Getting proper lighting in a 55 gallon tank?

[goalie75]

So I have my 55 gallon. Its 48" long, 13" wide, and 18" tall. I have an 18" desert UVB bulb, and a 150 watt ceramic heater. I don't think the temp is getting high enough for a beardie and he needs to be within 12 in of the UVB, which he isn't.

Is there any way to fix all this without having to get a new cage?

 

[BeardieNewbie15]

can you post a pic of your tank? i also have a 55g tank so when i set up my UVB light i just placed it about half way down the tank wall instead of at the top. other options are to make/buy something your beardie can climb up on to get close to the light.

 

[goalie75]

I actually can't because I don't have a digital camera....

How were you able to set it up like that, though? Do you have a screen top?

 

[BeardieNewbie15]

ah okay. well instead of buying the ballast (to hold the UBV) bulb from a pet store (the only one i could find was in a big ugly metal piece for aquariums) I bought one from Home Depot. The ballast from home depot has a big metal piece and lots of wires. My boyfriend brought over two plastic ends (that the light can click into) I got my boyfriend to attach the wires to the plastic ends and an old plug so I could plug it into my timer safely, then wrapped all the wires with electrical tape to make it look nice. So now the UVB bulb hangs half way down the tank so my beardie can enjoy the full effects It took time and effort but I think it worked out for the best, and it looks decent. Below is a pic for you to get an idea

Hope that helped