General Care Discussion :: Can UVB be put above water?

[mikedpirone]

no offense but running a 100 watt light bulb all day everyday for a month and you wouldnt even the notice the difference in the bill. my turtle tank has added on 35 cents a month. thats running the light, filter, heater, ect.

[vieniebebe]

Thanks a lot,you guys.I told my mom about this UVB not wasting a lot of electricity,and she agreed to get another construction lamp.

[marisa]

What is a construction lamp?

[mikedpirone]

my dad has a few construction lamps. they are identical to the clamp lamps they sell at the pet stores for reptiles except they cost about 5 bucks at home depot and come with a ceramic base.

[RESCHIU]

how can you tell if the combo UVB bulb has mercury vapor? I just got mine today and it emitt 30% UVA and 10%UVB, is it safe for the turtle? the brand I have is "zoomed"

[sonyj]

What you have is a UVB bulb, it's not a mercury vapor which is the combo bulb that produces both heat and UVB. 30% UVA isn't enough to produce heat, so you still need the heat bulb along with this UVB bulb. Mercury Vapor bulbs aren't recommended for tanks smaller than 50 gallons because of the amount of heat they produce.

[marisa]

RESCHIU, you'd know the mercury vapor light by price if nothing else. What I think you have is a ZooMed 10.0 compact flourescent UVB light (if you've got it in a clamp lamp.

mikedpirone, all of the fixtures with domes (except for two) have been bought at places like Home Depot. I got a great one at Lowes, but it was called a brooder lamp. Very good prices.

BTW, UVA and heat are separate issues. UVA does not produce heat. It is, however, supposed to promote psychological well-being, among other things. UVB lights do emit some UVA rays.

[vieniebebe]

I got another lamp,so now,when she basks,she actually gets UVB rays.But now,I have another problem,WORMS!!!

[birdlady]

ok dumb ? here...but what does a regular lightbulb put out other than heat? A or B rays? or neither?

[mikedpirone]

a regular household lightbulb puts out only uva rays. uvb only comes from special bulbs.

[birdlady]

Thanks mikedpirone...
Was just wondering if I was wasteing my $$'s with both lights here. I have a UVB bulb and a regular lightbulb.
Holly

[vieniebebe]

Bad news,now my stupid step dad doesn't let me use the lamp,so now I have to be snicky,so Vien will probably only get UVB rays like 3 times a week.Sorry I tried.But it's 61 degrees here right now,I think it was 70 the other day,so I will start taking Vien out soon.Again,gotta hide.Someone feelbad for me,please...

[mikedpirone]

no offense but your parents are going to kill this turtle. the uvb isnt there for heat its there for the turtle to metabolize the calcuim so it stays healthy and has a nice hard shell. without it they can become sick and possibly die

[ellman605]

heh, go to a store, and no matter what you do, just buy what you need. Thats what i had to do to convince my dad.

[lazixixi]

I UVB bulb has no heat. So for my turtle, I use 2 lamps. one UVB and the other UVA.