Equipment Review and Discussion :: Zilla COIL bulb

[valladin82]

So i had a longer Zilla fluorescent tropical 25 light (cylinder type fixture) but I was having issues with fixing it to the wall/tank and well...last night it some how fell off the tank and busted up. So I decided to go a different route and get a flucker's clamp lamp (easily attaches to the side of tank and is the same thing I'm using for my basking light) and a zilla tropical series 25 fluorescent COIL bulb. My question is, are these bulbs just as good as the longer cylinder fluorescent lights? I imagine because of the fixture itself it will project the UVB rays in a more directed spot on the basking platform. The UVB light index on the back of the package is exactly the same as the cylinder type bulb so I just want to make sure I'm setting it up correctly. Its about 6 or 7 inches away from the basking area (possibly futher, about the same distance as my basking lamp). I will take pictures if needed.

[VeipaCray]

Yeah the CFL uvb bulbs work well. The distance of the basking bulb is determined by temperature of the basking platform. The distance of the cfl uvb bulb will have a distance recommendation on the packaging. The two bulbs might not end up at the same height.

Are they just as good as the long tube fluorescent bulbs? I think they are better because as you mentioned the UVB rays are more concentrated on the basking platform.

[valladin82]

Very cool. I feel better about it then. Yeah I figured out the "sweet spot" distance for my lights to keep temps around 90 degrees. Turtles seem even happier with the new filter and lighting situation. I had to rearrange the whole tank so they spent a good hour or so scouting it out probably wondering what happened haha. Its certainly a heck of a lot easier to maintain my tank now that I got the clamp lamp for UVB as well. Before it felt like I had to take a part a car just to get at my turtles.

[valladin82]

Heres a picture of my lighting set up. Both should be about 7-8 inches from the dock. Its hard to see in the picture. 20gal Tall tank as well. The UVB is at the top and UVA/basking bulb is bottom of picture. Temps stay around..90-95. They usually move around the dock, sometimes into the water covered part to cool off if they feel too hot.