Habitat - Indoor :: MVB Bulb

[Kallistos]

Hello,

I'm planning on purchasing one MVB bulb to replace all the other ones. I just want to make sure if it's safe. I have a 120 gallon tank, will it heat the tank up too much?

Also, will the T-rex active U.V. heat be a good choice?
If so, will the 100 watt flood light up the entire tank or will I need the 160 watt flood?

Thank you.

[SpotsMama]

I've got a 100 gallon tank and use a 100 watt T-rex flood MVB bulb over the basking platform. The light bulb hangs about 16 inches over the basking platform. It keeps the basking area a nice toasty 88 degrees and doesn't seem to overheat the water, which stays at 75 degrees (with the help of a couple of stealth heaters). Only a small portion of the tank is covered - most is open air - so heat doesn't get trapped and is able to dissipate.

The 100 watt bulb is working pretty well in this setting but I'm thinking about getting a higher watt bulb next time and raising it higher above the platform to reduce the chance that water will splash on it and cause it to explode. I've got a screen made of deer fence mesh between the basking area and the bulb to provide some protection in case of an explosion but I'd just as soon not go through it if I don't have to.

In terms of light, my tank is pretty wide - 60 inches - and the MVB bulb only really brightly lights about half of it. The other half is not dark but isn't bright either, so if I want the whole thing lit up brightly I put a long fluorescent bulb over the dim half.

[missibsu]

MVB's are safe over 55 gallons minimum, some say 75 gallons. I'm not sure on decent brands, I've seen that name floating around, but I don't remember much about it.

Are you using the flood light just for light? I would say wattage would depend on how bright you want you tank. They will put out extra heat too, and it could cause too much heat when you add the mvb to it.

[SpotsMama]

The MVB floods provide heat, UVB and UVA light, sort of an all-in-one. They are also very bright. You don't have to use anything else if you've got a good MVB. The danger is that they are too strong for a small tank, like you say Missi.

[missibsu]

Yeah, well, it's been a long day. I just figured out what exactly the last question was asking. So, I was thinking along the lines of two bulbs...the MVB and an additional flood light. Which didn't make total sense to me, but I thought, well that's the light source. Thanks for clearing that up. I feel like an idiot, lol.

[SpotsMama]

Missi! You're one of the very best sources on here - you never need to apologize for anything!

[Kallistos]

Well, you have yours hanging 16 inches away from the tank. The minnimum distance for a 160 watt is 16 inches, and I could raise it even higher. I might just get a 160 and as you said, the 100 watt flood is able to keep the basking area at 88, so the 160 may have to be highered a little more, but it should light up more of the tank.

Am I making sense?

Also, what do you use to keep your lamp at that level?

[SpotsMama]

Yeah, you'll have to experiment with the height to make sure the basking area doesn't get too hot. The MVB bulbs are really powerful. Be sure and measure the distance and the temperature at the height of your turtle's basking back. I put some stones on the basking platform that were about as high as my turtle's back and laid the termometer on them to make sure I knew what his basking temp was going to be.

The light fixture was a real challenge. Personally, I don't trust the clamp on fixtures. The Zoo Med lamp stand, even the large one, was way too small. I looked for a goose neck lamp and could not find one for any price with the right dimensions that could take a 100 watt bulb. These days it's all about energy efficiency and lamps are made for very low watt, highly efficient bulbs. I finally wound up getting a zoo med porcelain fixture from Petco and two floor lamps from Lowes and cutting them up and re-assembling them to make a lamp with just the right dimensions for my room and tank. I had to reinforce the lamp in several places with copper and wrought iron. It took about a week to get it right but now I'm real pleased with it.

Just this evening I noticed someone posted a photo with what looked like a pretty good lamp - something like an architect's lamp, I believe. I don't know that it was holding a 100 watt bulb, though. If I see that photo again I'll put the link here for you to see.

I've said if someone out there wants to make some money they should invent a good light fixture for reptiles that is safe and pretty. I think it's an unfilled niche.

[Kallistos]

I'll probably put up some tall structure behind the tank, make sure it's stable and tie the bulb to it. Then decorate the structure, that's what I use on my current tank...

[marisa]

I use a 160-watt MVB on a 110-gallon stock tank. (When my RES was in a 50-gallon tank I used a 100-watt MVB flood.)

The flood provides a more gentle (and to me safer) light than the spot and throws light over wider area. But, since it's used with a reflector dome, the light is still more over the basking area side of the tank. My RES's tank isn't near any natural light source, so I do have an additional light, a floor lamp, on the opposite side of the tank to provide greater ambient light.

[steve]

The spot MVB also needs to be further away from the basking area. The minimum distance for the Trex brands are: 12" for 100W flood, 18" for 100W spot, 18" for 160W flood and 36" for 160W spot. I have a 160W spot about 4.5' away in a dry dock area.

[Kallistos]

100 watt flood – 12”

100 watt spot – 18”

160 watt flood – 18”

160 watt spot – 36”

275 watt flood – 24”

Everything you said was right, except the 100 watt flood. Information taken from here.
I'm in debate between the 100 watt flood or the 160 watt flood. Does anyone know how far away it takes the 100 watt flood to reach 88 and degrees and how far for the 160 watt flood? I think I can get a standing lamp to light up the rest of the tank. But, if the 160 watt flood is able to do that and only needs to be put say, 2ft. maximum away, I'll just go with the 160 watt.

Thanks

[SpotsMama]

I think there are minor differences in the distance specifications for the T-Rex bulb compared to the Zoo Med bulb.

The 100 watt flood achieves an 88 degree basking temperature at 16 inches - at least in my tank. There's hardly any cover over my tank so the heat is able to dissipate. Spot seems happy with the 88 degree basking area but I'd like to get the bulb further away so am also thinking about upgrading to a 160 watt flood so I can move the bulb further away. I don't know how far away a 160 watt flood would need to be to achieve an 88 degree basking temp. If you find out, please let us know!

SURELY, RESowner 34, you meant to say the 100 watt flood should be 16" away, not 6" away! Why don't you edit your chart because it's nice and someone else will probably want to use it someday.

[Kallistos]

No, I even provided a link directly from T-rex's website.

http://www.t-rexproducts.com/info/inst&warnings.htm

[SpotsMama]

Something's wrong here. The mercury vapor bulbs - even the lowest wattage floods - are extremely intense. I can attest that they get very hot. It would be dangerous to put one of those bulbs closer than 12" to an animal. It has to be a typo in the T-rex website.

Here's some advice from a site called UV Guide UK, An Introduction to Mercury Vapour Lamps:

Manufacturers always state a minimum safe basking distance; for many lamps it is 12" or 18" from the face of the lamp. Closer than this, your reptile may receive dangerously high levels of UV radiation.

It's also adviseable to keep your lamp directly above the basking spot - overhead, like the sun. The shape of a reptile's head and position of the eyes ensures that overhead light will not cause it to suffer from the glare.

A mercury vapour lamp which needs to be placed a minimum of 12" directly above a basking spot, just won't fit inside most small set-ups - there isn't enough headroom. However, if the vivarium has a wire mesh or screen top, the lamp can be hung outside the viv, at a suitable distance above the mesh, and the beam directed down to a basking spot below. Bear in mind, though, that wire meshes and screens will block a percentage of the UV light, as shown in our mesh test results. (Glass or plastic sheets will completely block the rays and thus cannot be used.)

Always check basking temperatures right underneath a mercury vapour lamp.