T5 or T8 flourescent tubes? Halogen bulb? Better or worse?

[momo4]

I tried searching for these first but only the word flourescent showed up, no references to T5 or T8 would show up for me.

My question is, what is the difference? I was in a specialty greenhouse store that sold plant lights, and one was the Sunburst T5 - came in tubes and the spiral bulb as well, the other was Vita-lite and on the packaging from the manufacturer it said it was meant for People, Plants & Pets. Was a full spectrum light - 4ft, 3ft and 2ft flourescent tubes I think - at least the 2 sizes anyway. They were priced about the same as the reptile UV bulbs at pet stores. Here is a quote from the Vita-lite: "Vita-Lite is the only patented fluorescent lamp that simulates the crisp, full color, and ultraviolet spectrum of natural outdoor light. " Seen here: http://www.duro-test.com/fluor.vitalite.html Is this light the same/similar to the ZooMed 10.0? They look the same, but that doesn't necessarily say anything, I know that much

My husband used to use 250 watt halogen bulbs for his aquariums and had plants growing up & over the top of the tank. He thinks a lower wattage of these same bulbs would be fine for the dragons. They are a large clear bulb similar to this one: http://www.bulborama.com/store/250-...00-HOUR-INDUSTRIAL-GRADE-LIGHT-BULB-p132.html But without the silver sides, it was clear all around. He thinks if these lights can grow plants, they can grow animals too (so to speak).

He has been researching the great UV debate and has come across such conflicting information that he thinks the only reason people are for the bulbs is to sell them (even though I've shown him this site & articles some of you have linked to about this topic)... one of the articles/studies he found said that in order to know if the bulb is good the UVB & UVA rays have to be so far apart in their measurements, the closer they are the less effective the bulb.
I don't know if the halogen lights he plans to get even give off UV rays... does anyone know? It doesn't specify on the page where the bulb is listed, that I saw...

We will have 4 separate 4ft tanks set up - custom made, and he is concerned about the amount of $ we will be putting into bulbs - basking, UV, for each, plus the lighting we need for our boa & geckos. We already have two 4 ft ZooMed Repti-Sun 10.0 bulbs that have only been used for a couple months (then the light fixture crapped out & we had to move the beardies to another room, so they've been without their UV light for just over a month now and so far do not seem to be showing any signs of distress/stress/problems. I want to put their 10.0's back on them, just lay them across the tops of the tanks they are in right now (smaller than I'd like while we are making their big tanks) but the 4 ft tubes will fit across, and I think they will be ok with those until we get them into their new tanks in the next few weeks. But as for their new tanks, what lighting is going to work best? This halogen one or the 10.0's?

Would a halogen work like an MVB? Can someone give me the pros & cons of this that my husband will understand and that won't sound like you are just promoting the bulbs so you can make money off it? ( Sorry, I know that sounds awful, but that's the way he sees this - as a crock to make money off the reptile industry, not because the reptiles actually need it - the studies he's checked into say the sun itself does not give off the right amounts of UVA & UVB that the dragons need, so how can a bulb? And how does anyone know exactly what wattage/output of UV they need? - these are the questions/concerns he has that I need some help discussing!)

Oh, and do we need a 2nd regular flourescent tube to provide the bright light they need to go with the 10.0 and their basking spot light?


Thanks in advance!