Reptisun T5 HO

[NorCalAnthony]

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the new T5 HO bulbs and fixtures from Zoo Med? There's a local reptile store that has the fixture with a free bulb for under $60 and since the 24" T8 Reptisun that I'm currently running on Poseidon's Reptibreeze is about due to be replaced I thought I might swap everything out for that new setup. I'm assuming the bulbs would be a like for like replacement but was curious if anyone knew if they're more potent or last longer than the traditional T8's, like the Acadia T5 HO bulbs. I will evnetually be getting another 36" dual bulb setup from LightYourReptiles.com once I finish Poseidon's permanent DIY Mansion but thought this might be good alternative in the meantime. Does anyone have any thoughts, opinions, or experiences with these they'd like to share?

 

[stacy76]

i have an odyssea dbl bulb t5 i use for the plants..i have a 6500k and 10,000k bulb..ive had it for a year now and plants have all grown well for me..i used to use it for my cephalotus and heliamphora plants and worked well for them too..i got mine on ebay under $60. with the bulbs i listed.

 

[Raphael1047]

I am also curious of people opinions. I am leaning towards Lightyourreptile fixtures atm.

 

[NorCalAnthony]

Thanks for the suggestion, Stacy. The only plant I have in the cage right now is a big scheflera that fills up most of the cage and it does great with only the UVB bulb so that's all I'm looking for right now.

Raphael, I already have a 36" dual bulb setup from LightYouReptiles.om with a 6500k plant bulb and 6% Acadia that I use on my Ambilobe's custom cage. It's an awesome setup and I'll be getting another one once I get around to building my Nosy Be's custom cage. I'd definitely recommend the same setup to anyone else...

With that being said, I'm looking at the 22" T5 HO Reptisun 5.0 to go on my Reptibreeze cage since it fits the cage, is quite a bit cheaper, and is available locally. I'm hoping someone that already has one can chime in and let us all know how they like it. If not, I'll just have to be a guinea pig for everyone to learn from lol.

 

[JaclynCali]

I actually just bought one for my Veiled's cage and I really like it so far. I have 3 big plants on the bottom that are doing awesome and I LOVE how much more it lights up his cage. I also notice he sits under it a lot more than he did with his last UVB. I believe that last up to a year too like the Arcadia.

 

[Thegreatfonz]

I am also curious of people opinions. I am leaning towards Lightyourreptile fixtures atm.

Same here, from what I've seen on the forums they're the perfect setup. Plus with the added grow light I can hopefully put my nice big hibiscus in my guys cage. Search for lighting setups and a couple posts with lightyourreptiles setups with pictures should come up

 

[nightanole]

Nothing beats lightyourreptiles for price of the fixture. For the cost of a zoomed double bulb with no lights, you could get almost the whole setup from lightyourereptiles.

The show stopper is no one knows how long the zoomed t5 lasts since it just came out last October. Aniother question would be do the t8's from arcadia last a year like their t5's.

 

[bradley]

Nothing beats lightyourreptiles for price of the fixture. For the cost of a zoomed double bulb with no lights, you could get almost the whole setup from lightyourereptiles.

The show stopper is no one knows how long the zoomed t5 lasts since it just came out last October. Aniother question would be do the t8's from arcadia last a year like their t5's.

The Arcadia T8 bulbs are supposed to stay upper uv potent for a full 12 months unless you are using the Euro range bulbs which last for 9 months.

The T5 lighting could last a lot longer than a year from arcadia if you let it get down to a 5.0 T8 level.

Surely Zoomed should have tested their T5 bulbs before they started selling them to see how long they lasted.

 

[nightanole]

The Arcadia T8 bulbs are supposed to stay upper uv potent for a full 12 months unless you are using the Euro range bulbs which last for 9 months.

The T5 lighting could last a lot longer than a year from arcadia if you let it get down to a 5.0 T8 level.

Surely Zoomed should have tested their T5 bulbs before they started selling them to see how long they lasted.

Yes but around here we say replace zoomed t8's every 6 months. Zoomed themselves recommend yearly or just plan generic advise with no time limit or which light for which lizard.

http://zoomed.com/Library/ProductDBFiles/UVB-Reach.pdf