my setup: The cage topper is a custom cut plexiglass window with holes drilled into it. for humidity, i put a shallow, wide bowl of water in the setup and use an infrared bulb "avalible at most pet stores" and place it directly over the water bowl, on top of the plexiglass. The heat will evaporate the water, generating humidity, while the drilled glass will retain it in, while allowing for some ventalation. Be sure to moisten the substratum as well and use a heat source.
polycarbonate works well. like the guy above me mentioned, you wanna make sure your substrate is moist. i'd suggest peat moss if you're not using it already. my humidity drops to 70% which i think is alright, also from other people's experience. your scorps need fresh air too, so your ventillation holes should be on opposite ends for air flow... pz
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Plants that work well in the kind of enclosure you have are pothos (heart-shaped philodendron). They require little light but do need good amounts of moisture and help to keep the humidity up. I have used them in several high humidity enclosures with good results.
John
];')
John
];')
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Also, you don't need full spectrum florecents for the plants to grow. regular cool white works ok and doesnt bother the emps if they have a dark hide.
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If you are worried about your plants getting rooted up by your emps you can just pot the plant then bury the pot in the substrate. If you have a deep enough tank.
A suggestion. Some times I have a hard time keeping my humidity around 80%. During a trial and error process I have noticed my emps prefer a certian plastic enclosure. I believe this to hold humidity much better that my bark ones.
They pick this hide no matter where I place it in the tank even after they they have excavated other burrows.
They dont seem to feel the need to burrow when they are in this hide. If the substrate dries up they just dig down to the moist part and kick the dry stuff out of the hide. They seem content to just chill there.
It just seems that plastic hides dont absorb the humidity and tend to hold it in better.
Good luck with the plants. I always like to see natural settings.(I think emps dig it too)
Hope this helps.
A suggestion. Some times I have a hard time keeping my humidity around 80%. During a trial and error process I have noticed my emps prefer a certian plastic enclosure. I believe this to hold humidity much better that my bark ones.
They pick this hide no matter where I place it in the tank even after they they have excavated other burrows.
They dont seem to feel the need to burrow when they are in this hide. If the substrate dries up they just dig down to the moist part and kick the dry stuff out of the hide. They seem content to just chill there.
It just seems that plastic hides dont absorb the humidity and tend to hold it in better.
Good luck with the plants. I always like to see natural settings.(I think emps dig it too)
Hope this helps.
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R14, I to want to add a little life to my enclosure. What i have gon for, and they will hopfully be arriveing today, are live air plants, Tillandsia ionatha scaposa, Tillandsia ionantha. A very tough plant, needs very little to live, and has no nasty thorns etc. but is still green and producess some nice flowers. Very little in the way of roots, so when your emps, inevitabley turn them over, just pick them back up.
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I have a fake fern and some real plants in my communal emperors tank. I also have ahumidifier in it. keeps humidity up and my plants are growing wonderfully. I used bed a beast brick for dirt mixed with vermiculite and peat by the plants. I used pothos and some other plant which I do not know the name of. Its a darker green and has sword shapped leaves spikey with red border on its leaves. No problems for a year now just a bout.
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Dragon Maiden
sounds cool
could u put some pics up?
sounds cool
could u put some pics up?
Thanks for all the info. I have the plastic hides as well, so I dont think that would be affecting the humidity any. maybe i'll have to get a piece of plexiglass like leiurus87 has. the infra red heat lamp should with the heat to right? I have two heat pads on a 20 gal. tank right now. One is for 10-20 gal. and the other is 30-40 gal. with tinfoil on the back of both of them and I still cant get the temperature above 72F. Winter in CO. is not good for scorpions.
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R14, My plants are doing fine, the one i put in my Females tank took some damge the first night, a new thing she was unsure about, Give them a go. As for your heat i have a very simular set up to yours, but i use 2 heat pads on each of my tanks, 1 30 gal., and one 20 gal. this keep the temp at a regular 30 Deg C. I have a home made perspex lid on both. with holes in each end that i can cover/open up as i wish to controle the Temp and humidity.