New tank and many questions

Me and a buddy bought two baby bearded dragons and have been keeping them in the same tank for a week now, they had to be in the same tank for certain circumstances but now it is time to get my own tank for my little guy. So I just found and bought a used 40 gallon tank with a lot of extra stuff, the guy selling it also had a bearded dragon and said his lived for 9 years with this setup. But the tank only came with two light fixtures, a regular one and a florescent fixture? Is just a reptisun 10.0 in the florescent fixture and a normal basking bulb in the other good enough? I thought you also had to have a night light for them? For the basking light what wattage should give me optimal temps for a 40 gallon breeder tank? The tank also came with a heating pad but I heard mixed ideas about heating pads? Sorry for all the questions I just want to make sure my little guy has a good home! Thanks

A dome fixture with a basking bulb and a fluorescent tube UVB in a reflective fixture are enough o provide proper lighting. For a 40g breeder I suggest using a 150w basking light and putting it on an adjustable lamp stand or adding a lamp dimmer so you can get the proper temperatures at the basking spot (100-110 for a young dragon). For UVB, do you know which type of fluorescent bulb/fixture you have? If it's the thicker T8, I suggest upgrading that to a T5 with a reflective fixture to provide optimal output. I would not use the heat mat in the enclosure but you could use it for a roach colony if you start one. I would also use a solid substrate like non adhesive shelf liner or ceramic tile. If the tank stays above 65 at night, you don't need any nighttime heat. If it does go below 65, I'd get a ceramic heat emitter (I use 100w with the same size tank) and put that in a second dome fixture. I also suggest putting the lights on timers so you can set a consistent light cycle. The basking and UVB light should be set to go on and off together. Run them for about 12hrs or so but it can vary to work around your schedule. Consistency is more important than exact on/off times.

Ok great thanks for the help, good news is the light fixture came with an adjustable stand so I already have that solved! As for the fluorescent fixture it is a Zilla 30" T8 fixture. It has a bulb in it but I have no idea what is is, best not to use it. However the seller also gave me 3 other fluorescent bulbs, 2 Sun Seeker 8.0 15W and one Reptiglo 10.0 15W. All three of these bulbs are only 18" and my fixture needs 24" bulbs so I don't know why the seller had them.

That's odd. Those bulbs don't fit the fixture. With the T8, I'd either replace the bulb with a new one of appropriate size or just upgrade it to a T5 with a new bulb. The T8 should sit at about 6-8'' above the basking spot while a T5 can sit 12-18'' above the basking spot. The T8 bulbs are generally good for about 6 months while the T5s are good for a year or more. If you don't have a UV meter, it's best to just replace them at those times as output declines over time.

Yeah I think I'll just use the same fixture and get a new bulb for it. Thanks for the info on the T5 I may look into upgrading down the road! But yeah I have no idea what's up with the wrong bulbs though :lol: