2 tubes in one enclosure?

[Chrism]

Hey all,
Trying to plan lighting for a 4x2x2 from customcages. I have a single 36" fixture and reptisun 10, but wanted to hear if any of you have put or recommend putting two tubes across the top of a single enclosure. I would like some additional lighting in his cage. The dragon's floor is obviously 2 feet away from light source--If I add a second light would you use another reptisun (a 5.0), or a standard household fluorescent bulb? Thanks!

 

[madmax1]

I have 2 reptisun 10.0 24" tube fluorescent bulbs in my 60"x24"x24" you can see the 2 tubes (mounted on the inside of the enclosure) side by side . I also made a reflector from a thin piece of cardboard covered with shiny metal tape used for air-conditioning duct. witch I put behind the bulbs to reflect the light back down into the enclosure.
there should be no problem with the xtra bulb providing the xtra uvb light into the cage
here is a pic. it is not the best pic but u will get the idea.

 

[Chrism]

Thanks for the pics! I like your enclosure a lot. Since your Reptisuns cover 1/3 to 1/2 of the cage, I'm curious where your dragon spends most of its time. If he spends a lot of time on the shaded side, I would be hesitant to run another bulb the full length of his cage. I think two 36" bulbs in a 48" enclosure will look great, but I don't know how much UV is "too much". Thanks again,

 

[nair88]

additional lighting is a good idea, but i wouldn't run another uvb bulb. a standard fluorescent bulb will be fine.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

I would have to agree with Aaron on this. One uvb tube is plenty. I would also just put a regular fluorescent tube in for additional lighting. There is actually such a thing as "too much uvb" exposure.
Besides that... uvb bulbs are quite expensive and the fluorescent tubes need to be changed out every 5-6 months. Go ahead and get two of the ReptiSun's. It never hurts to have one on stand by. This way you have one for back up, whether one blows out early or it's time to change the old one in 6 months. :wink:

 

[madmax1]

In my opinion, in such a large tank u need some extra UVB lighting, my tank is 24" tall and with the fixtures in place brings them down to about 21" the amount of uvb the bearded dragon receives is no where near the amount that they truly get in there natural environment. And if u need more light what would a regular fluorescent light bulb purpose serve. Except keeping cost down. It Serve's no, benefit for the reptile. The fixtures I use have independent switches which I can turn one off if need to. Here are the fixtures I use without the lens of course. http://www.bigappleherp.com/Fluorescent-Mounting-Fixtures?sc=2&category=22 What really matters is the distance the reptile is from the lights so i added the wood log in the bottom of the enclosure to get him closer to the UVB lighting. Which, he uses all the time when not basking under the heat lamp. I have had no problems with my dragons eyes nor have I seen any ill effect with my dragon. The extra heat from the fluorescent bulb helps keep the humidity down in such a LARG enclosure. The basking spot temps are around 104 degrees right under the spot light and range from 95 to 98 degrees on different spots of the basking rock. The middle of the enclosure temps range from 89 to 82 degrees heading towards the cooler end. And the cool side range is 80 to 77 degrees . the humidity in the tank ranges any where from 20% to 35% in different parts of the enclosure. The higher humidity on the cooler side with the water dish.

hear are some pics with the lights on

The 2 tanks on the bottom are for my corn snakes and have no UVB. Need another reptile for the small empty tank.Undecided yet.

In the larger middle tank I keep my blue tongue skink that tank measures 48"L x 24"w x 18"H I only have one fixture mounted in that. And with the fixture mounted the light is about 15" from bottom of enclosure.

 

[cashrokxsz]

those enclousures r sick dude! no lie. the idea about 2 reptisuns seems good. im thinkin of doing that now. instead of my beardie juhs runnin around one side of the cage it can run around all over and still get uvb. nice idea guys.

 

[YBS0502]

i built a large enclosure 6ftx3ftx30" i use a 4ft reptisun10.0 for uvb which gives plenty of light

 

[madmax1]

i built a large enclosure 6ftx3ftx30" i use a 4ft reptisun10.0 for uvb which gives plenty of light[/quote

 

[cashrokxsz]

i didnt evin kno they made a 4ft. reptisun.