Lighting for a deep 90 gallon tank.

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I have a 90 gallon tank that I may put a bearded dragon in but im not sure on how to do the lighting. The tank is 36' deep and I am unsure about what wattage light bulb I will need in order to maintain 77-88?f. Also for a basking spot what wattage would you recommend?
 

duke11

Gray-bearded Member
For you, I would recommend a MVB. They are supposed to be at least 18" away from your beardie, I believe so it will probably be ok for your tank. MVBs are very strong. I would get maybe around 160 watts. You can play around with it. I have a 45 watt bulb and it heats up fine in my 18" high tank just fine. :D
 

ScootScoot

Member
Original Poster
Ah ok thanks for the reply! I have one more question about lighting, I am unsure of what type of case to put the lights in, I know I need 2 for a basking area and a cooler area. If you could provide a link to the 2 type of lights I need it would be greatly appreciated!
 

duke11

Gray-bearded Member
Well, if you get an MVB it has light and heat in one so you would only need 1 light for your entire setup. However, they are a little more expensive. The reason why I recommended them for you is because your tank is very deep. Here is a link to one: http://www.reptileuv.com/megaray-sb-160-watt-self-ballasted-flood-uvb-lamp.php
There are other types too. The other good MVB brand is the T-Rex Active Heat and UV bulb: http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/-/t-rex-160-watt-flood-active-uv-heat-bulb/
You can find it at other places too, this is just what it looks like. For the fixture to put the lights in, I believe you can screw it in to an ordinary clamp lamp that you can find anywhere. Make sure the top of the lamp is porcelain. Also, make sure it is wide and deep enough. And remember it has to be at least 18" away which shouldn't be a problem for you. Good luck! :D

Edit: Oh, here is a link to an ideal clamp lamp. It is extra deep and at least 8.5 inches away. You can order this one or I'm pretty sure that Petco and Petsmart have them too. http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/group/1271/product.web
 

duke11

Gray-bearded Member
One more thing. If you decide to go with just a lightbulb and a separate UVB tube instead of the MVB, that is fine also. For the basking site, you will need a high wattage lightbulb, maybe like a household halogen that has a lot of watts? You can get 2 90 watt halogens and dim them to get the right temperature. These bulbs can be found at Target or online. Don't buy the fancy reptile basking bulbs, they are a waste of money and do not work any better than a normal lightbulb. For the fixtures, you should by clamp lamps that have dimmers so you can adjust the temps if you need to. For the UVB tube, you should get a Reptisun 10. It is one of the best UVB tubes out there. I would recommend buying it here: http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html
It is the cheapest Reptisun you will find. If you go to Petco they cost like $50. You should get one that will cover most of the length of your tank. Also, one that will fit your fixture. You can buy fixtures anywhere. Go to the link I provided and look around, they have fixtures. Also, if you go to petstore, they usually have fishtank fixtures that you can put a UVB bulb into.

So that leaves you with 2 options.
Option 1: Just one MVB bulb.
Option 2: Basking bulbs and separate UVB bulbs.
I would definitely recommend doing option 1 because your beardie has to have a place where they can get within 6-8 inches of the UVB bulb (that is for option 2 option 1 he MUST be at least 18 inches away). Because your tank is so tall, you'd have to go through a lot of trouble to get the basking spot right.
 

ScootScoot

Member
Original Poster
Wow guys thanks for being so helpful! Ok so I have a complete saltwater setup with a all in one lighting fixture that has spaces for 3 different bulbs, now from what iv gathered I can put on MVB bulb in there and be safe? Also with the other 2 slots should I get some lights that will kick on during night hours to lower the temp? Also if I do the one light will my Beardie suffer from not having a basking area? I want my beardie to be as comfortable as possible!!!
 

duke11

Gray-bearded Member
I wouldn't recommend a night time bulb. The MVB should be hung over the basking area, therefore, it will be his/her basking area. The cool side may get dark so you can add a non UVB emitting ordinary florescent tube.
 

ScootScoot

Member
Original Poster
Ok thanks! Well I went out and got a nice Basking light and light holder with the ceramic light screw in, ill be getting my beardie in the next 2 or three days :) I also got a reptile hammock to hang in the side of the tank near the basking side so I can see if he is hanging out near the top, then ill know I need a higher watt bulb. The bulb I got was a 150watt, the lady at the pet store seemed to know a lot about beardies and said it would be fine. Also I went to pet-smart and Jacks Aquarium and saw that they had there baby beardies in sand...... should this be reported to someone?????
 

duke11

Gray-bearded Member
Did you get an MVB or just a plain old bulb? If you just got the bulb, don't forget to get a UVB tube bulb also. It is ok to have the babies on sand as long as it's not calci sand. If it is children's playsand (washed and sifted) it is fine, but it still poses some health risks and it is definitely better than calci sand. Duke loves his hammock so I'm sure your beardie will love it too. Good luck getting your beardie!
 

ScootScoot

Member
Original Poster
Yes I only got a regular heat bulb but today I went out and got him a TON of stuff. Let me tell you, a 90 gallon tank is not cheap to furnish with drift wood and rocks! Today I got a him a nice 10.0 UVB light with housing (48 inches long 40watt) Also I got a nice digital thermometer with 3 remote sensors to place around the tank to make sure his heat levels are good, it also reads humidity :) I will be getting my beardie once I make sure I can maintain a good temp for him, so ill probably pick him up tomorrow morning, what are some signs to look for when picking out a beardie? Should I look for stress marks? Any help on that would be great! Thanks guys!
 

diamc

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi, I was just reading all the great info you were given by duke11. How exciting that you'll be getting a new baby in a few days. :blob5: :blob8: I wanted to mention that you should look for an active beardie, make sure he has all toes & a complete tail (unless you want to rescue him), see which one responds to you. Perhaps you could hold each one to see which is the most receptive to you. Most babies have stress marks on their bellies and chest, so will be almost impossible to find one without any. If you are interested in color, look for one with yellow or reddish coloring as it will get brighter as he gets older. Try not to pick the smallest one, should be at least 6" long because the smaller they are, the trickier it is to make sure everything is perfect for them. Oh and look at the eyes too, you don't want them to look sunken and they should be wide open.

What fluorescent UVB did you get, brand & % of output that it produces? Hopefully, it's the Repti-Sun 10.0 and with that particular bulb, your beardie should be 6 to 8" from it and it should be placed so that your beardie can get the benefit from it while in his basking area.

The digital with sensors and humidity readout sounds pretty neat. To take the temps, place a probe end so that it is touching the basking surface and the thermometer part on the cool side, with the other probes in different areas in the tank. Wait about 45 min for the temps to stop rising, the "out" reading is for the basking area and the "in" reading for the cool side. You'll want a basking temp of 105 to 110 (but no higher) for a baby and a cool side temp of 75 to 85 with 80 being ideal.

You might find out that you need a lower wattage household bulb on the cool side like a 40 or 60 watt so you should pick up another clamp lamp for it.

Did you get calcium and vitamin supplements? Most of us here use the Rep-Cal brand. With a baby, you need to dust their live food with calcium with D3 but phosphorus-free 5 days a wk, but only 1 feeding a day and with vitamins the other 2 days a wk, but only 1 feeding a day.

Good luck, keep us posted. :wink:
 

ScootScoot

Member
Original Poster
Well I got the little guy! :) Ill post pictures tonight of his setup and him so you guys can look over it and give me tips for setting up his stuff :)
 

ScootScoot

Member
Original Poster
Here are some pictures of him and his setup!




Here he is!



Waiting for tile to come and ill get that in asap! Here is a picture of his first poop, does it look normal?





**EDIT** Also there are 2 thermometers on the basking side because I wanted to make sure my digital one was providing the right readings.
 

diamc

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Oh, what a little cutie, congratulations. :p Just wondering, are both of those bulbs basking bulbs? It might be a good idea to get the wire cages to put over the bulbs because babies can jump quite high, wouldn't want him to get burned.

The poop actually looks a little watery. Perhaps the petstore was feeding him lettuce.

What temps did you get in the basking & cool side? What wattage bulbs are you using? Is that a strip fluorescent on the top? What brand did you get?
 
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