GizmosGrammie
Hatchling Member
I personally wouldn't risk it . . . my husbands says it' s a fire hazard!!
CooperDragon":18p5jdrx said:Your Philips bulb just looks like a household incandescent. Is that getting the basking area up to 100-110? If not, I suggest swapping it out with a more concentrated halogen flood light or reptile basking bulb. I don't advise using the red night bulb as that can disturb sleep. If your temps go below 65 at night, you could use a ceramic heat emitting bulb at low wattage just go give the temps a little bit of a boost. You may not need it at all or just use it seasonally. For UVB I'd replace the coil with a tube style bulb. I prefer the tubes because they provide a nice wide spread of UVB across the basking area rather than a narrow, intense cone that the coil bulbs output. Here are a couple of very good options for UVB in a 40g tank
This fixture http://www.amazon.com/Sunblaster-904296-NanoTech-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B00AKKUBDQ
With this bulb http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiSun-10-0-Lamp/dp/B00AQU8HAO/
Thanks Coop. That's some great information. So would you mount the fixture inside of the tank? If so, does it matter what side it is on or will the reflector give me the ability to adjust where the light goes?
Regarding the temp, I just ordered two digital thermometers so that I can be sure what the temp is on both sides. Thanks again for your help.
Or this combo set http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/
CooperDragon":2tuvw5f1 said:Yes, with those lights you can mount them right on top. Nice and powerful. I suggest putting the UVB light on the same side of the tank as the basking light. That will provide heat, white light, and UVB all together at the basking spot and a nice gradient downward toward the cool side of the tank.
CooperDragon":2i56uqc7 said:Don't use one with neodymium coating or a blue tint (like GE Reveal). Those block certain wavelengths. Stick with a nice bright white bulb. I've had good luck with the Zoomed ReptiBasking spot lamp and I also have some PAR38 90w halogen flood bulbs and some BR40 halogen flood bulbs. You may want to get an adjustable lamp stand or a lamp dimmer (use dimmable bulbs) to fine tune the output so you get 100-110 in the basking area and a gradient down to 75-80 or so on the cool side of the tank.
CooperDragon":1tv1e99d said:Don't use one with neodymium coating or a blue tint (like GE Reveal). Those block certain wavelengths. Stick with a nice bright white bulb. I've had good luck with the Zoomed ReptiBasking spot lamp and I also have some PAR38 90w halogen flood bulbs and some BR40 halogen flood bulbs. You may want to get an adjustable lamp stand or a lamp dimmer (use dimmable bulbs) to fine tune the output so you get 100-110 in the basking area and a gradient down to 75-80 or so on the cool side of the tank.
CooperDragon":101r1ie8 said:I definitely wouldn't go any closer than that. 12'' or so would be a better distance. You may need to try a bulb with more lumens (more visible light may mean more heat). The GE I have is a 90w at 1790 lumens.