Some questions

[Tony McAhren]

I have been lurking and learning the past 30 days. I am setting up a 90 aquarium that I have had fish in the past 10 years. I had a planted aquarium and have had aquariums for 30 years and still have 2 up and running.

My goal is to set this up for my 2 grandsons 5 & 2 but primarily right now for the 5 year old here at my home.

I have a nice 4 tube T5 lighting fixture with 2 timers (2 bulbs each) I was planning in 4 Reptisun 10.0 bulbs as I will have a screen top. 2 bulbs the full 12 hours and 2 addional bulbs for 4 hours mid day to simulate noon sun. The lights sit about 3 inches in top of the aquarium and run the entire 48" top.

Is this too much light? The tank is 24" high. I plan on having a cave to allow for quiet time or just want to get away from the light. I can create a basking area and climbing area as well.

I was planning an addition basking light during the day and a Ceramic Infrared heater at night which let's off no light at night. Can I just use the infrared heater for the day basking and nighttime? I am unsure why a need a basking light since I have the lighting system. My guess would be a the light is my focused along with the heat. The Ceramic heater is a spot heater as well so there would still be a difference in heat from one side of the aquarium to the other.

I will be testing temps before purchasing in a month or so.

I have a list of things to purchase for the tank but waiting to get some questions answered.

Thoughts?

 

[Tony McAhren]

One thing I may do is drop down to the Reptisun 5.0. as too much UV is a concern and 1 or 2 tubes. If 2 is used I can still put them on separate timers in the fixture.

 

[Canicke]

Welcome – good for you! Lighting is not my forte – but I know that there are a couple of people here who can help you out.

 

[PatsyB]

I think 4 T5 UVB bulbs is going to be way to much. I would just do one in each fixture. Even on the mesh, the T5 bulbs are very strong and can penetrate the mesh and give the proper UVB reading 16-18 inches into the tank. The UVB bulbs don't give off much heat if any that is why you need a basking area. The high heat helps with digestion as well as with absorbing D3 from the UVB. A baby beardie is going to need a basking temp around 107 degrees where an adult beardie only needs around 95-100 degrees. The whole tank itself should have a temperature gradient. the cool side of the tank (where there is no basking light) should be 75-80 degrees and then the temps gradually go up towards the basking area. At night the whole tank can get down to about 65 degrees, anything lower you can use your CHE.

About the size of the light, the general rule is have 2/3rds of the length of your tank covered with UVB. I happen to have a T5 that is the length of my tank, it brightens the whole tank and looks real nice. I have hiding places on both sides of the tank if they want to get away from the light.

Here's a great article Reptile magazine posted about lighting http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-Health/Habitats-Care/Reptile-Lighting-Information/

Oh and make sure you sanitize the tank real good before you use it for a bearded dragon, but I'm sure you know that

 

[Tony McAhren]

Since I would have UVB light in the whole tank wouldn't a CHE be fine for basking?

I will just use 2 T5 5.0 tubes on the 2 timers and have 2 on the same time for 4 hours mid day. 1 tube for 12 hours. That is what I am leaning towards as I think naturally they would get more mid day.

 

[Hdrydr31]

I think that is still a bit over board.... maybe overthinking the lighting...The reptile basking bulb gives off UVA and gives a nice natural light for them as well as heat. As long as you have a basking area, a warm area then a cool down side they will be perfectly happy dragons. Giving hides on both sides so they can choose where they want to be. I would really watch the temps as afterall in captivity we have them in tanks it's not like out in nature where they can run around and escape the heat, in a tank they can overheat if it's too hot.

 

[Tony McAhren]

I will measure the Temps and definitely keep an eye on it. I am going to try and borrow a UV meter that measures both UVB & UVA to make the final determination using charts I have found for reptiles on this site. I will go ahead and use a separate basking light and the CHE for nighttime temps particularly in the winter.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Love that you are wanting really good environment for your soon to be beardie!! In the end it will make for an easier transition on the little one when you don't have to do things on the fly.. Would love to hear of your findings as it's good for common knowledge for all of us as some are better with certain areas of care this way all get to learn. So Thank you

 

[PatsyB]

UVB meters are great! They are expensive so it's good you can borrow one from someone. I have one and that's how I discovered that the T5 works so good through the top of the tank. I have 3 tanks a chameleon cage and frog tanks so it pays to be able to check the UVB rather than guessing and changing the bulbs all the time.