Warning About UVB Lights

[jajeanpierre]

In December and January I bought a few ZooMed terrarium hoods. They have a tube Reptisun UVB light and LED lights. I'm replacing them with Arcadia lighting.

Besides the Arcadia lights, I also bought a 6.2 light meter. I finally turned it on and went around testing lights.

One of my basically brand new ZooMed light is producing almost zero UVB. The rest seem quite weak when compared to the Arcadia.

Here I was thinking I had good lighting for my lizards and it isn't!

I would never have known if I hadn't bought a light meter. The oldest light is less than 3 months old, the newest (the tube lights) less than two months.

I'll be soooooo glad when the rest of my light order comes tomorrow.

 

[NHenn]

A few questions if you don't mind.

I assume these are the newer HO T5 combination fixtures correct?
Do you have them sitting right on top of the cage going through the screen top?
When you say almost zero what are the readings?
Did you tested an Arcadia bulb in the same fixture that was giving low readings? What was that reading with the Arcadia bulb?
At what distance from the bulb are you taking the readings at?

Thanks

 

[jajeanpierre]

A few questions if you don't mind.

I assume these are the newer HO T5 combination fixtures correct?
Do you have them sitting right on top of the cage going through the screen top?
When you say almost zero what are the readings?
Did you tested an Arcadia bulb in the same fixture that was giving low readings? What was that reading with the Arcadia bulb?
At what distance from the bulb are you taking the readings at?

Thanks

I have 3 terrarium hoods with LED lights and ReptiSun® 5.0 T5 High Output tube, one 24" and two 14".

I just bought the light meter and a book that explains UVB. I haven't read it and have no idea what the numbers mean. All readings were taken at the center of the bulb. Here are the numbers:

Arcadia 48" quad: Fixture is hanging 5.5" above top of cage.
Top of cage in middle of fixture 5.5 inches below fixture, no screen: 157
Inside cage, 1/2" lower: 94

ZooMed 14" 5.0 T5 HO tube an inch above cage:
one inch below bulb, NO screen: 20
Two inches below bulb, screen between meter and bulb: 13

ZooMed 14" 5.0 T5 HO Tube:
One inch below bulb, no screen: 293
6.5" below bulb, with screen: 44

ZooMed 24: 5.0 T5 HO Tube
One inch below bulb, no screen: 563
6.5" below bulb, with screen: 100

All these were bought brand new late December and January.

 

[NHenn]

Wow that is very interesting. Did you try swapping the bulb in the 14" fixtures to determine if it is the bulb causing the low numbers or if it is the fixture?

 

[Carlton]

In December and January I bought a few ZooMed terrarium hoods. They have a tube Reptisun UVB light and LED lights. I'm replacing them with Arcadia lighting.

Besides the Arcadia lights, I also bought a 6.2 light meter. I finally turned it on and went around testing lights.

One of my basically brand new ZooMed light is producing almost zero UVB. The rest seem quite weak when compared to the Arcadia.

Here I was thinking I had good lighting for my lizards and it isn't!

I would never have known if I hadn't bought a light meter. The oldest light is less than 3 months old, the newest (the tube lights) less than two months.

I'll be soooooo glad when the rest of my light order comes tomorrow.

I think I would also contact ZooMed about this. Maybe there are some bad batches of lights or fixtures out there. They might want them returned for testing. NOT good news about this reliable UV source!!!

 

[Lpsouth1978]

I use all Reptisun bulbs for my chameleons and have never had a bad experience. I change the bulbs out every 6 months and also get checkups on my chams every 6 months, including xrays. All of my chams are a model of health. Even my breeding females have had strong, healthy, dense bones at every checkup, including the last one about 3 weeks ago.

I do, however, use the Reptisun 10.0 bulbs in order to counteract the UV loss due to the screen cage. If I ever decide to go with Arcadia bulbs, I will be getting the 12% instead of the 6%.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I use all Reptisun bulbs for my chameleons and have never had a bad experience. I change the bulbs out every 6 months and also get checkups on my chams every 6 months, including xrays. All of my chams are a model of health. Even my breeding females have had strong, healthy, dense bones at every checkup, including the last one about 3 weeks ago.

I do, however, use the Reptisun 10.0 bulbs in order to counteract the UV loss due to the screen cage. If I ever decide to go with Arcadia bulbs, I will be getting the 12% instead of the 6%.

My Arcadia are 12%.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Wow that is very interesting. Did you try swapping the bulb in the 14" fixtures to determine if it is the bulb causing the low numbers or if it is the fixture?

No, I didn't. I noticed all the bulbs seemed dull, the one with the lowest reading in particular.

My new Arcadia light arrived and it almost blinded me so I finally took the light meter out, turned it on and checked. I did NOT expect to get a zero at the basking spot under the ZooMed. I just bought it 6 weeks ago.

I guess I'll have to contact ZooMed about them. I think one is just a defective bulb, but they do seem to weaken really fast. Maybe I banged it or switched it on/off too many times. The ZooMed lights that are the strongest are the newest.