Lights

Meg4433

Established Member
looking to buy lights. Looking at these two. Have no clue which on or if another one. image.jpeg image.jpeg
 
You can also buy a 2 bulb t5 fixture at Home Depot for around $25 if your on a budget, bulbs may be harder to find locally depending on where you live.
 
Any opinions on backing lamps? Worth extra money or should just buy regular incandescent bulb?
Basking bulbs are a scam. A normal incandescent bulb will work just fine (Make sure it's not a CFL that looks like an incandescent, as they will not put out enough heat).
 
Is it worth going from 6% to 12% for a 48" tall enclosure?

I'll be due to replace the bulbs in Feb
 
Myself personally I use the stronger UVB. Especially if you are going through a screen because you will loose UVB through the screen, And like was mentioned it will penetrate the enclosure further. Some may disagree with me on this, but I don't think a 12% bulb can through off more than the sun, and that is what the use in the wild. You may want to make sure the have some foliage to take cover if the need to. I have been using the higher UVB for years and haven't noticed any ill effects what so ever. Hope this helps:)
 
Is it worth going from 6% to 12% for a 48" tall enclosure?

I'll be due to replace the bulbs in Feb
Absolutely. I will always use the higher light, even for babies. When you compare the 12% bulb inside the cage--even a brand new Arcadia--it is really weak compared to direct sunlight.
 
Absolutely. I will always use the higher light, even for babies. When you compare the 12% bulb inside the cage--even a brand new Arcadia--it is really weak compared to direct sunlight.
Seems the consensus is in, so I'll bump it from 6% to 12% when I get a new light.
 
If you have a 2ftx2ftx4ft enclosure I would recommend either a 24inch quad fixture or 2, 24inch dual fixtures. Lightyourreptiles tropic blaze fixtures, as you have pictured, are excellent. Larry is absolutely excellent to work with in deciding on what you need for your cham and your plants to stay at optimum health. I'm running 2 dual 24inch fixtures with an Arcadia 12%, (2) 6.5k, 1 plant pro bulb. I have a heavily planted enclosure and the plants are thriving. I had a 6% Arcadia bulb in for a few months then when my plants engulfed most of my enclosure I switched to the 12% to get more penetration.
 
So now I'm onto lighting...The Dragon Strand large enclosure is not a full 4' wide, its 45"...so I'm looking at a 36" wide fixture. Looking at the quad fixture, but my question is...is that needed? Or will a dual suffice? Heat source will be a ceramic heat bulb on one side plugged into a thermostat(had this left over from my snakes).

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/tr...-6-5k-daylight-bulbs-and-free-plant-pro-bulb/

or

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/36...arcadia-12-and-6-5k-day-light-bulbs-included/
 
GO with the quads you won't be disappointed. Better yet call Light your reptiles and tell them what you would like they can help you find the perfect lighting from them. I have heard nothing but good things from customers on here.
 
GO with the quads you won't be disappointed. Better yet call Light your reptiles and tell them what you would like they can help you find the perfect lighting from them. I have heard nothing but good things from customers on here.
Cool, I'll definitely give them a call. Anyone have a large enclosure with a quad light set up than can take a picture with everything on...trying to gauge brightness...another idea I thought of was using a metro rack with the wire shelf right over the top of the cage with both light and heat fixtures resting on top. Thoughts?
 
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Excellent, thank you! I see they're a forum vendor/sponsor...do they offer any coupon codes for forum members? (worth a shot lol)
 
Had an excellent email exchange with Todd from Light Your Reptiles. His professional recommendation for the large Dragon Strand enclosure is the 36" Quad. He also gave me a lot of other information regarding vitamins, regulating temps, etc etc...He not only points in the right direction but he explains the reasoning behind it, super helpful...got me a big ol cup of coffee and putting my order together lol.

Here is a snip it of the email, hopefully this may help other as well...

The 3 foot quad will be the perfect light for the cage, and it is ok it is a tad bit short since you do need low UV areas ... so this would allow the UV to be lower as you go out to each end.
perfect!

We have tested all bulb configurations over the years, and the set up of this works best:

2 x 6.5k Daylight

1 x Arcadia 12%

1 x Arcadia Plant Pro

The above is hands down the absolute best configuration for animals and plants in a Cham environment.

The 6.5 kelvin daylights are full spectrum and give nice, natural bright light.

And the Arcadia Plant Pro is a true plant bulb. That means that it has extra "umph" in the red and blue bands of the spectrum that correspond with a plant chlorophyll's absorptive properties.

We like to use the Arcadia 12% in the quad because it is strong enough to offset the loss you get with screen etc etc.

http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/tr...-6-5k-daylight-bulbs-and-free-plant-pro-bulb/
 
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