Hi anyone on here have a turtle/s ?
- Thread starter Flick boy
- Start date
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
No problem at all! Here they are (ignore the mineral build-up on the tank, I haven't scraped it off in a while, and the murky water, it's still clearing up from when she was fed earlier- the water is brown from tannins, too, not dirty)! I use an external cannister but hate it because if I don't see it, I'll forget to maintenance it. Once I finish building the turtle pond outside (filters with a sump), I'm converting the tank into a reef tank where I'll have a sump filter instead using a 40 breeder below it (the tank is a 150 gallon extra tall).
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ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
I have a 6% through the bigger holed mesh that is used as top for an aquarium being used as a terrarium. It is a total of 8.5" away from her basking platform. Using the height of the Solarmeter 6.5, 4" (which is actually the height of her on her platform), from the bottom (the platform), I'm getting UVI readings between 3 and 4
TwiceVeiled
Avid Member
This is our 3+ year old red eared slider, Alypius! We use a mercury vapour bulb. It has been working well for her
Flick boy
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hi @TwiceVeiled .Nice turtle are you getting good temps and uvi ? Also using a Mercury vapour but thought/thinking about separate uvi and heat source. Any thoughts.
Flick boy
Chameleon Enthusiast
Thanks @ERKleRose
TwiceVeiled
Avid Member
Hello!! I haven’t measured recently but just when we set up - I read the box and made sure it was safe distance and in the basking temp range. Our turtle is very happy and healthy (good shell) and has been growing a lot so I hope that means the lighting is good. We change out approximately every year. We don’t have a solar meter. Thanks for asking!
TwiceVeiled
Avid Member
Also, it makes our set up less complicated on top- we have an open top so we just have the mercury vapour high up on one side over the basking platform and we interact with the turtle, pet it’s head, give her treats etc so having more complicated lighting will make it more difficult to have an “open concept” aquarium
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
When I had the mercury vapor bulbs, I had a clamp lamp attached to the tank bracing and angled the light at a 45° angle like we do with cham basking bulbs. I measured the UVI and temp a couple times a day at first, then just went to weekly, then finally every two weeks
TwiceVeiled
Avid Member
We have our mercury vapour bulb on a stand.
ERKleRose
Chameleon Enthusiast
I guess it just depends on personal preference. I got annoyed fiddling with the mercury vapor bulbs after a while when the UV degraded slightly (was still putting out enough UV and didn't need to be replaced yet but had to be moved a little closer constantly while trying to manage temperature), so I went with separate lights. If you don't like the separate lights, you can always go back to mercury vapor bulbs and have a spare fixture for another chameleon!
