redearslider.com

Quick question, I have several Reptisun 10.0 UVB tubes at home because I have a couple bearded dragons. I was wondering if I use one of these 48" tubes to run across my 90g tank for my RES would that suffice for the UVB requirements of the ?

It would not be on the basking spot, it would run across the entire tank to provide the light to the turtles, the plants, and the fish in the tank. The basking spot would still have the heat lamp for basking.

From what I see, the turts are in the water more than out, so they would be exposed to the UVB more often if it ran across the tank. Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks!

You will still need UVB over the basking zone. There is debate about UV travelling thru water but as of right now no one can prove it does. Being that the UVB coming off the tube is weaker the further away it gets means the resistance from the water will make it uneffective. The small exposure the turtles head will get wont help because of the lack of full body exposure and the lack of heat to photosynthesize the Pre Vitamin D to convert into Vitamin D3.

Ok, that's what I was concerned about is the UV traveling through the water. Although I noticed on my beta tanks that when I switched to a full spectrum light, 10,000K, the java moss took of like crazy. It's now 1/2 as tall as the java fern after only 2 months. So I'm wondering if it's the type of light that will travel through water. I know for plants in the tank the red spectrum provides the most optimal growth. So it's possible that spectrum travels through water easier. I guess it would be more feasible to stick to clamp lights over the basking spot.

Thanks for the reply slider

Yeah light will travel thru water and plants react to light differently. There are different types of energy. Visible light is only a fraction of the spectrum. You have UV rays as well. And a few other types of energy the sun produces and send to our planet. All these different types of energy will travel thru water at different rates. The UVB spectrum doesn't seem to do as good as some others. No problem:)