Which is the better brand?
- Thread starter ICUSleeping
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boris'mommy
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I use the reprisun and it's worked for an incredible long time without having any issues, but I haven't tried the other so I'm not sure which is 'better'.
I use the reptisun for my torts and lizards.
I also use the ReptiSun tubes. Just wondering if you thought about Mercury Vapor bulbs for uvb. Fluorescent tubes don't put out enough heat for sulcatas unless you already have other heat sources/basking spots.
Yeah i really like the zoomed powersun for mvb or the exoterra solarglo. I havent used the megaray, but its reviews lately have been good. Those work well...you could try a che added to bump up heat or get the 160 w mvb but that is pretty hot.
I have heating pads for both guys I think zoo med, pluse the ceramic heat build for both. they normally go out side everyday but with this cold weather they have been in a lot lately and I wasnt prepared.
My UV meters say both of them are weak. You will need to replace these bulbs every three months, even though the manufacturers claim they last 6 months. DeadHeadVet has been testing all sorts of bulb and found that none of them are all that great. PM him for the details on which ones are best. I wish he'd do a big thread on this that we could just link people to.
If you are going to use the tubes, they must be closer than 12" to the tortoises skin. At 12" you barely get a UV Index of 1 even on a brand new bulb.
MVBs make more UV, but even they drop off fast, and you have to worry about keeping the bulb close enough for good UV, but not so close that it desiccates the carapace and contributes to pyramiding.
There is no good solution that I have found. There is a new (new to the US market) anyway and not widely known called Solar Raptor. Several years ago these were brought in and marketed as "MegaRay", but the company had some problems and the bulbs and system never gained widespread acceptance. Anyhow, the original company is now bringing them into the US. They are guaranteed for 12 months of good UV output, and they make some heat but not much. Their UVB output is very good, even at some distance. You might want to look into these even you rely on indoor UV as your sole source. We had a couple of threads discussing them lately, but I can't find them now.
My friend Mark sells them at his place, but they aren't on the website yet. Here is a thread on Reptile Outpost:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-70833.html
If you are going to use the tubes, they must be closer than 12" to the tortoises skin. At 12" you barely get a UV Index of 1 even on a brand new bulb.
MVBs make more UV, but even they drop off fast, and you have to worry about keeping the bulb close enough for good UV, but not so close that it desiccates the carapace and contributes to pyramiding.
There is no good solution that I have found. There is a new (new to the US market) anyway and not widely known called Solar Raptor. Several years ago these were brought in and marketed as "MegaRay", but the company had some problems and the bulbs and system never gained widespread acceptance. Anyhow, the original company is now bringing them into the US. They are guaranteed for 12 months of good UV output, and they make some heat but not much. Their UVB output is very good, even at some distance. You might want to look into these even you rely on indoor UV as your sole source. We had a couple of threads discussing them lately, but I can't find them now.
My friend Mark sells them at his place, but they aren't on the website yet. Here is a thread on Reptile Outpost:
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-70833.html
Tom said:
Tom, the last time we discussed this topic (about him testing the bulbs) I thought the same thing. That I wanted a thread with all that information so I could easily see what's best.
pfara said:
Frances is the expert on this. Lilacdragon. I don't think she's reachable at the moment, but leave her a PM.
I know its not a simple answer. She has listed charts explaining this. Most people have moved away from microwatts per cm sq., and started using UV Index numbers instead. Much more must be learned. Simple questions like "How much is enough for a given species", are not really answerable yet. We can measure what exists in the wild where some species come from, but they don't bask in the hot midday sun when UV is highest. I think a UV Index number of 3-4 is a reasonable goal for indoors directly under the basking spot, but I'm only getting 1.1 at about 10" way from a brand new 24" 10.0 bulb. There is so much more to be learned.
lisa127 said:
Frances posted a bunch of this on a thread, but I lost track of it. She is an amazing woman and I have been learning TONS about UV and lighting from her. Unfortunately she has a lot of irons in the fire and can't devote a lot of time to our forum, but she has been so kind and generous with her time and has shared a whole lot of info with us so far.
Does anybody know where this recent thread went? I need to subscribe to it if I can find it again.
FOUND IT!
http://www.tortoiseforum.org/thread-85716.html
This is just one of them. There are several other good ones too.
Well, Tom, that would explain why I was getting such low UV readings from my Powersuns, even in the first few months. I thought I wasn't checking it correctly.
Time to move on.
Solar Raptor looks promising.
What about the Acradia brand of bulbs; tube and MVB?
Time to move on.
Solar Raptor looks promising.
What about the Acradia brand of bulbs; tube and MVB?
lynnedit said:
I'm sorry. I'm trying to learn and improve, but this is a big area of weakness for me. Since I have sunshine and warm temps year round, UV has never been an issue for me. My climate makes preventing MBD easy. Since Frances joined and started sharing all her info, the subject has piqued my interest and I've been studying what I can.
I dont know the Arcadia brand at all, but I've seen people post positively about it here on the forum, and they seem to like it over in the UK too. I have not seen anything bad about Arcadia products yet.
I believe Frances has posted on the Tortoise trust thread about lighting as well.
I use ZOOMED reptisun.
I kept at within 12". it's been more 6 months now, the UVB reading by Solarmeter 6.2 still at about 60 µW/cm² .
I kept at within 12". it's been more 6 months now, the UVB reading by Solarmeter 6.2 still at about 60 µW/cm² .
bouaboua said:
You're either massively lucky or I'm not. I just replaced mine and the readings I've gotten are half that. Same height, same brand of bulb. I've considered buying Arcadia just to try it (and driving myself nuts in the process). Man I can't wait for warmer weather and good old-fashioned sunlight; less headache and more peace of mind.
pfara said:
It is bit late for me to take photo, All tortoise are asleep.
I just lowered my light about little over a week ago to at about 10 inched from the table's floor. I remembered my 6.2 measured over 100µW/cm² by then.
I will measure again tomorrow. The height of 6.2 is about 5 inches, it is about the same height as one of my Leopard Tortoise. so you can see what UVB µW/cm² of my tortoise are getting.
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Re: RE: Which is the better brand?
Definitely skip on Zilla. The wavelengths are way out of balance. Zoomed is closer to suns wavelength. Look for T5HO tube instead of T8 tube. Much more visible light, better spectrum, lasts longer, much stronger so can be positioned higher. Weather 5% or 10% will depend on height of fixture. T5HO 10% does a great job even at 15-18" for uvb index 3-4.
Just to clarify, while the old T8 tubes do indeed need to be 10" or even less from the animal to have an ideal UVB range, the new T5HO tubes are very strong and need to be positioned at higher distance, especially 10% and12% tubes. It is important to pay attention to type of tube T8 or T5HO and UVB percentage.
Chart from weakest to strongest tubes, to achieve UV index of ~3-4 (for those without a UVB meter).
Lamp type.........Distance
T8 2%................N/A
T8 5%................N/A
T8 10%...............under 10"
T5HO 5-6%.........10"-12"
T5HO 10-12%.....15"-18"
Placing 2 or more tubes side by side further increases UVB, allowing for fixture to be placement at much, much higher distance. UVB meter is a must when combining side by side T5HO tubes.
Arcadia 3D+ T5HO is one of the best choices on the market for UVB, also recommended by Frances. It also lasts for a full year! Zoomed T5HO comes close behind Arcadia and is also a great choice.
ICUSleeping said:
Definitely skip on Zilla. The wavelengths are way out of balance. Zoomed is closer to suns wavelength. Look for T5HO tube instead of T8 tube. Much more visible light, better spectrum, lasts longer, much stronger so can be positioned higher. Weather 5% or 10% will depend on height of fixture. T5HO 10% does a great job even at 15-18" for uvb index 3-4.
Just to clarify, while the old T8 tubes do indeed need to be 10" or even less from the animal to have an ideal UVB range, the new T5HO tubes are very strong and need to be positioned at higher distance, especially 10% and12% tubes. It is important to pay attention to type of tube T8 or T5HO and UVB percentage.
Chart from weakest to strongest tubes, to achieve UV index of ~3-4 (for those without a UVB meter).
Lamp type.........Distance
T8 2%................N/A
T8 5%................N/A
T8 10%...............under 10"
T5HO 5-6%.........10"-12"
T5HO 10-12%.....15"-18"
Placing 2 or more tubes side by side further increases UVB, allowing for fixture to be placement at much, much higher distance. UVB meter is a must when combining side by side T5HO tubes.
Arcadia 3D+ T5HO is one of the best choices on the market for UVB, also recommended by Frances. It also lasts for a full year! Zoomed T5HO comes close behind Arcadia and is also a great choice.
Thank you very much everyone! you all answered my questions before I even asked them. Tom that was very helpful I WILL deffinantly order me some of those I'm on the website now.
bouaboua said:
This is the ZOOMED T5 HO I bought and start to use in early July.
This is today, Hang at about 10 inches from the floor. The UVB reading from 6.2 is 122 Micro watt/CM2.
This is another set, Hang at 12 inches, The reading is 64 Micro watt/CM2.
Not so bad I think.
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