Affordable uvb lighting.

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I have spent a week+ looking at t5 light fixtures trying to find the most affordable yet functional. Instead of me stressing it, can someone just tell me what and where I can get a UVB light bulb and fixture for the best price? I need a 36" light (55 gallon tank) that I can preferably put on top of the screen lid for a bearded dragon. I'm building a background and stuff so I can build the basking platform as high as I need it to be.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4

SavageSiren11

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Original Poster
From what I understand UVB is supposed to cover 2/3 to 3/4 of the enclosure. A 55 gallon is 4 feet long. So I would need a minimum of 30 inch's.
Also I want to place it on top of the screen lid so is arcadia 12% or zoo med 10.0 strong enough or should I go with arcadia 14%?
I'm gonna probably get a zoo med screen lid for now. Eventually we want to get a wider front opening enclosure so I don't want to spend a lot on this one.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The screen MUST be a wide hole type for it to go on top - the fine mesh will block 30% of the rays - a 14% bulb is too strong for a tank under 24" high - you dont need a 30" fixture it is up to you I use a 24" fixture in my 2 120 gallon tanks and it works great - you do not want your dragon hiding from the UVB - he needs to be able to sit in his tank w/ out having to sit under it if he chooses not to -
 

SavageSiren11

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Original Poster
Ok I can't believe I didn't realize this ahead of time but I just realized as I'm actually doing a 40 Gallon instead untill I get a bigger one but how in the heck am I supposed to have the light 22" about my dragon when the tank itself is only 16" tall. I mean even a 55 is like 20" tall and I have never heard of anyone suspending one over the tank.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The bulb is 22" long -- for a T 5 distance should be 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor so if you strap the UVB to the screen and place the decor piece directly under it you should be fine
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
One aspect of the pet bearded dragon's husbandry that the keeper SHOULD NEVER cheap out on is it's source of UVA & UVB lighting.

You really have only a few choices
1) if the climate is suitable ( similar to their natural range wrt temperatures, RH, UV and daylight hours ) keeping the pet bearded dragon in an predator and escape proof pit or converted (bird) aviaries where the dragon can experience natural sunlight is BEST.
2) if the dragon is housed in a tank in side your home you will need a to provide adequate levels of both UVA & UVB , and UV flux gradient from very high levels to very low , and sufficient time each day for the dragon get the needed dose of UVA & UVB for it's needs.
so you need
a) Smaller tanks
a very high quality compact fluorescent source ( only brands that provide these with good UV spectrums are Arcadia , Exo Terra and Zoo Med., go for a 10% UVB compact rated 25W , these work well in very small tanks where the basking spot is about 8" from the tube , BEST solution is NOT a dome style reflector, I've had excellent results for bearded dragons using horizonal mounted reflector hoods such as Exo Terra Nano Hoods which give a nice spread of UVA & UVB ( I've measured these using Solarmeters and mapped it ) sufficient to cover the width of a 120 L tub and most of the floor of the tub.
b) larger tanks a good options are
>> a MVB ,these are an all in one heat, light, UVA & UVB source BUT can't be dimmed and can be hard to fine tune both the thermal gradient and the UV flux gradient. Gives a narrow focused beam of UVA & UVB , so most supplement using another UV source in parallel
>> or a MHB , these are not very common and pricey , but are also an all in one solution with similar restrictions as a MVB but I believe are dimmable using special circuitry.
>> or a T8 or T5(HO) UV tube , best brands are Zoo Med , Arcadia and Exo Terra UVB tubes (these actually produce nice UVA & UVB spectra.
The rating of the T8 or T5 HO tube depends on
- the tank height
-- the tank width
-- will it be placed under the lid (best !) , or on the top of the back wall , or on top of a mesh lid
.. how fat the basking spot will be from the tube
In general aim for UVA flux ~ 1 milliW / sqcm and UVB flux ~ 180 microW / sqcm @ the basking spot.
In most situations this is only achieveable using a reflector hood where the reflector is parabolic shape designed to focus the UVA & UVB
Aim for the tube to be about 2/3 the length of tank and mount with one end near the basking globe.
The UVB rating recommended for a tank about 2ft tall is a T5HO tube with UVB rating between 10% and 12%.

Avoid cheaper brands , they are cheap for very good reasons
> poor quality silica glass used ( will leak nasty UVC )
> poor quality phosphors used ( with very poor UV spectra , can and often do cause eye problems for the reptile )
> poor build quality ( often don't even last a week before dying where the better brands are guaranteed to work to specification for 6 months , Arcadia for 12 months )
so they are a false economy.
 
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