Light brands
- Thread starter Sirbudlbc
- Start date
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
What length are you needing? For 2 or 4 ft fixture 2 or more bulbs I still prefer the sunblaze line of fixtures. Far superior to the oddysea brand of fixtures and carry a 5 year warranty on fixture and ballast vs 30 day on the oddysea. They do run a nearly double the cost of oddysea branded fixtures (at least for the 2 tube fixture anyway, haven't compared the quad tubes) but you get the warranty and "individual" reflectors vs one big one. For the uv bulb, I'm switching all of my reptisuns out for Arcadia this time around and don't think I'll be going to reptisun when it's time to change out again.
Mchartier
Member
On my Large Atrium I am running a 4 bulb Aquatic Life T5 fixture (individual reflectors) and on my Medium Atrium I am using a Quad Fixture from LightYourReptiles, to me it appears that most fixtures from them are re-branded Oddysea,(by the casing and the control unit on the fixture). These have a single reflector. I can tell the difference in the amount of light directed into the enclosure with the individual reflectors. I use the Arcadia T5 bulbs in both fixtures. You can check out some of the reef forums to find a good used T5 fixture, most will have better reflectors and ballasts than those that we see in many pet store chains.
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
Ah the size lights I hate lol. I just bought a bunch of fluval fixtures from Amazon recently. Though really it was more of a robbing of Amazon lol. Hit the site at the right time and got $750 in fixtures for $230
. Your options are pretty slim in that size though. You have the sunblaster single tubes like reptile basics and such sell or aquarium fixtures. The sunblaster style have a very good reflector and would provide a little flexibility as far as spreading the lights across the top. If you can find them, sunblazes old aquarium line tek was a great fixture with great reflectors. If funds are not an issue, you'll be hard pressed to find a better currently available fixture then the ati ones in that size. But, they are around $400/ 500
for the powersun quads.
Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
add jungle dawn to the mix and your plantgrowth will be amazing too.
I had plants lose leaves and die when i kept my chams in cages with just uvb and basking bulb, in the new enclosure with jungle dawn over it the plants grow like crazy. I'm so happy with how my enclosure turned out.
Remkon
Chameleon Enthusiast
i got the 6% T5 ho, should be enough for any chameleon.
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
Agreed, I wouldn't run it by itself but compared to the reptisun bulbs it is visually brighter.
Mchartier
Member
As mentioned above you can find some good T5 fixtures on the Reef Sites and also their sponsors. The Tek 4 bulb 36" fixture can be had at around $250, this has two power cords (2 bulbs on each) and would require times. Something along the lines of the ATI fixtures mentioned also come in a dimming version. The 36" size is truly a pain for lighting, my reef tank is 36"wx36"lx28"h so I had to deal with it there, and still dealing with it as I need more light.
dshuld
Chameleon Enthusiast
Where'd you find the tek's still available? Every where I looked last year that still had them listed as available said sold out once I was in the listing
.
Mchartier
Member
Where'd you find the tek's still available? Every where I looked last year that still had them listed as available said sold out once I was in the listing
I saw it here - http://www.saltycritter.com/lighting/sunlight-supply/tek-light-t5.htm
Edit - Oops just saw discontinued note
