I am sorry if this has already been addressed but I am seeing a few different answers. I cuurently have a reptisun t5HO hood with reflector with a 10.0 bulb mounted on top of a screen top. The mesh holes are quite small and I know it can block out uvb, so I want to make sure the little guy is getting enough UVB. I know I could do with a solarameteer and it would solve this but it is a bit out of the price range currently and I don't want to neglect him.
What would be a good distance if it is sitting on top of the mesh? Should this be mounted inside the tank? If so, how is the best way to mount it as it is quite heavy? And lastly, are there any tips to get the uvb and basking to overlap the best? I saw people angling their basking light but I read the light can harm their eyes at an angle like that.
I tried to do as much of my own research as I could before posting but I have seen a few people say 12 inches and others say 6 so I just want to make sure I am doing this correctly.
personally, i have never heard anything about the light being at an angle hurting their eyes. i'm sure others will chime in on that as well. my basking light is directly behind my uvb so there are multiple spots to choose between heat and uvb. (pictures are in my profile if you want to see examples.) they will go to where they need if they are given a range of options.
can you post a picture of the screen? the size of the holes will determine distance. that's probably where you are seeing the differences in distances from.
I will also add, if anyone thinks it is more beneficial to swap to a wider screen than pictured above, i can do so. I made the tops myself but couldnt find any proper large holed screen so if anyone could point me to some larger holed screen, i would have no problem swapping it out given the cost isnt outrageous. It just cant be too heavy duty as i do not have all the tools to deal with heavy duty metals
I will also add, if anyone thinks it is more beneficial to swap to a wider screen than pictured above, i can do so. I made the tops myself but couldnt find any proper large holed screen so if anyone could point me to some larger holed screen, i would have no problem swapping it out given the cost isnt outrageous. It just cant be too heavy duty as i do not have all the tools to deal with heavy duty metals
i'm not that experienced with placement over screens as i have a solid top. i have the arcadia 12% setup and it is placed inside the tank at 12-15". i would guess what you have would qualify as a small hole screen so you would want basking spots 6-8" below the screen if the light is on top. (that's just off memory from reading on here, so i could be wrong.) @KarrieRee is really good with uvb placement in general, so let's see what she says.
Great! Thank you karrie. I am a bit calmer now. I was worried he really wasnt getting enough uvb at 11 inches away but it sounds like i just need to make his basking spot a bit taller.