55 Gallon Tank Lighting?

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How do I set up lighting for a 55 gallon tank (approximately 48"L x 15"W)?

UVB lighting vs basking light?

How do I mount it? The top is glass and has a wood cover.

Should I heat my cage at night (if so, how)?
 

VenusAndSaturn

Sub-Adult Member
Well then if the top is glass thats gonna be hard. Your better off finding a new tank honestly unless you can drill holes into it and mount a 46" uvb reptisun t5 HO 10.0 tube light inside without shattering it. Though you could make a top for it by yourself without risking the glass shattering by removing the glass top (assuming you can) and either trying to find a 55 gallon regular top or getting wood and mesh and making your own top by drilling the mesh to the wood. I'd personally use a more open mesh rather than one with lots of tiny holes, its a bit hard to explain but it'll let more uvb through if you do and then ussing mesh with tiny holes on the sides where the wood is so it may stay together better.

Only thing you could place on top of the glass would probably be the 150 watt or so heat source, guessing 150 watt since usually in a 55 gallon tank the height is 20 or so inches and with that bulb it the bottom of the warm side to around 88-90. However im not sure how much glass can handle when it comes to heat.

Also by uvb lighting vs basking light i suppose you mean which do you need or something, you need both, usually a reptisun t5 HO 10.0 tube light (around 46" bulb and fixture with a reflector for a 48"l tank) and then either a MVB (produces uvb and heat) or a regular bright basking light (just produces heat a bit more compared to a MVB that ive noticed). With a mvb you'll still need a uvb tube light.

As for heating your enclosure at night you dont need to as long as it doesnt get below 65f. And if it you should a CHE (heat emitter, produces no light) the reason i say a che and not a "infrared" night time bulb or those blue, or black night time bulbs is because beardies can see those completely fine just like we can so it disturbs their sleep.
 

frederickajordan

Member
Original Poster
VenusAndSaturn":2f5ucn0p said:
Well then if the top is glass thats gonna be hard. Your better off finding a new tank honestly unless you can drill holes into it and mount a 46" uvb reptisun t5 HO 10.0 tube light inside without shattering it. Though you could make a top for it by yourself without risking the glass shattering by removing the glass top (assuming you can) and either trying to find a 55 gallon regular top or getting wood and mesh and making your own top by drilling the mesh to the wood. I'd personally use a more open mesh rather than one with lots of tiny holes, its a bit hard to explain but it'll let more uvb through if you do and then ussing mesh with tiny holes on the sides where the wood is so it may stay together better.

Only thing you could place on top of the glass would probably be the 150 watt or so heat source, guessing 150 watt since usually in a 55 gallon tank the height is 20 or so inches and with that bulb it the bottom of the warm side to around 88-90. However im not sure how much glass can handle when it comes to heat.

Also by uvb lighting vs basking light i suppose you mean which do you need or something, you need both, usually a reptisun t5 HO 10.0 tube light (around 46" bulb and fixture with a reflector for a 48"l tank) and then either a MVB (produces uvb and heat) or a regular bright basking light (just produces heat a bit more compared to a MVB that ive noticed). With a mvb you'll still need a uvb tube light.

As for heating your enclosure at night you dont need to as long as it doesnt get below 65f. And if it you should a CHE (heat emitter, produces no light) the reason i say a che and not a "infrared" night time bulb or those blue, or black night time bulbs is because beardies can see those completely fine just like we can so it disturbs their sleep.

I should have mentioned that the glass top is removable. I'm thinking that I should get rid of the glass top and just use the wooden top cover and drill holes?
 

VenusAndSaturn

Sub-Adult Member
You need a reptisun t5 HO 10.0 tube light, at the moment your beardie isnt getting any uvb with just a heat lamp. You can get one on amazon pretty cheap along with a fixture, i'd go with a 46" one personally.
 

frederickajordan

Member
Original Poster
VenusAndSaturn":22hxdtzc said:
You need a reptisun t5 HO 10.0 tube light, at the moment your beardie isnt getting any uvb with just a heat lamp. You can get one on amazon pretty cheap along with a fixture, i'd go with a 46" one personally.

Okay, thanks! How would I install the Zoo Med 26062 Reptisun 10.0 T5-Ho Uvb? Sorry I'm a newbie lol
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
You could set it along the top. If you set things a little lower you could probably leave the top off if you don't have any other animals in the house. I just rest my UVB fixture across the open top of the tank. Some of the fixtures have clips you can hang them from or screw holes so you can screw it right into a solid top. You could also build a grow light stand and hang it from that but those add bulk around the tank.
 

frederickajordan

Member
Original Poster
Is there an easy way to mount the T5 HO fluorescent bulb without the hood/fixture? The Zoo Med 26055 Reptisun T5-Ho 48" Terrarium Hood is rather pricey!
 

VenusAndSaturn

Sub-Adult Member
Just get this one https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013RNBXLQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I think its out of stock at the moment sadly but just try and look for a fixture like that, works perfectly and havent had a problem yet with it (i have three of the fixtures). I got mine for 50 dollars, its a lot cheaper compared to the 66 dollar price tag the more
"professional" looking one has.

From what ive read on the zoomed hood that your talking about apparently it only comes with a t5 5.0 bulb, which would be great if your mounting it inside without anything blocking it, but it is a bit weaker than the 10.0 which sucks.
 
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