Hello all! I have been lurking on the forums for quite awhile and have learned so much over the past few months. I inherited an adult male beardie with his 40 gal enclosure from a friend that moved out of state. It has definitely been a learning experience.
His MVB, which currently hangs 12 inches above his basking spot (with screen mesh tank topper in between). It is time to replace it and I think I have decided to move to a reptisun or Arcadia tube.
I have spent the past 2 days reading everything that I could. I have read and reread Jess's lighting for newbies post, along with the Lizard Madness fluorescent lighting guide (https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/lighting-guides) and this: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttubes.htm and also this: viewtopic.php?p=1897059
So now I that my brain feels like mush, I'm having a hard time deciding from the following ideas.
Ideally, I would like to hang the light fixture inside the tank so that I don't have to move the light off of the screen top every time I need to get into the tank. I would also like to have a variety of decor in the tank.
Idea #1:
Use reptisun 10.0 T8 in a normal fixture without a reflector and attach this to the back of the tank wall. From what I can tell, I would want his basking spot to be 6-8 inches from the light source. Correct?
Idea #2:
Use this fixture: https://www.reptilebasics.com/t5-light-fixtures/t5-ho-single-bulb-light-strip-24/ With an Arcadia 6% bulb and have his basking spot 7-9 inches below this
Idea #3
Just deal with putting the lamp on top of the mesh and go with the above fixture with an Arcadia 12% or %14. Because of the loss of UVB, could I then put his basking spot in the 10 inch range?
I worry putting one of the stronger bulbs -( the reptisun or Arcadia T5s) directly into the tank since it isn't a very tall tank.
What are your thoughts? Am I overlooking a better solution? I hope this wasn't too confusing and I appreciate any help that you can give!
His MVB, which currently hangs 12 inches above his basking spot (with screen mesh tank topper in between). It is time to replace it and I think I have decided to move to a reptisun or Arcadia tube.
I have spent the past 2 days reading everything that I could. I have read and reread Jess's lighting for newbies post, along with the Lizard Madness fluorescent lighting guide (https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/lighting-guides) and this: http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttubes.htm and also this: viewtopic.php?p=1897059
So now I that my brain feels like mush, I'm having a hard time deciding from the following ideas.
Ideally, I would like to hang the light fixture inside the tank so that I don't have to move the light off of the screen top every time I need to get into the tank. I would also like to have a variety of decor in the tank.
Idea #1:
Use reptisun 10.0 T8 in a normal fixture without a reflector and attach this to the back of the tank wall. From what I can tell, I would want his basking spot to be 6-8 inches from the light source. Correct?
Idea #2:
Use this fixture: https://www.reptilebasics.com/t5-light-fixtures/t5-ho-single-bulb-light-strip-24/ With an Arcadia 6% bulb and have his basking spot 7-9 inches below this
Idea #3
Just deal with putting the lamp on top of the mesh and go with the above fixture with an Arcadia 12% or %14. Because of the loss of UVB, could I then put his basking spot in the 10 inch range?
I worry putting one of the stronger bulbs -( the reptisun or Arcadia T5s) directly into the tank since it isn't a very tall tank.
What are your thoughts? Am I overlooking a better solution? I hope this wasn't too confusing and I appreciate any help that you can give!