Is my upgraded lighting okay?

[Robby]

I recently upgraded my panthers enclosure and lighting. I am using an older 48” quad bulb Wave point fish tank fixture, with 2x12000k daylight bulbs, 1X blue actinic bulb (usually used for color and reefs etc.), and 1xreptisun UVB. I noticed my Cham blinking it’s eyes a bit more, and am wondering if either the blue actinic bulb or if the 2x12000ks could be bad / too strong. It’s only a few days in, and quite the upgrade from his Previous enclosure. Thoughts? Pictures are here as well.

 

[Tkrd69]

Looks nice. I was told blue lights could hurt their eyes. Petco told me blue during day and red at night. Which I found out was false. Beman and Miss Skittles would know more.

 

[Jpeff]

6500k light is what you need. 1200k is for fish. Won't get as good as growth with plants and might miss with eyes. 1200k mimics light under water for growth in coral

 

[Robby]

6500k light is what you need. 1200k is for fish. Won't get as good as growth with plants and might miss with eyes. 1200k mimics light under water for growth in coral

To confirm, they are 12,000k not 1,200k, same concern though I assume?
Sounds like I will replace the blue actinic abs two 12,000ks with 3 6500s! Any recommendation or bulb brand, or any white 6500k t5 will work?

 

[Jpeff]

That what I ment 12000k I have reef tanks sps and LPS tanks. Josh frogs and pangea has good prices on bulbs 12k might be fine but I would change blue one. Do you have t5ho uvb bulb 5% or 6%

 

[Jpeff]

I have same light on my qt tank

 

[Robby]

That what I ment 12000k I have reef tanks sps and LPS tanks. Josh frogs and pangea has good prices on bulbs 12k might be fine but I would change blue one. Do you have t5ho uvb bulb 5% or 6%

I ordered some 6500k vivosun bulbs just in case, I will just go ahead and replace them all (other than the UV of course). I also have the 5.0 UVB reptisun as UV. Also ordered a UV meter to make sure all is sufficient.

 

[Jpeff]

You'll get better plant growth with that color bulb. If you want even better plant growth get led bar. I was using jungle dawn but started buying these instead they the same.

https://www.joshsfrogs.com/josh-s-frogs-green-gro-led-fixture-48-inch-80-watt.html

 

[Robby]

You'll get better plant growth with that color bulb. If you want even better plant growth get led bar. I was using jungle dawn but started buying these instead they the same.

https://www.joshsfrogs.com/josh-s-frogs-green-gro-led-fixture-48-inch-80-watt.html

I’ve seen mixed reviews with LEDs and chams however, what are your two cents? Draw much less heat and power typically which is a good thing…

 

[Jpeff]

Heat from led depends on brand. For the ones I posted or jungle dawn brand they do put off some but not as much as what you have now. It would also put out more light and deeper down.

 

[DocZ]

The 12000k might be fine. The kelvin rating on fluorescent and LED bulbs only describes the visual hue humans perceive, it doesn’t necessarily show spectrum. A 6500k bulb will look more like sunlight, but it’s spectrum may be much different than natural light. Those bulbs are there to grow your plants and create day/night cycles for your Cham. I would most likely swap out the actinic.

I’ve used the jungle dawn LED and the Sansi LED. I’ve had good plant growth with both, and after their morning warm up, most of my chams slide over away from the heat lamp/UVB side and bask under the LED/UVB side

 

[Beman]

Can you tell me if this quad has reflector panels that drop down in between the bulbs? If it does not you will find very reduced output with the UVB bulb. A 5.0 will not work you would need to use a 10.0 UVB bulb. However typically using a quad with one panel means having to have the distance to the branch much closer. It will depend on the fixture itself of course so you will need to take a reading with the solarmeter. When I had a 1 panel quad I had to have the fixture 6 inches above the branch just to get the cham in a 2-3 UVI zone where it stood off the branch. This means lighting even closer to the cham and quads can put out some major heat. If this is the case you might consider getting a regular T5 fixture for the UVB bulb and having that one at the 8-9 inches from the branch then put another 6500k daylight bulb in the quad to replace it. Then you can adjust distance for UVB independently from the quad.

Also I can not tell but if the fixture has the plastic/glass barrier below the bulbs this will filter out all the UVB.

I agree with @Jpeff on your 12k bulbs being too strong for a chameleon.

 

[Mark_C]

Reef keeper and cham keeper here as well. Agreed - 3x 6500 and a 6% UV
That actinic is pushing the spectrum way over to the blue side, probably around 450nm or so,I'd pull it out sooner than later.

 

[DocZ]

Here’s the spectrum of wave points 12000K and 6500K bulbs. Aside from some differences in the green and blue spectrum, they are very similar. It really is describing what we perceive the color of the light to be, so use the one you prefer

Definitely check out your UVI readings with a UVB meter

 

[Robby]

Can you tell me if this quad has reflector panels that drop down in between the bulbs? If it does not you will find very reduced output with the UVB bulb. A 5.0 will not work you would need to use a 10.0 UVB bulb. However typically using a quad with one panel means having to have the distance to the branch much closer. It will depend on the fixture itself of course so you will need to take a reading with the solarmeter. When I had a 1 panel quad I had to have the fixture 6 inches above the branch just to get the cham in a 2-3 UVI zone where it stood off the branch. This means lighting even closer to the cham and quads can put out some major heat. If this is the case you might consider getting a regular T5 fixture for the UVB bulb and having that one at the 8-9 inches from the branch then put another 6500k daylight bulb in the quad to replace it. Then you can adjust distance for UVB independently from the quad.

Also I can not tell but if the fixture has the plastic/glass barrier below the bulbs this will filter out all the UVB.

I agree with @Jpeff on your 12k bulbs being too strong for a chameleon.

Sounds good, I will be putting 6500ks in place of the 2x12,000ks and the blue actinic. Also yes there is a clear cover over the light which was why I was also concerned and bought the UV meter which should be here tomorrow. There is a reflector that curves slightly between each bulb as well in the fixture. I will have to see if I can remove the clear cover, knew that would be a concern.

 

[Robby]

Reef keeper and cham keeper here as well. Agreed - 3x 6500 and a 6% UV
That actinic is pushing the spectrum way over to the blue side, probably around 450nm or so,I'd pull it out sooner than later.

Thank you for the advice. For now I have put my old 24” t5 5.0 under the blue actinic while I wait for my additional bulbs to come in, to supplement UV and block some of the blue.

 

[Beman]

Sounds good, I will be putting 6500ks in place of the 2x12,000ks and the blue actinic. Also yes there is a clear cover over the light which was why I was also concerned and bought the UV meter which should be here tomorrow. There is a reflector that curves slightly between each bulb as well in the fixture. I will have to see if I can remove the clear cover, knew that would be a concern.

Ok good remove the clear cover it literally blocks all UVB output. Check with the solarmeter on your levels using the 5.0 bulb. I have a feeling you may need to either bump to a 10.0 bulb or get a single bulb T5HO fixture for the 5.0 bulb.

I found using a quad made it more difficult to get my temps and UVB just right.

 

[Venutus1]

Reef keeper and cham keeper here as well. Agreed - 3x 6500 and a 6% UV
That actinic is pushing the spectrum way over to the blue side, probably around 450nm or so,I'd pull it out sooner than later.

The 6% may be too week in a quad fixture, the reflective charactaristics may mean you need a 12%. Especially if the light has to penetrate through a fine screen cage top.

 

[Venutus1]

The 6% may be too week in a quad fixture, the reflective charactaristics may mean you need a 12%. Especially if the light has to penetrate through a fine screen cage top.

I have even seen folks having to use an Arcadia 14%, but that must be checked out with a solarmeter.

 

[Robby]

The 6% may be too week in a quad fixture, the reflective charactaristics may mean you need a 12%. Especially if the light has to penetrate through a fine screen cage top.

The top of my enclosure is actually 0.5” spaced coated metal garden mesh, so it should let lots of UV though. My meter arrives tomorrow so I will check it all out!