Habitat - Indoor :: New tank for ruth!

[cherish12]

So today I went out and got a new tank for ruth!!! I got some fake plants for the baby hatchling and as well annacharis as well:)... I put some creek rocks in the tank, bought a floating turtle dock,a water heater and a repti-sun by zoo med light its 5% UVB and 30% UVA 26 watts!.. I also got a new water filter that does a 50 gallon tank. I forgot the name of it but it has a bio-wheel on it as well!.. The tank is 30 gallons so the hatchling has new home and everything! So everything I bought for ruth hopefully is everything I need... Now because I bought the combination light do I still need the other? Oh yea and I bought a timer for the light as well....I will take a picture of the old tank that she was in and the new tank she is in.... She is still kinda skeptical still and tried to get on the dock but freaked out lol.

[emma]

Cool! Upgrades are always fun! For the lighting, the UVB/UVA if the perfect bulb that you will need, and the only other thing you will need is a heat bulb. Make sure that the basking dock is 10 degrees warmer than the water.
Congrats! And I would love to see some pictures!

[Get It Fast]

i have one of those reptisun bulbs too, although mine is 10%. i don't think it gives off much heat though, so I put it at the end of the tank away from their basking lights and their basking lights give off the heat.

[RunninWideOpen]

getitfast- the uvb and heat bulbs need to both be over the basking platform. part of the point of them basking is to soak in those uvb rays. do beware of the 10% bulbs tho, they've been known to cause eye irritation.

congrads cherish! your turt will get comfy and be happy in her new home!

[SpotsMama]

Here's a description of a typical light setup. Both bulbs should be positioned over the basking platform. There are lots of photos on here showing how people have positioned their bulbs.

1. Heat bulb. The purpose of this bulb is to provide the heat over the basking area that will motivate your turtle to get up there and bask. It also aids in digestion. A regular household incandescent bulb is fine as long as it heats the basking platform to around 88 to 90 degrees. I think people often use a 75 watt bulb for this purpose.

2. UVB bulb. A turtle needs to be exposed to UVB light so his body can absorb the calcium he eats. Otherwise the calcium goes to waste. He has to have good amounts of calcium of course for his shell and bones. The UVB bulb will be a specialized fluorescent bulb that you get at a pet store or on-line pet supply place. Most people use compact fluorescents although if you have a fixture for it a tube fluorescent is also a good choice. Whatever bulb you get must say on the packaging that it provides at least 5% (or 5.0) UVB. The bulbs that say "full spectrum" or "basking bulb" are not the right type. Any bulb that provides UVB also provides UVA, so you'll have both covered. A good bulb is the Exo Terra Repti Glo 5.0 26 watt compact fluorescent.