powersun MVB questions

so currently i have a 75 gallon tank for my 3 to 4 year old bearded dragon i currently am using a 100w zoo med powersun bulb or MVB. i am familiar with a few brands of mvb like mega ray and solarglo..etc i originally had a 150w basking bulb and it seemed like my dragon would bask but would not spend to much so it mightve been to hot for him so i tried a 80w powersun and it was in the 80-85 degrees for heat. i got the 100w today, ill have to check the temps tmrw but i was using a temp gun and some areas of my driftwood said 90-95 but also my dragon was on the area where he basks so it said 80 degrees, he is also 12 inches from the top of his body to the screen or bulb and his head is 9 inches. should i get a 160w??? i dont want to overdo anything especially it having uvb too. the zoo med instructions said for a 100 watt should be 6 to 10 inches and the 160 is 12 to 16 inches. i dont want my dragon to have too much heat. he is also getting a 125 gallon this friday i just have to buy a stand for it. i do have a reptisun 10.0 uvb but i feel it wouold be too much with the bulb until i get the 125 gallon.

Hello,

That is a predicament, it is hard to get the lighting at the correct distance while obtaining
the right temperatures.
The 100 watt MVB is a decent bulb, but it isn't overpowering on the UVB emissions but it
should be fine right now. You could probably safely have him at a 10-11 inch distance to
see if it bumps up the basking temperatures a few degrees. I just read that you mentioned
his head is 9 inches then when basking? In that case you could leave the MVB where it is
but add a ceramic heat emitter for a little added warmth on the basking area.
You could use the Reptisun 10 tube bulb alongside of it, on top to increase the UVB a bit
& it might emit a little bit of heat, too but not much. The combination of them would give
a good UVB to UVI ratio also.
Once you get the larger tank you could definitely get the 160 watt to use, with no problem
at all.
Feel free to post some pictures, also for us.

Tracie

Drache613":2lw51xxx said:

Hello,

That is a predicament, it is hard to get the lighting at the correct distance while obtaining
the right temperatures.
The 100 watt MVB is a decent bulb, but it isn't overpowering on the UVB emissions but it
should be fine right now. You could probably safely have him at a 10-11 inch distance to
see if it bumps up the basking temperatures a few degrees. I just read that you mentioned
his head is 9 inches then when basking? In that case you could leave the MVB where it is
but add a ceramic heat emitter for a little added warmth on the basking area.
You could use the Reptisun 10 tube bulb alongside of it, on top to increase the UVB a bit
& it might emit a little bit of heat, too but not much. The combination of them would give
a good UVB to UVI ratio also.
Once you get the larger tank you could definitely get the 160 watt to use, with no problem
at all.
Feel free to post some pictures, also for us.

Tracie

Click to expand...

Ive heard that the megaray bulbs emit more uvb if that is correct. I just dont want to have so many bulbs or fixtures. I wasn’t to sure if the 10.0 uvb would be too much with the MVB bulb. I was thinking when he is moved to the 125 gallon i would use the powersun MVB on his basking and the 10.0 uvb for the next 2/3 of the section so for 125 2/3 would be about 48 inches which is actually as long as a 75. I mean if i look at the temps and im happy with it should i worry about the uvb as much, Or go with a 100w megaray? i am also using a screen top for the 75 gallon at the moment. I know the powersun isnt the most powerful for uvb but i only wanted to have 1 basking/uvb bulb and the 10.0 uvb fixture which is 24 inches. Im just not to certain how the heat is for the megaray bulbs