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Thread: Fluorescent fixture for 36" reptisun 10.0?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Default Fluorescent fixture for 36" reptisun 10.0?

    Ok I am building a new enclosure and I want to get a 36" reptisun 10.0 bulb and I need a fixture with a protective plastic cover over the bulb because my tegu like's to jump into the top of his cage and I dont want him to jump into the bulb and break it. Any help is appreciatted. Thanks.

  2. #2
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    May 2007
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    I was looking for a suitable 36" fixture and gave up. I went with 48" ReptiSun 10 bulb and a standard "shop light" fixture from Home Depot.

    Don't use the plastic that comes with any fixture, unless it's made for UVB lights. Most glass and plastic will absorb the UVB rays. A Fine mesh top won't allow much of the rays to get through also. I use a 1/2" mesh hardware cloth on the top of our Tegu's enclosures.
    1.1 Blue Tegus, 1.1 Cuban Rock Iguanas
    1.1 Bearded Dragons, 0.1 Veiled Chameleon
    0.1 Columbian Boa, 1.0 Ball Python, 0.0.1 Corn

  3. #3
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    Sep 2007
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    Hmm maybe I could just get the plain jane fixture and then surround it with that cloth for protection from my juming tegu .

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by redtail2426
    Hmm maybe I could just get the plain jane fixture and then surround it with that cloth for protection from my juming tegu .
    Yes, a plain fixture works great. Protect it with a coarse (1/4" to 1/2") wire screen or cage to keep him away from it.
    1.1 Blue Tegus, 1.1 Cuban Rock Iguanas
    1.1 Bearded Dragons, 0.1 Veiled Chameleon
    0.1 Columbian Boa, 1.0 Ball Python, 0.0.1 Corn

  5. #5
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    I have found a 36" fixture that flukers sells on there website I think I might go with that one if it fits T12 bulbs. Also I saw a write up that was saying 1/2" mesh out of 1mm wire blocks 15% of the uvb rays and I think it was the 1/2" 2mm wire mesh blocked 25% - 35% or something like that so I think I might go with a 1/2" chicken wire as that I think is made from 1mm wire.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by redtail2426
    I have found a 36" fixture that flukers sells on there website I think I might go with that one if it fits T12 bulbs. Also I saw a write up that was saying 1/2" mesh out of 1mm wire blocks 15% of the uvb rays and I think it was the 1/2" 2mm wire mesh blocked 25% - 35% or something like that so I think I might go with a 1/2" chicken wire as that I think is made from 1mm wire.
    You're better off going with a 48" bulb and a cheap "shop light" fixture since you'll need it shortly when you Tegu outgrows his current enclosure. Those Fluker fixtures are very expensive ($50) vs. the Home Depot model (about $9, just make sure it will work with T8 & T12 bulbs!!).

    You can imagine how much UVB is blocked by the standard breeder tank top!!

    Quoted from uvguide.co.uk, "First, the output of a 100watt Zoo Med Powersun Flood Lamp was measured, in a ceramic holder affixed to a wooden batten in a test room. The same lamp was then tested behind a sheet of quarter-inch twillweld wire mesh with wire thickness 1mm (such as might be used for a protective screen) and inside two commercially available mesh guards.

    The first guard was made from half-inch twillweld mesh with 1mm wire; the second was made from half-inch mesh using a much thicker, white painted 2mm wire.

    At a distance of 12”, for example, the wide spaced, thin-wired mesh blocked about 14%, the closer spaced mesh blocked 24%, and the thickest white-painted mesh blocked 35% of the UVB. The thickest mesh brought the UVB reading at 12" down from 37uW/cm² to 24uW/cm²."
    1.1 Blue Tegus, 1.1 Cuban Rock Iguanas
    1.1 Bearded Dragons, 0.1 Veiled Chameleon
    0.1 Columbian Boa, 1.0 Ball Python, 0.0.1 Corn

  7. #7
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    Sep 2007
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    Im not sure what the standard breeder tank top is? But yeah that is the article I read earlier. My little 20 gallon that I have my hatchling in now has a screen top and they say that blocks like 50% but I have a little reflective strip behind the light and they say that raises the UVB by 100% the light is an 18" repti glo 10.0 and it is 10" away from the substrate so I think I should be ok for temporary use. But yeah it makes more sense to go with the cheaper fixture.

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