4 flourescents: 2 reptisun 5.0's and 2 regular plant bulbs? Sound OK?

[SeanCJ]

I'll be housing a harem of quadricornis in my large 'open air' enclosure within a few weeks and I'm collecting the lighting supplies now.
For my full spectrum flourescent lighting I was planning on getting two 48 inch shop lights each with two bulbs. These will be run about 14 hours a day.
Would 2 reptisun 5.0s, mixed with 2 GE sunlight flourescents work well enough for this species? I'm thinking so but wanted some clarification.
Would the 2 48" reptisuns provide enough UV? I could go with 4 reptisuns, but it would be nice to save a few bucks here and there and supplement with two $7 bulbs
My basking lamp will either be a 70 watt 10K metal halide, a 150 watt 10 metal halide, or perhaps simply a 75 watt plant floodlight but this will only be run about 4 hours a day during prime basking times, so the flourescents will need to provide the bulk of the UV.
Thanks in advance.
Sean

 

[Will Hayward]

With Metal halide, I don't thin the bulk of the UV will even be provided from the two tubes- since MH produce so much UV in comparison to tubes. Weather or not the bulb focus on UVB or UVA, that would be the question and something you'll have to look into. I think you'll be fine with a 70W as well, as they do produce higher amounts of heat is seems then your average bulb of the same wattage. The tubes sound right to me.

Put them on timers like this:
8:00AM Balast one turns on (one 5.0 and one plant bulb)
8:20AM Balast two turns on (one 5.0 and one plant bulb)
10:40AM Metal Halide turns on.
2:20 Metal Halide turns off.
7:40PM Balast two turns off (one 5.0 and one plant bulb)
8:00PM Balast one turns off (one 5.0 and one plant bulb)

 

[kinyonga]

Here is an article that you might be interested in reading...
http://adcham.com/html/taxonomy/species/chquadricornis.html

I'm not sure how much UVB a quad needs. From what I remember they need to be able to regulate their exposure to it....move into the shade, so to speak.

 

[Dave Weldon]

Howdy,

I'd assume that your metal halide setups will not produce any UVA/UVB that reaches your critters. Unless they are labeled as UVA/UVB producers then they don't produce any that reaches outside the fixture. It's a human health issue -- they must be labeled. I'm looking forward to trying MH as a basking/intense light source next month! I agree with your idea of using a Reptisun 5.0 and a std. tube in a two-tube 48" fixture. Currently, I add extra room light by using a pair of Chroma 50 and Chroma 75 48" tubes. Each enclosure has a 75W std basking lamp along with a Reptisun 5.0 tube. I intend to improve the overall situation starting with MH.

P.S. If you want to play with anything other than Zoomed Reptisun 5.0 (best choice in tubes) or maybe the ExoTerra ReptiGlo type tubes then you'll want to get a Solarmeter 6.2 UVB meter. Recently one of our members discovered that the tubes they bought, labeled something like 7.0 actually produced virtually nothing! We tried both of our 6.2 UVB meters just to be sure. I was shocked . I suggested that it taken up with the mfgr.

 

[Fate X]

the metal halides you want are the ones for hydroponics because they emit uvb that a chameloen can use ,they produce lots of uvb.depending on the wattage that would be all the light you would need.
these lighting systems dont have the glass over them. these aRE DESIGNED for plant growth and from what ive heard they grow plANTS 10 times faster because of there temperature and lumen output.i been considering trying one for a chameleon but i need a low wattage one .

 

[SeanCJ]

Thanks everyone!
Will- My halides are the type used over my reef aquaria. They do not produce any harmful UV rays as they are all protected by UV glass shields as Dave stated above.
My light schedule will be similar, but since I stay up rather late, I will set this light schedule to fit my prime hours of enjoyment (4PM to 10PM), rather than what is truly happening outside. In my opinion, that is the benefit of creating your own little biotope; you can choose the 'time of day'. As long as you give the proper amount, type, and duration of light, and keep that consistent, the animals wont know the difference. I have done this with my reef aquaria for decades and it works well. This enclosure will have to face a heavily shaded NorthWest window so there will be very little natural light during the morning hours coming in during the Winter months.
My light schedule willl be as follows:
7:30/8:00 AM: minimal/moderate natural light comes through the windows.
10:00 AM: first flourescent fixture comes on.
11:00 AM: second flourescent fixture comes on.
2:30 PM: metal halide comes on.
6:30 PM: metal halide goes off.
9:30 PM: first flourescent goes off.
10:30 PM: second flourescent goes off.
This should give the quads their needed light regime but also allow me to enjoy the prime basking hours with the beautiful intense light provided by the halide.
This enclosure will be quite large and very heavily planted, so the quads will have ample shade areas and temperature gradients throughout as needed during the day.
Kinyonga- Thank you for that link. I have that page commited to memory ! I have been visiting adcham for some time now.
Dave- Your right about the halides and UV. I found out during last night's trials, that with this large of an 'open' enclosure, in this large basement room (24'x30' with 12' ceilings) that I can go as high as a 250 watt bulb without causing excessive heat anywhere in the enclosure area but I think I'll use a 175 watt, 10K bulb for the 4 hour basking duration. The lights will be anywhere between 12 and 20 inches above the tops of the trees. I'll gauge that distance by the 'hot spot' temperature at the tree tops and raise/lower the canopy as indicated.
FateX- Thanks for that suggestion. I have been looking into the plant based halides for some time now, but they mostly only come in 3K and 4K temperatures which is a mostly 'yellow' and unattractive light to me. Since I already have some good 10K bulbs that I used to hang over my reef (switched to 20K) I will use those and save some money. Plants do just as well under 10K and this temp. provides a very nice crisp white light that I think will flatter the chameleons and plants a bit better.
Thanks again for all the tips and suggestions everyone. I'll get two repti sun 5.0s and two GE plant bulbs for the flourescents.
In case you hadn't seen my other post, here is what I am building:

 

[Will Hayward]

Since your MH halide is not producing UV, Id probably suggest using more than two 5.0 bulbs and add in a pair of 10.0 bulbs. That or use murcury vapor for the basking lamp.

 

[roo_71]

I just grabbed one of those solar meters and wish I did on day one a few years back.

Dave makes a good point about new bulbs - just b/c they are new doesnt mean they are void of any problems. So the meter gives you a good piece of mind when you install a new bulb or check its output from month to month.

-roo

 

[SeanCJ]

My plans have changed a bit. I've actually decided to go with 3 70 watt metal halides that I can mount on a track system. Each halide will be powered seperately and be placed far right, center, and far left within the canopy. With this set up, I'll be able to simulate a virtual path of sunlight over the top of the enclosure as well as change the focus of each bulb as needed for prime basking spots.
My halide schedule will be as follows:
right halide: on at 2:30, off at 4:00
center halide: on at 3:30, off at 5:00
left halide: on at 4:30, of at 7:00
I was pretty excited when I found these 70 watt halide pendants. I think that this wattage is better suited for the quads rather than one single very bright 175 watt as planned before.