- Joined
- Dec 17, 2013
- Messages
- 34
Hi, MikeH
That sounds a very nice fixture....
I don't suppose you're in the UK, anywhere near London? If you visit ZSL London Zoo, and go to the Galapagos Tortoise House you'll see what they've just installed in there - a massive array of four 4ft long Arcadia "SuperZoo" T5-HO units, each with six 54-watt Arcadia T5 D3+ 12%UVB tubes. These 4 units are suspended from the ceiling in two pairs, about 7ft above the tortoises' backs, and create a huge zone of more or less uniform UVI 3 - 3.5 about 10 feet square. Between the two pairs is a huge ceramic heat panel, emitting long-wavelength infrared; but this is a temporary fixture to boost the warmth under the array, because they are about to replace it with a row of halogen heaters.
The visible light is excellent and the tortoises seemed to be treating it as a "patch of sunlight".... The most impressive thing is the sheer size of the basking zone, enabling up to five adult Galapagos tortoises to sprawl out underneath it. When I was there, two were doing just that, with their legs and necks extended. So good to see...
If you have got your UV levels where you want them, with a single D3+ paired with a non-UVB T5 tube for visible light, you could certainly add a second pair of tubes - both non-UVB - to boost the visible light. Or you could use your quad fixture with two D3+ and two non-UVB tubes, raised up higher to achieve the same UVB level but covering a larger area.
Or for a better visible spectrum still, you could install a high-quality, non-UVB metal halide lamp - either a PAR38 externally-ballasted bulb, or a linear metal halide in a flood lamp fixture - at a greater distance, to cover the same basking area with a much brighter light with UVA and visible wavelengths, but not nearly as much infrared as a basking lamp. (Check out the spectrum of the Iwasaki EYE Color Arc halide in my first post on this thread).
Best wishes,
Frances
Lighting is done by double 48" T5HO specular aluminum reflector fixture with Arcadia 3D+ 12% tube and 3500k grow tube at 15-17" height. Very bright. This double fixture produces some radiant heat reaching the floor, the tortoise seems to recognize this. (A QUAD fixture could possibly be enough of single source for heat and UVB for smaller tortoises, as the heat ouptut by quad/4 bulb fixture is multiplied.
That sounds a very nice fixture....
I don't suppose you're in the UK, anywhere near London? If you visit ZSL London Zoo, and go to the Galapagos Tortoise House you'll see what they've just installed in there - a massive array of four 4ft long Arcadia "SuperZoo" T5-HO units, each with six 54-watt Arcadia T5 D3+ 12%UVB tubes. These 4 units are suspended from the ceiling in two pairs, about 7ft above the tortoises' backs, and create a huge zone of more or less uniform UVI 3 - 3.5 about 10 feet square. Between the two pairs is a huge ceramic heat panel, emitting long-wavelength infrared; but this is a temporary fixture to boost the warmth under the array, because they are about to replace it with a row of halogen heaters.
The visible light is excellent and the tortoises seemed to be treating it as a "patch of sunlight".... The most impressive thing is the sheer size of the basking zone, enabling up to five adult Galapagos tortoises to sprawl out underneath it. When I was there, two were doing just that, with their legs and necks extended. So good to see...
If you have got your UV levels where you want them, with a single D3+ paired with a non-UVB T5 tube for visible light, you could certainly add a second pair of tubes - both non-UVB - to boost the visible light. Or you could use your quad fixture with two D3+ and two non-UVB tubes, raised up higher to achieve the same UVB level but covering a larger area.
Or for a better visible spectrum still, you could install a high-quality, non-UVB metal halide lamp - either a PAR38 externally-ballasted bulb, or a linear metal halide in a flood lamp fixture - at a greater distance, to cover the same basking area with a much brighter light with UVA and visible wavelengths, but not nearly as much infrared as a basking lamp. (Check out the spectrum of the Iwasaki EYE Color Arc halide in my first post on this thread).
Best wishes,
Frances