Arcadia fixture
- Thread starter JuniorC
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JuniorC
Avid Member
Yeah if you say sunblaster is a good one then that's the one I'm buying unless I somehow come across an actual Arcadia fixture for cheaper lol
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
Keep in mind the sunblazer nanotech is tuned for an 11" tray of hydroponic plants and meant to be placed 6” - 8” above the tray. So you might want to hang it a bit higher than normal so you get a good UVB spread over a 2ft/2ft reptibreeze.
JuniorC
Avid Member
Thanks I will look into both all around to make sure I know what I'm getting. What do you use?
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
JuniorC
Avid Member
So like this one would be good then?
Zoo Med Reptisun T5 HO High Output Terrarium Hood
https://www.petmountain.com/product/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-high-output-terrarium-hood
You might want to hang tight until next week when official Arcadia single bulb UVB reflectors will hit the shelves. They will show up at LightyourReptiles.com first. I am expecting these to be higher quality as Arcadia designed these themselves for their lamps and John Courteney-Smith is obsessively detailed as to what he puts his name on. I haven't seen them yet, but I am first in line to get them in and test them. JCS has promised all the protection circuitry to drive his bulbs properly.
https://www.arcadiareptile.com/lighting/prot5/
https://www.arcadiareptile.com/lighting/prot5/
JuniorC
Avid Member
Thaaaaank you! I will definitely be waiting. I'm currently listening to episode 129 on the podcast and get this notification lol
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
I was a realllllllly early adopter of the T5 HO tech. Back then they did not have reptile bulbs in the usa, and Todd from LYR was just getting started and only had bulbs, no hoods. So i got a "salt water" hood from zoomed. I have not had a problem with it since like 2011. I do not have first had knowledge of the new reptile kits, but that pet mountain hood seems to be very good, and no one has reported failures or dim bulbs, plus it comes with a free 5.0 which is perfect for the reptibreeze XL
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
If that is not a sunblazer with a lizard slapped on the box, ill eat my hat. Arcadia does not make electronics, it does not develop its own ballasts. It does not even make its own bulbs, it develops phosphor formulas which it then sends to a bulb manufacture in Germany. All this stuff needs waaaaay too much infrastructure for zoomed or Arcadia to make themselves.
JuniorC
Avid Member
Oh wow they've lasted lol and yeah I saw it came with a free bulb which is always a plusI was a realllllllly early adopter of the T5 HO tech. Back then they did not have reptile bulbs in the usa, and Todd from LYR was just getting started and only had bulbs, no hoods. So i got a "salt water" hood from zoomed. I have not had a problem with it since like 2011. I do not have first had knowledge of the new reptile kits, but that pet mountain hood seems to be very good, and no one has reported failures or dim bulbs, plus it comes with a free 5.0 which is perfect for the reptibreeze XL
well, get some BBQ sauce for that hat. I had the same concerns looking at this thing. I checked with John specifically about these concerns. The only thing that this has in common with the Sun Blaster is the outside extrusion. The electronics inside and the reflector are to Arcadia specifications. Even the end caps are designed by Arcadia.
If that is not a sunblazer with a lizard slapped on the box, ill eat my hat. Arcadia does not make electronics, it does not develop its own ballasts. It does not even make its own bulbs, it develops phosphor formulas which it then sends to a bulb manufacture in Germany. All this stuff needs waaaaay too much infrastructure for zoomed or Arcadia to make themselves.
Rlc1994
Chameleon Enthusiast
So basically what your saying is Never judge a book by the cover it’s the inside what counts
I’m excited though to see this because it’s just more options to choose from. Like @nightanole said We’ve come along way from coil bulb fixtures to t8s now to the t5s. It’s a good time to be a chameleon keeper.
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
Well when they come out we need to have a tear down party. We need to figure out who and what model each manufacture uses for the ballasts. What i like about the Agrobrite's is they use fulham ballasts. I can not think of a better ballast, and it is really easy to source if it should go out(power surge, bulb taking it out, or just the unit failing). I took apart my zoomed but its got some no name brand from china in it. For science i took apart my zoomed salt water, and my LYR, and was disappointed. The zoo med had some plastic no name china ballast, that was just double sided taped to the hood. The LYR was at least screwed down, its got a all metal housing, but again not a single brand name or model on it, even on the pcb.
I have no doubt that the arcadia hood will be nice, but with zero experience and not a long track record, i also cant praise it either
For all we know they are built like tanks and will last 20 years, or have design flaw and were just "built to performance specs of client" and will only last 3 years.
cyberlocc
Chameleon Enthusiast
If that is not a sunblazer with a lizard slapped on the box, ill eat my hat. Arcadia does not make electronics, it does not develop its own ballasts. It does not even make its own bulbs, it develops phosphor formulas which it then sends to a bulb manufacture in Germany. All this stuff needs waaaaay too much infrastructure for zoomed or Arcadia to make themselves.
I'm sure it is. I will do a tear down, if I decide to pony up the doe.
Arcadia also likes to say they developed the "Jungle Dawn Spot" maybe they did, develop it. That doesn't change the fact that it's sold for cheaper on Amazon without the word Jungle Dawn on it from a Chinese supplier.
Like you said, Arcadia doesn't make anything.
Sunblasters already use a very good ballast, and the reflector is great.
It is, as you said made for a 11inch grow container, on the smaller models. However that has the plastic that surrounds the bulb and refracts the light. Sunblasters are also for grow rooms, and they will work well at dispering the light.
You will have to mount them above anyway, as the reflector is not fully wrap the bulb. There is one that does, but it will restrict the light.
Sunblasters is the most reccomended fixture on Reptile Lighting, by people who do reptile lighting for a living. Good enough for me. Not to mention, alot of the fish guys use/reccomend them, and the pot guys use them too, and my Nepthenes groups, same fixture you will be told.
Arcadias pricing is going to be a major factor. The sunblasters is tried and tested and reccomended in lots of industry's. If Arcadia wants more, it won't be worth it IMO.
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nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
And the options you do have are bad. Such as the 36" hoods that just have stagard 22" bulbs that over lap a bit in the middle.
