Arcadia 12% vs. Reptisun

[SukiLove]

I am going to re-vamp Nero's tank, it is a 4x2x2 tank. His prior setup was a 12" Reptisun 10.0 on one end with a basking spot temp around 90, and a Megaray with a basking spot around 88 on the other end. This setup worked well when he was younger, but I had to swap him and Soleil for awhile and he did a whole lot better with her Reptisun/halogen combo and has now taken to keeping to the Reptisun side of his tank since they swapped back.

I have a Solarmeter 6.2, so I've checked bulb decay in the Megaray and it's UVB output is still strong, so I think it's just down to Nero's personal preference. He's my little diva anyway! So I'm going to get a 24" fixture and centralize it in his tank and have the different basking spots still available with the shade sources being on the ends of his tank instead of central.

I've read that the Arcadia bulbs are stronger than the Reptisun, but I am interested in trying it out. Would the Arcadia 12% be too strong mounted inside his tank even without a reflector? I plan on purchasing a Solarmeter 6.5 this spring, but I won't have any idea of the UVI inside his tank until then.

 

[CooperDragon]

Both would be a good choice. I use an Arcadia T5 sitting in a reflective fixture on top of the tank (no mesh top) and get a UVI between about 5 12'' under the bulb and 1 in the corners away from the bulb (and 0 in the shade). I just measured those in my setup but it may vary depending on how you configure it. Taterbug put together a nice guide with some general readings for different configurations. https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/lighting-guides

 

[SukiLove]

What concerns me is the intensity the Arcadia seem to have, or at least what everyone says it has. Soleil's tank has an Arcadia, which is why I'm considering switching his to one, but she has a really fine mesh screen that diminishes the intensity. His UVB has to be mounted inside his tank due to the type of tank cover that he has, so there is no way for me to raise it any higher than the 20" from the bottom of the tank. He seemed to really like the Arcadia when he was in Soleil's tank, so I wanted to give it a try. I wonder if eliminating the reflector makes that much difference? At least I could always take that away or add in as needed.

 

[CooperDragon]

The reflector should make quite a bit of difference if you can get a fixture with a removable one. Mine is fixed otherwise I'd remove it and take some more readings for you. I'd imagine if you keep the UVB in the basking area below about 200uW/cm2 it should be safe with a nice gradient down to maybe 50-75uW/cm2 away from the bulb measuring with a 6.2 meter. Gradients and options are key. He may prefer more intense UVB most of the time but if not he should have easy access to hide from it and just get some heat. I do that with my portable basking lamps. The kitchen lamp is only a ZooMed basking bulb for heat and the living room lamp is a MegaRay so he can get UVB if he wants. Darwin tends to switch back and forth between them as he roams about during the day.