75gallon tank proper heating1

[conblack]

ok.. so im about to get a 75 gallon tank which is 4'2'2 (at least thats what the guys said) for my bearded dragon.
i was watching this videos at http://www.youtube.com about taking proper care of your dragons since im a beginner on this ):wink:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNB06-LCMPQ

ok so this tank looks king of big so... this guys says that on one side u should use bulb of 100W to 150W day bulb to generate about 100 to 110 degrees right?
but he also says that on the "cool side"i should use a night bulb for 24 hours a day which should be from 75W to 100W( i have a 75W red bulb btw), and a heat pad which is also running 24 hours a day ........ BUT how is it possible to have a cool size if you have using almost the same W on the basking compared to the coll side?(dont forget! the heat pad is on the cool side also)

im asking this question because im about to get my tank and im gonna make a trade giving my tank and some money for the bigger one, and i dont wanna play with my dragons health experimenting for about a week with the temperature, so i would like to know the right places and W for my lights and heating devises

tnx guys!

 

[peera]

After watching a couple of those videos, I'm going to say STOP LISTENING TO THAT *****.

Bark substrate??? *shudder*

I do not use any bulbs at all at night, but my tank stays at 70+ all night, so it's unnessisary. What you need to do is get your tank, and then find out what the constant temps are inside it, before making night warming decisions.

DO NOT USE A HEATING PAD. Beardies don't absorb (or even feel) heat through their bellies, so it can burn them.

 

[NegativeCreep]

You're right, you can't keep the heat gradient with the exact heat on both sides.

A 75 gallon breeder is perfect for an adult beardie, btw. But, that video is full of crap!!

Ditch the heating pad and the colored light. Return them for your money back, if you can.
Colored lights are not good for any animal. And beardies feel heat from above (as opposed to snakes who feel heat from their bellies), and a heat pad could burn your baby. You need a basking bulb, which can be a regular household bulb, and a UVB source. This can be a florescent tube or a Mercury Vapor Bulb. NOT A COMPACT. Don't listen to that guy. The compact bulbs are bad for beardies, period. If you want a tube light the ReptiSUN 10.0 is recommended, or a MegaRay MVB are the best.

You need a temp gradient in your tank. The basking area should be about 105 degrees and the cool side about 80-85 degrees. If you put a heat source on the cool side, it won't be very cool. If you use a MVB it will put off heat. I would choose the 160 watt for that, but it may not heat a tank that size enough. You can add additional heat with a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) or additional basking-type lights. If you use a CHE, you can keep the temps up at night, but you only need to worry about night temps if they drop below the lower 60's.

Unfortunately, you may have to do some experimenting to get the temps right. Everyone's tanks are different sizes and everyone's houses are different temperatures!

 

[Catalyst]

Agreed, ditch the heat pad and the red light, they're unnecessary. I have a 75g tank (4 ft long x 18 inches wide) and I use a 100w halogen flood light over my basking spot and then a 50 or 75w halogen flood light over my cool side to keep the temps up during the day. No lights or heat sources are necessary at night unless the temps in the tank drop below the low sixties, the cooldown at night is natural and healthy for your dragon.

What i use won't necessarily work for you - there are different factors like ambient house temperature, where the tank is placed in a room, etc. that will figure into what wattage bulbs you need. You can use regular light bulbs or halogen flood bulbs from the hardware store for heat - no need to pay more for a pet store heat bulb.

 

[tazmybd]

i also have a 75 gallon for my bd, and i use a zoo med 100 watt basking bulb on the basking side and a 60 watt sun glo bulb on the cool side and this seems to keep temp's right on point, and i also do not use any heating pad or a night time bulb and my bd seems to be happy with these bulbs and temps and i also use a 48 in repti sun 10.0 for uvb. hope this helps a little bit, good luck

 

[KairaandTaz08]

Oh, I just wanted to add that when I got Kaira into her 75 gallon, the tank seemed to be a lot darker and beardies like it bright (ONLY during the day, not the night, as others have mentioned). So we got a double light fixture and put her ReptiSun 10.0 tube bulb in there along with a regular tube light that you can get at home depot. It doesn't add much heat (if any) and she seems to really like the extra light. Occasionally we do have to put an extra bright white bulb on the cool side because the temp does drop too low at times. I recommend getting a fixture with a dimmer for the cool side, we never have to turn it up all the way and can adjust the temps a lot easier. As for the basking side, like others said, it depends on your home, we use a 75watt Halogen bulb, though.
No heating pads, no night bulb (except the ceramic heat emitter, if needed), and whatever everyone else said lol, it seemed to be a heated debate. The OP was simply asking so they got everything correct. The person on youtube is obviously the one who needs to be "yelled" at...and I did give that guy my opinion...on just about all of his videos :wink: . What is he trying to do? Instruct people on how to kill a beardie?
If you have any questions, please ask on here, don't take that person's advice.
Abi

 

[NegativeCreep]

The person on youtube is obviously the one who needs to be "yelled" at...and I did give that guy my opinion...on just about all of his videos :wink: . What is he trying to do? Instruct people on how to kill a beardie?

hehe, me too