new tank questions quick question?

[jgodman1011]

I am moving Sheldon into a 75 gallon tank, I got him a t5 5.0 reptisun fixture and there wont be a screen filtering out any of the uvb, how far away should it be from his basking spot and how high up should it be? it seems kind of far at the top of the tank, should I mount it lower inside?
Thanks
Jenn

 

[DylanFreeman]

Hi Jenn!
I too had the Reptisun 5.0 for my buddy Rep but quickly came to realize that the Reptisun 10.0 (t8) is superb. The 5.0 uvb rays only reach 12" off of the light, which can be perfectly ok in some cases, but with a 75 gal and at the top of the tank, id think not. Now dont let me freak you out, your beardie is ok with a 5.0. The 10.0, however, will project the uvb up to 24" out, and in turn can be mounted almost anywhwre youd like. I have a t8 10.0 reptisun in my 40 gal breeder and Rep loves it! Let me know how things are going.
-Dylan

 

[CooperDragon]

The T5 is a higher output style than the T8. A ReptiSun 10.0 T8 has an optimal output at 6-8'' without a screen interfering. A T5 10.0 has an optimal output at around 12-14''. The T5 5.0 is slightly lower output but I don't have any specific data for it. I'd imagine that it would fall in a space higher than the T8 but lower than the T5 10.0 so I'd say mount it 8-12'' above the basking area (this can consist of rocks/branches/etc that are built up from the floor).