Habitat - Indoor :: What kind of light for over the water?!

[Rubicon]

Ok I've been looking at different peoples setups and decided that I'm going to add sand to my tank today. However I also want to put a light over the water since it seems to make that area and the sand look so much better. My problem is at the pet store there has to be 30 different kinds of light bulbs. Reef kind, all differents.

What I want is a light that if the turtles are close to it, it wont hurt them or their eyes.

Here's a few at petsmart:

http://www.petsmart.com/family/index.js ... ulbs&fbx=0

A real fish store has TONS of different bulbs. I wonder how the Coralife Actinic 03 Blue Lamp - 24 would look.

[TheComputerGremlin]

Honestly, I use the used UVB bulbs that I have laying around. Since you can only use a bulb for 6-8 months, and it generally isn't burnt out by that time, I just have an extra fixture and plug the old bulb in there. It provides cheap tank lighting, at least until it burns out!

[thegrandpoohbah]

You could do what I do:



I use a 3' double fluorescent fixture over my tank with one UVB 5.0 tube and one Aquaglo tube. They put off enough heat that I don't need a separate heat lamp.

[Karl]

very nice tank! isn't the sand as dangerous as gravel for turtles, since they could swallow both? and are those plants real?

[Caphits]

Well, the problem with rocks is that they get stuck inside your turtle somewhere. Like in the throat, or in the other end...

Sand will simply flow through the body.

[Chrisbarnett]

Here's my tank.. 36" Coralife aqualight. 10,000K bulb, super slim.

[Daniel3507]

i just use a regular florescent tube light that goes over the length of the tank. you dont need to have a special kind just to light the tank. i get mine at a hardware store

[Rubicon]

Well the reason I wanted something a different was those coral style bulbs give off a cool color that adds to the effect of the tank. I ended up getting a great deal on a Coralife life-glo bulb. Reason I decided on that is because it looked great on the demo tank. I also picked up 35lbs of marine sand.

Should have pics of their new setup tonight

[TheComputerGremlin]

Karl, yes, sand can be just as dangerous as gravel. It depends on your turtle. If you get sand and your turtle becomes obsessive about it and munches on it, you should remove it. Most turtles leave it alone, though.