Lighting
- Thread starter CaseyBattershell
- Start date
My personal preference is to use the free 5.0 but when you need to replace it, go with the 10.0 . Like timw1 was saying that isn't much light for live plants (Live plants are a HUGE help with chams) unless the room is pretty bright. Also, make sure you UVB light is as close to the spot as possible. Most of the UVB your cham receives is during basking time because most chams retreat a bit lower after basking. If you cup feed, having the cup under the other end of the light helps too.
CaseyBattershell
New Member
I was thinking about getting a 6500k cfl bulb for more lighting. You think that would be ok? Also my veiled seems to stay in his basking spot damn near all day. It’s usually about 95 -99 degrees. He moves some times but seems to like that spot. He don’t go low too much but does sometimes. Hea prob about 5 months old
CaseyBattershell
New Member
What type of led bulb? And it would also help my plants?
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
Hold your horses there. We need to realize zoomed now makes HO's. OP has a zoomed T5 HO 5.0, its the same (odds are even same german factory and phospors) as an arcadia 6%. No need to go 10.0 with a T5HO
I've been looking into it and more and more are recommending the t5 10.0 because even a 10.0 is supposed to be way less UVB than what you would receive sitting under a tree. Or in the case of pet chams, we put them on a porch or other shade in the summer so they can absorb more UVB than what we give them artificially.
just a regular daylight LED light bulb like you would put into a living room lamp. 100 watt equivalent probably. That would be just for the plants if needed. No UVB and little heat. were talking about a 5.0 CFL? They are virtually worthless for UVB. I couldn't even get it to show up on a cheap tester.
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
Ill post my notes:
A panther/veiled needs 30-35 µW/cm² peak when the bulb is fresh, and should be changed at 15-20 µW/cm². Mind you, you can go higher as others have stated daylight is 300 µW/cm²
ZooMed Reptisun T8 10.0 tube, at 12 inches distance no screen (assume no reflector):
6.2 reading: 24 µW/cm².
6.5 reading: UV Index 0.7"
Now on to the scarry numbers:
Ohio august 23 2013 partly cloudy with sun peaking out behind cloud 11am: 3.0 UVI
Full sun 2pm 5.8 UVI
Full sun 2pm in the shade 1.5 UVI (measured under a few oak trees and bird garden shrubs)
42" LYR hood+ reflector no screen with T5 ho 6% and 6500k 6 months old: 1.8 UVI @ 12" .7 UVI @ 24"
42" LYR hood+ refector no screen with T5 ho 12% and 6500k 1 month old: 3.5 UVI at 12" 2.8 UVI @ 15" (beardy rock level)
With a 40 to 1 conversion for UVB µW/cm² to UVI, that would make the cham cage 72 UVB µW/cm²at basking and 28 UVB µW/cm²mid tank.
For the beardy that would be 112 UVB µW/cm² at basking rock.
CaseyBattershell
New Member
CaseyBattershell
New Member
Thanks for all of your help. Much appreciated!
Oh yeah? Well bubba told me.... LOL. that's a lot more detailed then what I got. I don't think I ever saw the specifics. Did you test that yourself? If so, would you mind getting a reading through the screen? I am guessing half the light is blocked. Do you have any info about the uvb output after say 1 and 3 months? Another point that was made was that they loose so much of their UVB output within a month. Someone suggested for the first month either blocking part of the light or lifting the light several inches above the cage for a month to reduce that initial UVB received. The thinking was that a 5.0 would reduce too low after a month or two. Know anything about the reduction factor of the UVB output?
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
The T5HO lose about 1/3 of the output through screen, and the T8's lose about half, just due to bulb diameter.
I would not worry about the inital 1-3 month mark. That is mainly for the older T8's that you have to replace every 6-12 months. Its not like a T5HO is going to be 25-33% more UV for the first 90 days and then drop to normal. As far as aging, i get 18-24 months easy before the UVB is down by half. So My trick (todd who sells arcadia to north america via lightyourreptiles came up with it) is to by a 12%/10.0, and wrap a layer of screen around it to reduce it down to a 6%/5.0, for the first year. The other trick is to use the lightyourreptileshood, which comes with a sheet of plexiglass, and install half of the plexi so that only half the cage gets direct uvb.
As far as measurements, I do not have a 6%/5.0 on hand right now. I do have a fresh 12% that i just installed in april if you would like any distance measurements. I use a solar meter 6.5 which measures UVI. This is much better vs the solar meter 6.2, that measures µW/cm², since the 6.2 can be "tricked" because it is extremely sensitive to deep UVB/C and is really meant to measure the skin damage section of the spectrum for human safety(metal halide and tanning bed installs).
excellent info. Thank you. So much of this stuff I've had to piece together. So a t5 doesn't need replaced for over a year? I've never heard of that.I keep hearing "every 6 months." Which gets pricey.
jamest0o0
Chameleon Enthusiast
My t5ho from two julys sho is still going strong. I use a solarmeter as well and the basking is still around 3ish.
@nightanole which readings(on the 6.5) do you look for in your enclosure and at how low do you change your bulbs?
@nightanole which readings(on the 6.5) do you look for in your enclosure and at how low do you change your bulbs?
nightanole
Chameleon Enthusiast
I change my bulbs at .4 at the hang out spot, which is below the basking spot. They start off at about .8 at the hang out, and .4 is about a 6-9 month old T8 10.0 at 12".
Like i said, unfortunately i dont have a 6%/5.0 running right now, and i just have a beardy and tegu right now, so their setups are set to "fry cham".
