New bearded dragon owner help with lights

[Dragonzlady]

Hello I am a new bearded dragon owner. Scorch is my little guys name. He is 5 months old. I recently upgraded to a 75 gallon tank that is 48 x 18 x 21. I currently am using zoo Med basking bulb 100w with ceramic dome. His basking area is approx 10-14 inches away. I am also using a t5 10.0 UVB with a 24inch terr. hood which is also about 12-14 inches away. I will upload a picture. But I was curious if this is adequate lighting for this size tank. I've done a lot of research and homework but wanted to get second opinion. Thanks for your time.

 

[CooperDragon]

That sounds good to me. Similar to what I have. Distance between the T5 and the basking site should produce very good UVB over the basking site. What are the temperatures reading across the tank? You'll want the basking area to be around 100-105 with a gradient down to about 75-80 on the cool side. Adjusting the wattage or height of the basking light (or both) can help achieve this if it's off.

 

[Dragonzlady]

I just checked Temps it was at 99 for basking so I adjusted his log and now Is about 6 inches from basking high point. Will check temp in 1 hr. Cold side is 84 but it's also 100 in FL lol. House temp stays at 78 tho

 

[CooperDragon]

If it's hot outside then it's tough to regulate the cool end so if it's around 80 that's fine. Key is to have a gradient to allow for self regulation. I wouldn't put the basking area much closer than 12'' from the T5 because the UVB will become quite intense. If you need a bump in temps then I'd move to a higher wattage bulb and adjust it's height appropriately. I swap between a 150w ZooMed Repti Basking Spot light and a 90w PAR38 halogen flood light as a basking bulb and it works really well sitting at about 19'' up from the basking area (your setup will vary). I have an adjustable lamp stand that makes it really easy to raise/lower the basking light to adjust temps.

 

[Dragonzlady]

Ok I don't have as muche room for a higher light stand. So would I benefit from a smaller watt halogen bulb and increase the distance from the tank top to basking area. Example like 15 inches? Also does the halogen provide Uva?

 

[CooperDragon]

If you're strapped for room, perhaps a dimmer would work. A dimming thermostat is nice to have but even a manual lamp dimmer may do the trick so you can cut just a little bit of power to fine tune the output of a higher wattage bulb. Alternatively you could move the basking light a bit closer to the basking area, but I wouldn't put it closer than about 12'' due to the intense brightness and burn risks. UVA is emitted in the visual range so as far as I know both the basking light and the UVB light will produce a bit of UVA.

 

[Dragonzlady]

Ok so I'm confused sorry. Do I need both a halogen and basking light or is the halogen going to be considered the basking light

 

[CooperDragon]

A halogen flood light can be used as a basking light. Generally the basking light just needs to be a bright white light that produces heat and has a beam that is a bit wider than your dragon (PAR38 is usually a good choice for beam width). The UVB tube is placed next to the basking light so that the UVB it produces is included with the bright white light and heat to try and imitate natural sunlight as closely as possible and produce a basking area that your dragon can fit in comfortably and bask evenly.

 

[Dragonzlady]

Ok thanks for that information. Do you have any recommendations for light stands that will get a bit higher than my tank ? Like 3 or 4 tall? Everything around here is only up to 24 inches tall

 

[CooperDragon]

I have a zoomed stand that is sitting about 32'' up right now. I'm not sure about stands that are taller though. https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Reptile-Lamp-Stand/dp/B000255OUO

 

[Dragonzlady]

Ok with a little tweaking we have 105-106 basking about 12 inches from back. 12 inches from UVB light. 81 on cool side. I think we have success!

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah that sounds just about perfect! =)

 

[Dragonzlady]

Thanks for all your help