Lighting reach

[KittyLovesDragons]

How far should the lights reach? At the moment, my uvb reaches almost to the end of the tank, and the heat bulb goes about 3/4 of the way then stops. should I get another light, or... (by reach, I mean how far the lights shines) Thanks All!

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

The reach of the UVB depends on many factors (reflector, screen, etc,) but mainly the make of the UVB light.

A compact/coil UVB will only produce UVB rays about 6" from the bulb, and a lot is filtered out from a mesh screen if used meaning the dragon would need to be very close to this light at all times.

A T8 florescent tube will reach further, not only because it is longer, but because the UVB strength is higher. This will reach about 12" from the bulb with no screen in the way, but about 8" with a screen in the way.

The best UVB bulb available is an Arcadia T5 bulb, and this reaches 14"-24" and penetrates well through a screen. I use the 22" version of this light but can no longer find it listed on their site.
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/34-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-6-ho-bulb/

 

[CooperDragon]

It's the T8 that has a range between about 6-8'' with output dropping off drastically beyond that. The 26w compact coils I've tested are similar while the 13w are too weak to be of use. The T5 has an optimal output at around 12'' with a reflector and a good range is about 12-14'' (10-12'' through a screen top). There are some good output comparisons between lighting types on Taterbug's site https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/lighting-guides

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I was looking for a good guide when commenting but couldn't find what I needed, so winged it. Thanks for sharing

 

[Drache613]

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