Habitat - Indoor

I have a question regarding UVB lighting for my RES setup. I am going to switch my x3 baby turtles from a 55 to a 90 gallon tank. Currently I have a UVB bulb that is a compact fluorescent style. I just recently aquired this bulb and inside the heat lamp style fixture it seem WAY too bright and it seems to me that the turtles are not basking as much as before when i had just the heat lamp. Im currently running two fixtures the heat lamp and UVB lamp. Ive read many threads where people are saying that the compact UVB bulbs are causing eye damage and blindness to reptiles and overall are not very healthy as they produce too much UVB. I have a really nice 48" fixture that could house one of the Reptisun style long fluorescent bulbs. Ive been reading that these are more preferred?? I dont want to cause any damage to my turtles and i tell you that the light does seem overly bright. It is clamped above the tank and isnt that close to the surface. My real question is what do you think i should use for water turtles they have a Reptisun 5.0 and 10.0 UVB and they make it in a 48" length. The difference i see is in the strength of the UVB where the UVB will be effective up to 12" with the 5.0 and 20" with the 10.0. Im not planning on running the water that low so im guessing that the 5.0 would work but my concern is if they will need more UVB that the 10.0 would provide. Kinda confused :shock:

Turned off the compact UVB bulb that I have for a little while to do a test. As I guessed the turtles were basking under just the heat lamp. It seems that when i have both the heat lamp and UVB on they dont want to bask.

Yes, the tubes are considered to be better. How close was the compact UVB? Did you do a "burn-in" period?

Im guessing that it was approx 8-10" and the bulb was purchased from a pet shop that was going out of business i was able to get it real cheap i was told that it was used for less than 4 months.

It was previously used? I'd toss it

Well I decided to order the reptisun 5.0 for my 90 gallon build. I purchased a 48" tube for my striplight. I like the fact that the bulb isnt overpowering. I measured the distance from the light to the basking area and its about 6-7 inches. I can adjust this via the water level. I was wondering the bulb states that the UV light emits up to 12" from the bulb. Will the UV light penetrate past the water?

opflash wrote:Well I decided to order the reptisun 5.0 for my 90 gallon build. I purchased a 48" tube for my striplight. I like the fact that the bulb isnt overpowering. I measured the distance from the light to the basking area and its about 6-7 inches. I can adjust this via the water level. I was wondering the bulb states that the UV light emits up to 12" from the bulb. Will the UV light penetrate past the water?

UV rays don't really penetrate the water.

vear wrote:
opflash wrote:Well I decided to order the reptisun 5.0 for my 90 gallon build. I purchased a 48" tube for my striplight. I like the fact that the bulb isnt overpowering. I measured the distance from the light to the basking area and its about 6-7 inches. I can adjust this via the water level. I was wondering the bulb states that the UV light emits up to 12" from the bulb. Will the UV light penetrate past the water?

UV rays don't really penetrate the water.

Ok sounds good well they'll get it at the basking area and hopefully
When they come to the surface at different areas of the tank

Habitat - Indoor :: Question regarding Reptisun UVB fluorescent bulbs

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