Cheap Lighting

[Isaiahtb]

I personally feel that the tank should be lit so the hermies experience day and night. So I thought of a cheap way to do it but is it safe? Here it is,

Okay you will need,
String of Christmas lights, (Green looks better because it's more natural)
A clear,flexible, plastic tube that the lights can fit in snugly. It has to be strong so your hermit crabs can't break it. ( You must have this so the lights won't short out and be set ablaze from the high humidity and water if used correctly this will act as a shield to block the humidity and water from entering)
(Optional but highly not recommended) Aluminum foil.

Steps
1. Straiten the Christmas lights out. You should be able to see individual lights.
2. Straiten the tube out. This is why the tube should be flexible but strong enough so the crabs can't break it and expose the lights. And this piece MUST be free of any holes inside the tank. Although you should leave the tube handing outside the tank a about 5 inches from the tank with a hole so cool fresh air can enter.
3. (If no aluminum skip this step)Cut a thin piece of aluminum foil and stick it in the tuber flat. This will help direct the light into the terrarium but can harm the hermies since they are very sensitive to metals. Plus the aluminum may catch fire from the heat of the lights so it is highly not recommended. Some insist that it is safe so that's the reason why it's on the supply list. (I posted it on yahoo answers and got a lot of replies saying it's safe but I feel that it's not. )
4. Put the lights in. Make sure that they are not jumbled together but strait.
5. Find were you want the lights and how you will hang them. Maybe by tapping it to the inside of the lid-be creative. Just make sure the hermies can't get to the sealant. (You can even dangle them to a corner of a tank. This also works nicely)
6.Turn on the lights! The lights will blow every so often and if left on for long periods of time the fuse will blow. So make sure that you only use them to peak into the tank at night or make a video or something.

WARNINGS
Using the foil may potentially hurt the crabs.
Make sure the crabs cannot touch the wire. They may pinch it and get shocked to death. Plus the high humidity may cause fire without tube blocking humidity.
This is NOT a heat source. This lighting produces very little heat in general-let alone in a plastic tube.
This should not be used as permanent lighting. Just as something to brighten the tank up for short bursts of time.

Please leave you comments about this idea and if it could possibly work. Thanks!

[CrabbyJo]

It sounds interesting, but I think you lined out pretty well why it would not be a good idea. There is danger from the aluminum and lights that are not meant to be used in high humidity. I would not do it at all. it sounds like a risk to the health and welfare of the hermies.
Generally, lights should always be outside the tank, which is much safer. Why not just hang a string of lights behind the tank? Much safer, no fancy work to be done. You could attach a couple of suction cups to the outside of the tank to hold the lights on if you like.

[Isaiahtb]

I thought of that. But sometime or another the tank will get fogged or just dirty and the lights would be relatively ineffective. Plus I said i wouldn't recommend the aluminum but some say it helps deflect the light into the tank. And the lights a in the line of fire to being knocked over but you walking by.Lights being inside the tank gives you a wider range of options. And you wouldn't want people to see Christmas lights dangling outside of the tank in the middle of July!!! that would be like .
Edit:
The lights are supposed to be sealed off in a tube to PREVENT humidity from seeping in. That's why I said use a tube so they won't be affected much by the humidity. I said all that stuff to SUPPORT the idea. I wasn't lining out all the reasons why its bad. I was trying to support it by showing the stability in design and that I know what I'm doing. Read it again if you will and you will see that I was trying to support it.

[ladybug15057]

Not sure where green lights would be a more natural lighting? The sun nor the moon are green??
Read the directions of the string Christmas lights, it tells one NOT to cover the bulbs due to overheating and a fire hazard. This will also cause them to short out. Aluminum foil is certainly an overheating issue for the lights and even a higher fire hazard! As for the plastic tube, when plastics get warm as well they release toxins, something that is not only harmful to the hermies but humans as well.

Some insist that it is safe so that's the reason why it's on the supply list. (I posted it on yahoo answers and got a lot of replies saying it's safe but I feel that it's not. )

Sadly it has been awhile since I have been to Yahoo Answers, but there are a lot of… well not so smart people who post on there who are totally clueless as to what they are suggesting. This in itself with many answers is lethal to hermies.
I am in total agreement NOT to do this within the tank at all.
It appears you have since edited your post after CrabbyJo had done a reply? (I did not read the original, just what you edited and that is what my opinion is based on.

[ladybug15057]

This are the postings in case they are edited again: (it is asked not to edit a post, especially after a reply is done, but to reply back to the reply that was offered)

by Isaiahtb on October 25th, 2010, 5:34 pm
I personally feel that the tank should be lit so the hermies experience day and night. So I thought of a cheap way to do it but is it safe? Here it is,

Okay you will need,
String of Christmas lights, (Green looks better because it's more natural)
A clear,flexible, plastic tube that the lights can fit in snugly. It has to be strong so your hermit crabs can't break it. ( You must have this so the lights won't short out and be set ablaze from the high humidity and water if used correctly this will act as a shield to block the humidity and water from entering)
(Optional but highly not recommended) Aluminum foil.

Steps
1. Straiten the Christmas lights out. You should be able to see individual lights.
2. Straiten the tube out. This is why the tube should be flexible but strong enough so the crabs can't break it and expose the lights. And this piece MUST be free of any holes inside the tank. Although you should leave the tube handing outside the tank a about 5 inches from the tank with a hole so cool fresh air can enter.
3. (If no aluminum skip this step)Cut a thin piece of aluminum foil and stick it in the tuber flat. This will help direct the light into the terrarium but can harm the hermies since they are very sensitive to metals. Plus the aluminum may catch fire from the heat of the lights so it is highly not recommended. Some insist that it is safe so that's the reason why it's on the supply list. (I posted it on yahoo answers and got a lot of replies saying it's safe but I feel that it's not. )
4. Put the lights in. Make sure that they are not jumbled together but strait.
5. Find were you want the lights and how you will hang them. Maybe by tapping it to the inside of the lid-be creative. Just make sure the hermies can't get to the sealant. (You can even dangle them to a corner of a tank. This also works nicely)
6.Turn on the lights! The lights will blow every so often and if left on for long periods of time the fuse will blow. So make sure that you only use them to peak into the tank at night or make a video or something.

WARNINGS
Using the foil may potentially hurt the crabs.
Make sure the crabs cannot touch the wire. They may pinch it and get shocked to death. Plus the high humidity may cause fire without tube blocking humidity.
This is NOT a heat source. This lighting produces very little heat in general-let alone in a plastic tube.
This should not be used as permanent lighting. Just as something to brighten the tank up for short bursts of time.

Please leave you comments about this idea and if it could possibly work. Thanks!
Last edited by Isaiahtb on October 25th, 2010, 6:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

by Isaiahtb on October 25th, 2010, 6:15 pm
I thought of that. But sometime or another the tank will get fogged or just dirty and the lights would be relatively ineffective. Plus I said i wouldn't recommend the aluminum but some say it helps deflect the light into the tank. And the lights a in the line of fire to being knocked over but you walking by.Lights being inside the tank gives you a wider range of options. And you wouldn't want people to see Christmas lights dangling outside of the tank in the middle of July!!! that would be like .
Edit:
The lights are supposed to be sealed off in a tube to PREVENT humidity from seeping in. That's why I said use a tube so they won't be affected much by the humidity. I said all that stuff to SUPPORT the idea. I wasn't lining out all the reasons why its bad. I was trying to support it by showing the stability in design and that I know what I'm doing. Read it again if you will and you will see that I was trying to support it.

[Isaiahtb]

I meant don't cover the lights in aluminum foil and by green lights I meant the wire be green. I know the sun's not green lol. I should post to get a larger tube but Christmas lights are warm to the touch. Plastic is a terrible conductor but aluminum foil on the other hand is a great one. So aluminum would catch fire once the lights touch it for a long time. Plus I said to use it for short bursts of time. Not for hours and hours until the fuse blows. If the fuse blows then you must use it to much. But my point exactly I thought aluminum was a terrible idea but some really want to take the risk...man why are people like that.