Lighting for a 100 gallon

Best surprise ever. Just upgraded from a 40 gallon to a 100 gallon tank courtesy of one of the numerous free piles sprawled throughout this little college town of mine. It's been set up and running for a few weeks now and I've hit a huge problem, the temp and UVB amounts are way off for this huge tank. The dimensions are around 57 " long x 19 " wide x 26 " tall. This not only is a huge space to heat but the height of the tank makes it difficult for heat and uvb to get to the bottom. Out of desperation I currently have two heat bulbs going (total of 250 watts), a heating pad on the bottom side of the tank (stuck on the outside glass), a heat rock, and a measly little uvb bulb. I want to completely start over to eliminate the last three (if not all) of these fixtures.

Action plan: I hope to make a wood topper (lined with reflective/heat tape) for the tank that I can suspend my lights from, that way a little more heat is held in and the lights can be closer to the basking spot. I'm also hoping to find a fixture that can hold the 46" reptisun 10 T5 HO tube, but so far have had a hard time. I've debated skipping a heat lamp all together and instead opt for a 250 watt CHE and a 'grow light' fixture that has room for two tubes, one would be the UVB and the other a regular bright white florescent tube to provide light and protect beardie's eyes from the UVB.

Questions- Would a single 250 CHE heat the tank better? Or would it essentially be the same as the two bulbs I have now?
Is there any other benefit a regular heat lamp would have to my beardie over a CHE (besides light)
Has anyone successfully found a fixture that can hold the 46" tubes?

Any input is welcome! Thanks!

What is the lid right now? What if you used plywood to make a solid lid over the cool side and left the warm side open for the loghts and for ventilation? What type of bulbs are out using?

Really you want the lights as far away as reasonable. 26" isn't that tall especially with furnishings - the T5 will be more than enough. I'd think actually a 36" T5 would be good for that tank, unless you have the 46" already.

I have two sunblaster fixtures and like them a lot. http://www.amazon.com/Sunblaster-904298-NanoTech-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B00AKKUEV0/ref=pd_bxgy_lg_text_z

I personally think lights are the better route for daytime, you want a sunny spot. Since you have a long tank, you may just need more lights. You can set them to different temperatures and over different materials to give your guy several options for basking.

Thanks for the reply! For the basking side I have the hinged screen lid from my 40 gallon tweeked so it stays up. I debated leaving half open as well, depending on how large the fixtures I get are. Would I just hang the UVB on the side on the tank and keep the screening for the lights if I did that? Right now I believe I have two exo terra bulbs, a 150 and a 100 watt.

I haven't bought anything yet, I want to make sure I get it right before dropping big cash and figuring out it isn't what I want/need. I would think a 34" would be much easier to find, I was just trying to go by the general 3/4ths rule because it seemed the safest bet being a noob lol.

I actually looked at those but I passed them off because I didn't think they were the right size, So does a 36" fixture hold a 34" bulb?

Yeah, bulb and future sizes are pretty standard, just match the wattage - as long as you have the right format (T5 vs T8 etc). The bulbs are a bit shorter than the fixture because of the end caps.

The T5 are very strong, I use them for uvb over 1/2 my cage (basking side) so I can also provide low-0 UVB areas. Depending on how you setup your furniture and if you use a screen you can sort of control the exposure. Wild dragons bask at morning and late afternoon, and spend the peak mid day hours in burrows or foraging in shadier areas. I've got three basking sites/bulbs to offer differnt heats, surface materials an uvb levels - he uses all of them.

I'm not sure what you mean by "on the side" but the bulbs needs to be overhead as much as possible. The skull and eye ridges do more to protect the eyes than brightness so you don't want anything positioned so they will regularly look into the bulb. I have mine hanging from my solid lid, they can also be mounted directly to the lid. I think your plan to build a good is a good one - then you can sill get good use out of the hight - dragons enjoy climbing.

T5 can be used through a screen, or just in the tank as long as you keep the safe distances. I've been working on a chart to show the strength of bulbs. It's still very rough but maybe it will be helpful. Bearded dragons are considered a Zone 3 species so 3-5 max UVB at the highest part of the basking area is a good upper limit, with a gradient throughout. I don't have the screen version done yet - but screen reduces UVB 35-50% depending on how fine the screen is. (The more open the better for uvb)

Oh duh! :lol: I didn't think to add the extra length from the end caps. Jeeze now I feel dumb haha.

I knew they were stronger but I wasn't aware you could use them over a screen, that makes a world of difference!

In a lot of set ups and advice I have seen they recommend clipping your fixture onto the side of your tank, as in hanging it off of the glass ledge at the top. To me it didn't seem ideal but I wasn't sure how I would safely hang it from my screen like I thought you were suggesting, that was before you clarified that the T5 could be placed on top the screen if you account for the 35-50% loss.

This is great! You are literally a wealth of information and the chart is amazing! Its very readable and professional looking!! :notworthy:
Do you by chance have a picture of your setup somewhere? I've been working on configuring Mr. Lizards setup better but this large tank has thrown me for a loop

A lot of caresheets/advice recommends that and so long as the dragon won't be looking into it, it is basically ok. Really though we want to replicate the sun and the natural exposure styles so overhead lighting is best. A lot of the information too is unfortunately targeted at owners who don't want to spend any more money than they have to. I'm glad my chart is helpful! If you use window screen it's closer to 50%, if you use terrarium screen it's closer to 35%, and if you use something like hardware cloth with wide openings it's even lower.

48x24x24 is a popular size, and I've seen a few 5-6' long ones as well. You'll both be quite happy once you get it sorted.

My 48x24x24 was setup like this. I didn't like the height though - he was too close to the bulbs for my liking, so I made a taller one and like it very much.


This is the current setup, is 48x24x48. I've seen some owners also add an additional area above the tank with screen (or even wood I suppose would work) to give some extra height. I think some sort of hood if you can devise one would suit your situation very well.


This is something I'm working on to go with my chart, to show the "sunbeam" method a little more visually. A little creative furnishing with rocks and branches would work in a shorter cage as well. In my old cage the basking rock was stacked on bricks and served as a warm hide for example.

I love the attached shelves! My plan was to build something similar with multiple levels, that is until I found the 100 gal, and as a broke college kid without a lot of time to start big projects I couldn't pass it up! I've been thinking up ways to add in a platform, although I don't have the height like you so I'm not sure that I would be able to add in the multiple heating spots. Spring breaks next week so I'm hoping to play around with the setup more then!

You're setup and thermal chart are both brilliant by the way! The chart really helps it sink in. You need to start on a book, it would be way better than the 'starter guide' I got with my beardie 2 years ago. Do you use a CHE for night then? If so where do you place it?

Also, is that a sand/soil mix under your rocks? I've been trying to think of ways to combine the two and was considering doing solid slate or similar material on one side and more or less creating a sandbox he could climb into on the other side. The little bugger loves to dig so I would hate to take the opportunity from him. I really like the idea behind your flooring though, it looks very natural.

Okay, so here's what I'm thinking. Petco has a $30 off $100 sale right now, so for ~$70 I could get the repti sun hood and the t5 ho bulb and have ~$30 'free' dollars to spend on other goodies. I'm thinking either a CHE bulb or an infrared thermometer and ceramic base lamp. Is there any better brand of CHE?

On second thought, not getting the CHE from petco, they're a little overpriced and the only 150 watt is dome shaped rather than flat.

I think your 100g will do nicely and give you opportunity to expand upwards as your situation permits. it's already mich bigger than many enclosures.

I have seen some nice shelves made from slate tiles stacked on bricks, or Google "retes stacks" too. If you have your two lights you can just space them a little and make one spot warmer and the other cooler - together they will give a warm end and also specific basking areas.

I don't use a CHE (so I can't recommend any brands) though I have thought about getting a radiant heat panel. The house doesn't get below 68 or so at night so I don't worry about it too much. I have a RHP with one of my snakes though, and love it they do an excelent job of heating a larger area than a CHE. They are expensive though. Where does your guy like to sleep? I'd try putting the CHE near there at first and shoot for no higher than 80F. If he stops sleeping there maybe move it elsewhere or turn it down.

It is sand/soil, nice eye. I keep all my reptiles on bioactive substrates, I really like it and they seem to as well (there is an excellent facebook group dedicated to it if your interested). The stones are my answer to his constantly kicking up the leaf litter in the front, helps keep it moist and give the bugs a place to live. The large tile is his feeding area and a hide underneath. He doesn't dig as much with the new enclosure but in the other one he would dig in under the rocks and pop in and out. One of the nice parts about the soil, is that since its damp it holds a burrow better.
In the past I have tried an alfalfa pellet dig box, and a sand area they each have pros/cons.

I'm so glad you find my references helpful. I've mostly been trying to summarize and illustrate things I've learned along the way to help people with their setups - I love researching and it gives me an outlet for that

Oooooo! I'm loving the retes stacks! They look easy and I'm betting he would love it!

Those RHPs look sweet! That may have to be my next big investment once I get this round of buying out of the way. For now I'm thinking I'll have to stick with the CHE, unfortunately Montana winters don't allow me to go without some sort of heat source. His sleeping spot is a little unusual, he likes sleeping in a clay pot on a bed of succulents :roll: , I put it in there one day hoping to dry the soil out after a heavy rain and he hasn't let me take it out. It sticks up about 10 inches in the tank.

I would definitely be interested in the biosoil page! I just recently switched to 50/50 soil sand mix from straight sand and I've been wondering about adding helpful bacteria and insects but had no idea where to even start looking. I'm loving the idea of adding to what I've already got. Much better than trying to devise a sandbox. What purpose the pvc pipe on the left serve? Does it have to do with your soil? Aeration?

They truly are great displays, very clear and easy to interpret. And I am SO grateful for all the advice and leads you're giving me! I'm a researcher too! Which gets me in trouble in scenarios like now when I should be studying ichthyology ha!

The pvc pipe is to check that I'm not flooding things - I had it laying around and am paranoid about turning the cage into a pond but actually it's never been a problem so the pipe never gets used. It seemed clever at the time though.

The FB group is reptile and amphibian bioactive setups, they have a document in the file section specificly for getting started with bearded dragons

Ahh! I knew it had to have something to do with air or water content.

Can't wait to dig into their page!!!