Habitat - Indoor :: Alright Guys!!!

[Juicejames]

i rearranged my tank today and went and picked up a 75 watt Uva lamp that clips onto the tank i got some bigger rocks a cool lil stump thing and placed all the rocks around it and had the Uva Light right over there area or basking i hope it works out for him he is just chilling in the light at the moment...i dont know what to do for a cover screen? or just leave it open? if you have any ideas plz let me know...its still a 10 gal when i was at the pet store i looked at real turtle tanks and ill start saving in a few days so now he has a dry area (that i hope will start to heat up with the lamp) and for the water area i hope to get a small heater this weeked and use that to help heat the other part of the tank...plz feel free to leave me feed back and to give me more tips i would gladly read them...

thanks guys and gals...lol

[missibsu]

Beware of what you are calling turtle tanks. There are some that are made that have holes in the back for the filter. They won't let you fill the water up and they are a pain in the butt. Not to mention it gives an easier spot for turtle escape.

[Juicejames]

One more thing how long does it take for the lamp to heat the basking spot i have a clamp-lamp right about it and its a Super UV coil-light...whitch is 20 watts but equals 75 watts for a normal bulb is this good enouph for a ten gal?

[sonyj]

Super UV coil-light sounds like it's a UVB bulb which won't produce any heat. Is it florescent? If it is then it won't produce heat. That's why you need two lights; a UVB light and a heat light (can be a regular household bulb).

[Juicejames]

Should i buy another clamp lamp then and put the house bulb on that....and have the UVB light and the house bulb right buy one other...???

and i have no cover and suggestions...on one?

[Juicejames]

Oh the light that i bought gives optimal amounts of UVB and UVA rays

[TNTurtles]

cover is not needed....it will only block out the uvb rays. Just as long as the water isn't too high that they would escape, you dont need one. the uvb bulb needs to be right over the basking area and the heat one can be wherever it needs to be to create the right amount of temperature for the basking area. You do not need a specific expensive lamp for each bulb, I actually bought some desk crane neck type lamp for my uvb bulb, cheap from walmart.

[Juicejames]

TnT do you also have a water heater in the tank also...because with no cover wont the heat just escape??

[missibsu]

Just buy a regular old household bulb at Wally World (walmart). I'd go for quality when buying one, only in the sense that it is on quite a bit, but I wouldn't worry about having some fancy bulb. The wattage will depend on the distance from the basking area.

[TNTurtles]

No i dont have a water heater b/c i have a small tank and couldn't afford one at that time. My heat lamp keeps the water 80F during the day and it only drops to 76-78F at night. If your talking about the air temp escaping also...you dont want to trap all that heat in there and bake them to death.

[Juicejames]

you turn your stuff off at night and there all good?

[TNTurtles]

yes, the water temp only drops like 4 degrees and i was told that it was a drasctic change enough to cause any problems.

[fishandcandy]

Oh the light that i bought gives optimal amounts of UVB and UVA rays

You do still need a light for heating up the basking area.