High pressure sodium lamps throw out lots of light, but I also a TON of heat - I think they would fry things. I've seen them used in greenhouse setups (1000W bulbs), but they were about 10 feet (3 metres) above the plants, and you could still feel the heat they pumped out. I'd say go fluorescent - much better light to heat ratio.

From looking at your old unhealthy plant, I'd say 100% of its problem is lack of light.

During your simulated summer, I'd use 16 hours of light per day. They might only get 14 hours per day or so in their natural habitat in summer, but indoor lighting is much weaker so it's better to add a couple hours IMO.

Sphagnum moss (long fibre sphagnum) is much better for growing CPs than peat moss in my opinion. Shagnum is the fresh undecomposed stuff you find near the surface of a bog (they layer where plants are growing), but peat moss is the stuff lower down in the bog that is fairly decomposed and dark brown and crumbly.
-Don

Hi Dom, thanks for filling my head with more knowledge =)

IÂve been looking into the lamps in more detail, and have decided that i will either use a metal halide lamp to fit my reflector. But IÂm still worried that a 400w lamp my fry the little things. The max range i can hang the map from is 3feet (1meter).

The other lamp would be a 200w florescent lamp that produces primarily blue/violet spectral energy for vegetative growth. These give out low heat and can be placed near enough over the top of the aquarium.

But IÂm still not sure if I should start this now, so close to the end of the year. IÂve read it can shock the plants, and i donÂt want to scare them (whatever that means lol).

A final line of questioning would be the dormancy period.
Most websites IÂve looked on say itÂs best to keep them damp but not sitting in water through the period of Oct-Nov through till Feb-March (while getting indirect sunlight / little light).
I have also read that uprooting the bulbs, trimming of the outer leaves, covering all in a fungicide and wrapping in sphagnum moss and placing in a refrigerator over the winter dormancy period. (Seems a little extreme)
IÂm presuming that the 1st method is tried and tested?

BTW, I'm no expert, but I'll answer anyway :-)

I think you will be much happier with fluorescent lights in a small indoor setup. I think the sodium lights are only meant for big open spaces, but with fluorescent lights the plants can often even touch the lights without burning.

Dormancy - in their native habitat, average temperatures in January are a high of 13C and a low of 1C. The other winter months are a bit warmer than this. So the closer you can create those conditions the better. At an average high of 13C (55F) even in the coldest month, the plants may still photosynthesize and grow, but slowly and with much smaller traps than in summer. So you need to give them some light, or they will suffer (but they don't need to eat, and probably best not to feed them then). The fridge method is really only for severe situations when you can't give them any kind of winter rest, so instead put them into deep hibernation just a few degrees above freezing... in this case they don't need light since they are in deep hibernation. But this is really a last resort.

Your new plants have probably been growing actively in some greenhouse somewhere, so you could make your setup and let them continue to grow for a couple months before doing the dormancy thing. If you put them to bed now, they are going to want to wake up in about 3 months, which will be late December, just about the time they would be very dormant in their native habitat. So I'd be tempted to let them grow for awhile now. And in your situation, it's probably easier to put them dormant in real winter, when you can move them to your windowsill and let the draft cool them down a bit to aid dormancy. Some thoughts anyway.

There are some links on flytrap dormancy you should read at the International Carnivorous Plant Society website... there's a bunch of articles there, I'll give you one below to get you to the website, then you can browse around it for other relevant information. I think you have to copy this into your search engine, as I haven't figured out how to post clickable links here.
http://www.sarracenia.com/faq/faq2460.html

Good luck,
-Don