Arcadia bulb with zoo med fixture?

[Herpcentric]

Ok, I’m at a completely loss here. I can not find a 22” Arcadia T5 HO light fixture. Would T8 be better? I know its just a thicker bulb, but does it produce better output than a T5? I also don’t want it to over power my 2’x2’x4’ cage.

I’m curious to know if I can possibly use a Zoo Med T5 HO light fixture with a Arcadia T5 HO 6% UVB bulb? If not, does anyone know where I can buy a T5 HO 22” Arcadia light fixture? Or at least a fixture brand that will work with the bulb?

 

[GoodKarma19]

T5HO lights are much more powerful than T8 - I want to say that it's at least 3x more light output? But don't quote me on that!

You can use the Arcadia bulbs with any fixture of the same size. Keep in mind that the bulb is 2" shorter than the fixture, so for your 22" bulb you'll need a 24" fixture.

 

[Herpcentric]

T5HO lights are much more powerful than T8 - I want to say that it's at least 3x more light output? But don't quote me on that!

You can use the Arcadia bulbs with any fixture of the same size. Keep in mind that the bulb is 2" shorter than the fixture, so for your 22" bulb you'll need a 24" fixture.

Ok! That actually helps to much! I’ve been racking my brain trying to find a fixture that’ll fit these bulbs, not realizing that they are measured by the fixtures length, not the bulbs length!

 

[JacksJill]

I use my Arcadia bulbs in a fixture designed for aquariums. Just remove the plastic shield they come with so it doesn't block the UVB.

 

[Rst_Cham]

So I'm doing that exactly, I have a 24" zoomed T5 HO fixture with a 22" 6% Arcadia bulb. Works great. Definitely go T5, so much better and brighter then T8!

 

[JacksJill]

I use something like this. It comes with 2 6500K plant lights. Remove one and use your Arcadia bulb in its place and you have UVB and your plants will survive. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01IFIOYJ6/ref=twister_B01IFIOYIM?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

[Herpcentric]

Awesome! Thank you guys so much! On a side note, does anyone have a good recommendation for a nice but cost effective CHE brand?

 

[Herpcentric]

And what wattage is acceptable on a CHE for a 2’x2’x4’ cage?

 

[Rst_Cham]

I have this one on a thermostat:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017RCQ4JO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This is my day/night thermostat, make have the night setting way down low so it doesn't kick on (I have mine set to 50, and my house never gets that cold so it never kicks on at night.)
https://www.amazon.com/Inkbird-Aqua...y&sprefix=ink+bird+thermostat,aps,167&sr=8-18

 

[Rst_Cham]

P.S. The thermostat I linked to above is a bit tricky to setup, fyi, but the instructions do make sense.

 

[RyanBRZ]

Thinking of trying an Arcadia when my ReptiSun 5.0 is ready for replacement, I'll be using the ReptiSun T5 HO 24" fixture as you are @Rst_Cham. Where is a good place to buy these bulbs? And what is an equivalent percentage to the 5.0 ZooMed?

 

[Alexander1]

Remember that all ballast are not created equal, Arcadia has some nice ballast/fixtures at lightyourreptiles .com, joshsfrogs.com, etc, a cheap ballast can shorten the life of your Arcadia bulb, it also may not have enough or too much wattage and will not come with the extra filters, protection a good ballast will. Keep that in mind, a cheap ballast may not necessarily be more cost effective in the long run, I bought mine from lightyourreptile , he happens to be a site sponsor and they are very knowledgeable about their products.

 

[RyanBRZ]

Yeah, I thought about buying a new fixture. Bill Strand just released a podcast on the topic and the Arcadia guy went into fixture quality. Does anyone know if the zoomed fixture is considered decent?

 

[CamoChameleonsHuman]

Yeah, I thought about buying a new fixture. Bill Strand just released a podcast on the topic and the Arcadia guy went into fixture quality. Does anyone know if the zoomed fixture is considered decent?

I would say so. The fixture isn’t necessarily cheap especially for a single fixture. I think he would've brought it up. And I believe there's another episode this week maybe we will hear some more?