Habitat - Indoor :: lighting

[resowner33]

hi to all!
i've been coming to read all the posts since mid march, was very glad to see the site come back also!!
my main question is about lighting
i have a res, about 2" , son brought home from mall in mid march, i knew absolutely nothing about them at that time and am still learning, but having a great time with my new pal, have set him up in a 30 long tank, with river rocks, heater, ok filter(plan to upgrade soon), and an exoterra light above his turtle dock, i cant seem to get his baking area warm enough though, water is about 76 and highest i can get dock is 82, was reading about mercury vapor bulbs and was curious, can u use a 100 watt mercury that u buy at hardware store or r the ones they sell at pet stores the better choice. he doesnt seem to bask much, but i do hear him plop in the water sometimes, so he must be doing some basking, seems to have a great appetite now, was kinda picky at first, has definately grown in the 2 months i've had him. I would appreciate any help u could give me on this,
thx

[da sAUCE!]

lights are lights. i suppose mercury vapor is for UVB? i dunno, i'm pretty sure those bulbs get hella hot, so your gonna wanna a fixture that is all metal and ceramic, NO PLASTIC, otherwise the bulb will totally melt a crappy fixture.

[resowner33]

is there another bulb u would recommend that would be a better idea than the mercury vapor bulb, the one i currently have does not heat the basking area enough, dont know if a higher wattage would do the trick or what is best

[Oldturtle72]

If you will go to www.4littlepets.com and look under their reptile section and then to bulbs, there you will find, after scrolling down, 3 very good UVA/UVB bulbs. My choice and the one that is hanging over the basking area of my 265 gallon preformed pond located in my basement, is the Mega-Ray lamp in the 160 watts spotlight size. I also used and stiil have the T-Rex bulb in the 160 watt spotlight size. The heat given off by these bulbs is tremendous so you have to be careful and place a thermometer on your basking area so that the heat is a rather steady 90 deg.F. The UVB rays are broadcast around more if you go to the floodlight rather than the spotlight. I used the spotlight because I have the unit hanging 13 inches from the bulb bottom to the basking slab and I have 7 adult turtles that love to stack. I'd rather have a concentration of UVB than have it diffused over a wider area.
Then, if you will go to the 'Dome Lamps' section and scroll down, there is a lamp stand that telescopes to 36" so that the lamp hangs vertically over the basking area rather than on an angle as with a clamp lamp fixture. If need be, you can set it on a sturdy box for more heigth.
The lamps are kinda expensive but that is the only drawback that I can see. 1 lamp for all the needs is more convenient and makes for a neater looking habitat. George

[marisa]

I am increasingly disliking wires, and using a mercury vapor bulb eliminates the the use of one of them, since the bulb is doing the work of two. I'm using T-Rex's Active UVHeat flood light on my largest tank (I prefer having the rays go over an broader area). The site Oldturtle mentioned (www.4littlepets.com)is a good one for lights and where I usually get my MVBs as well. If you go there, you'll see a relatively new one put out by ESU, which is a bit cheaper than the T-Rex, but the jury is out as to how good it is. I have read about the Mega-Ray, though. Oldturtle, how long have you been using it and why did you choose it over the T-Rex?

[Oldturtle72]

Hi, Marisa,
First, let me say that I'm glad you are on this forum as a moderator. I remember how steady you were on the old forum when you lived in Japan and you haven't changed.
I went to the Mega Ray bulb because diffusion of the UVB is concentrated over a smaller area than with the T-Rex or the Power Sun and that works better for my set-up. I am using the T-Rex on my 20 gal. long tank because I've got a month old RES in there that I am raising for my Great Grandson, Benny. My other turts are all outside now, enjoying the real sunlight ( I say that and it's raining here and cloudy). Oh, bye the way, these bulbs do their best if they are hung vertically over over the basking area. Too much UVB is wasted from the angle a clamp lamp has to be aimed. George

[marisa]

Thanks, George. It was good to see your name back again, too. Familiar "faces" are one of the reasons I returned. (Of course, I like seeing new ones, too ). I look forward to some interesting, spirited discussions. BTW, I still have those painted hatchlings. All doing well, and so adorable...

But back to the Mega-Ray...

Coincidently, I just got off the 4littlepets site where I had relooked at the information. The Mega-Ray appears to come only as a flood, but it describes itself as a "narrow flood," so it sounds like a compromise between the two types. This I can live with. It must be popular--the 100-watt is sold out. But you did say that the diffusion of light was over a smaller area than the T-Rex or Powersun...I'm going to this a bit before I decide which to get. Thanks for your input.

I agree this type of bulb should be hung vertically (per mfgrs instructions), although I've read some users advocating that it be clamped at an angle to last longer. Aside from what you pointed out about wasting light, they give off so much heat that it would seem that positioning them at an angle would trap more of it and ultimately shorten the life of the bulb ( heat rises and the domes have those holes near the bulb's base which allow for at least some of the heat to escape).

[resowner33]

Thanks for all the great information, i have been using a clamp style holder but am getting ready to upgrade my tank to a 55 g and bigger filter, and lighting, i'm going to check out the website u recommend, just wanted to do my best to understand which lights are best from people that have used them, seems i kinda wasted a small amount of money on the one i have now because no matter how close i set it to the dock, it just doesnt get hot enough to encourage my turtle to bask , i have to take him out each day and make him bask that way, he doesnt seem to mind that but he still retreats most of the time, but reading on here about shell rot and all, i did what i had to for the time being. i love all the information and enjoy the posts i read here. this forum is really great and everyone for the most part seem to both friendly and knowledgable. Thank you to all that have helped with my question

resowner33

[punkiemichelle]

Do you already have a UVB light? If so, you can always throw a 100 w household buld for basking. I keep it in a clamp light about 7 inches away from the basking platform and it gets 93 degrees. BTW my guys are baskin' fools!

[resowner33]

i do currently have a basking light for him, it is a 65 watt reptile light of some sort, have been thinking about changing it to one of the bulbs that is a combo type, kinda eliminating some of the wires, others here have given me some good info on the ones they prefer and i am kinda researching them, he does seem to bask more that i turned his water temp down to 75-76, he is just so tiny, i want to make sure his life is great, i have already had to harden my heart in the food department because he seems to think every time he sees me, he gets food. lol i assume it doesnt matter on a standard bulb if is a bright white or soft white bulb , right?

[judo42]

Hey Everybody,

Happy Weekend! Can anybody tell me any facts they know about the UVA/UVB coil bulbs? The ones I am referring to are used in regular light sockets. Thanks in advance! =)

[marisa]

Are you referring to the ones made by ESU (called something like the Super UVB Coil Lamp)? If so, I'm using one with my smallest turtle. The one I'm using is the 20 watt. It gives off relatively little UVB (3%) as opposed to something like the Reptisun 5.0 or other brands, and should be replaced at least every 6 mos (although the package it comes in says one year, there are too few UVB rays to begin with to let it go that long). Depending on who you talk to, people are either leery of them (don't have the reputation of Reptisun or other brands) or like them. I've had good luck with them and have resorted to using them in a pinch because they're easy to get in pet shops where I am. They're cheaper to buy on-line though. You have to have them close to the turtle (the one I'm using is a little less than 6 inches) to be effective. And you'll still need a heat lamp (a regular lightbulb is fine.) Having said all this, though, since you have a number of turtles, I'd get something with a higher UVB rating. (I've seen the ESU spiral lamp with 7% UVB on-line at www.4littlepets.com if you're interested in checking it out.) A combination UVA/UVB mercury vapor light is out of the question right now?)

[judo42]

Yeah, I'll have to wait a little while before I'm going to be able to upgrade to something more appropriate. I got that cause it was all I could afford at the time. Not sure that the previous owner even had a UV bulb, so I figured that even something cheap was better than what they had before. I leave it on at least 15 hours a day but doubt that much makes up for the low UV output of the bulb.

Thanks for your thoughts. :D:D