Equipment Review and Discussion :: How far away should my basking light be?

[Martha]

I have a 100w bulb. How far away should it be from the actual basking surface? It' currently about 8 inches away.

[cam722]

It should be far enough away so that it maintains a basking temp around 88-90 degrees, depending on the size of the tank , the wattage of bulb and what type of basking area you have will determine how far away it should be. I have a 100w bulb for my 75 gallon tank and it's about 8-10" away any closer seems to make the basking area too warm.

[Turtleboy]

100W bulb!!??! thats alot! i have a measly 8 w and i keep it around 3-4 inches from the basking spot to get the high 80's temperature, u can use any watts i think as long as the temperature is about high 80s, or at least 10 more than the water!

[Martha]

I guess that I'll have to get a thermometer to test the basking temperature. Thanks for answering my question so quickly!

Can I use any type of bulb? I bought this bulb at the pet store, but I'm assuming that any light will give off heat.

[missibsu]

Most UVB lights won't give off heat, but any househeld bulb will do for heat.

[cam722]

100W bulb!!??! thats alot! i have a measly 8 w and i keep it around 3-4 inches from the basking spot to get the high 80's temperature, u can use any watts i think as long as the temperature is about high 80s, or at least 10 more than the water!

I'd really reconsider getting a larger watt bulb for heating the basking dock. Having a bulb/light source that close to the basking area is asking for trouble. If the turtles splash water up on the bulb when they "slide" into the water it could cause the bulb to explode. A 100 watt bulb isn't that large for some of the larger tanks. It's a bit too much for anything under a 55 gallon I'd say.

[Martha]

Thanks for the advice. I just switched to a 40w bulb. Now Bert & Erni are basking. They rarely basked before. I guess that they were cooking!

I've only had my setup for about a month now. I just realized that they have grown!