What Watt Moonlight Bulb?

I have a 20 long aquarium(30''x12''x12''). The ambient temps are at 72 farenhieght. What size moonlight bulb do I need to raise it 10 degrees?

Hi,

Have you got any form of insulation on the back, sides and bottom of the tank? I found that helped me a lot when I was using glass tanks.

But I'm not sure anyone can give you a definate answer on the bulb question. You could possibly buy a larger wattage than needed and a dimmer switch though.


dr del

I haven't used any form of insulation. What do you recommend?

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Originally Posted by Joelolly

I haven't used any form of insulation. What do you recommend?

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I believe thats what he recommends, its used in building buildings alot, underground backing, facade backing, Garage door insulating ect.

Also. My warm side belly temps run 93-104 depending on where I point my infrared gun. My cool side belly temps run 84-86. I have the UTH on the warm side and the moonlight bulb on the cool side. The ambient temps stay between 79-80 and the humididty is around 47 right now. I have him on repti bark. What do I need to do?

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Originally Posted by OhhWatALoser

I believe thats what he recommends, its used in building buildings alot, underground backing, facade backing, Garage door insulating ect.

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Put this on the outside of his tank, correct?

Hi,

It sounds as though you also need to buy a thermostat to control the UTH?

You can use either foam board insulation or cork sheeting - but you really need to get those hot end temps under control as quick as possible.

I may be misreading your post but if you can shoot the temp gun at substrate and get 104f can you imagine how hot it might be directly on top of the UTH is the snake burrows down or moves the substrate aside?

That's a good way to get the snake burnt. :(


dr del

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

It sounds as though you also need to buy a thermostat to control the UTH?

You can use either foam board insulation or cork sheeting - but you really need to get those hot end temps under control as quick as possible.

I may be misreading your post but if you can shoot the temp gun at substrate and get 104f can you imagine how hot it might be directly on top of the UTH is the snake burrows down or moves the substrate aside?

That's a good way to get the snake burnt. :(


dr del

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What kind of thermostat? Can put a dimmer switch on the UTH or will that not controll the amount of heat it puts out?

Dimmers work only if the rooms temperature is fairly stable.

The only kind o thermostat I can find at my local hardware srtores are the ones you put on your house for AC control. They don't have the ones with probes.

http://spyderrobotics.com/

Ok. This is truly discouraging. I put the UTH on the dimmer switch. I measured the substrate and its between 87-90 depending on where I point the gun. I moved the substrate and measured the glass and its around 93-95. How on Earth do you get these things set up correctly? I don't want anything to happen to the little guy.

I no what your going through i just got my setup right a couple days ago im a newbie but ive been through this stuff. The dimming switch will work but you'll have to always monitor it and check it everyday. If you want a long term situation for the UTH i would get a nice thermostat, i just got the herpstat from sypderrbotics its amazing, if you didn't know the difference its that a dimmer controls the power but a thermostat measures the temp, you adjust it and for example if it gets cold out it wil automatically ramp up the power so it stays the same temp. In the long it will be very beneficial. Anyway you do want to measure the temp of the glass, for example if you get the surface temp of the substarte to a perfect 92 he could burry down and the temp could be 98 and he gets burned. So keep the glass temp heated by the UTH for the hotspot around 91-94 then he wont get burned! Keep posting anymore questions i know it can be stressful but keep wrking hard to do good for your snake.!!!!! :D , and for the original question I have a 20 gallon long tank and use the UTH, and then a 40 watt red light the keeps my ambient temps right up to 80

I have a thermostat for my UTH and a dimmer for my ambient dayight bulb (only 40 watts). At night I have a 40 watt moonlight bulb that raises my ambients from 76-77 to 79-81 (which are in the 79-83 range during the day). My warm side is 91-94 and my cool side substrate (aspen) slightly under my ambient temp. If you still want to use a moon bulb at night and have that much temp to cover, I would use a 80watt. My tank is 20gal and I have black cardboard as an insulator + foil pieces on the top of mine. It is also in a room that is warmed a few degrees during the day by the windows and doesn't drop that much in the evening.

I got the temps right. I took out the repti bark and put in paper towels and guess what happened? Humidity plunged! I'm having to spray it constantly to keep it right. If not, it drops to 35%. I have the top covered with foil except for a square where the light sits. The light is a 75 watt moonlight bulb sitting right over the water bowl. Any suggestions?

first raise the light or make another small whole in the tinfoil for ventilation. next u could make a humid hide, with mossor possibly get a small humidifier or replace the reptibark

I did. I have him on the paper towels now. I saw that link and am going to give that shot as soon as i get in tomorrow!

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Originally Posted by Amp625

next u could make a humid hide

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X2
Humid hides if used will negate the needing to spray.

Moonlight bulbs don't give out too much heat. They're designed for a "night drop" in temps. I suggest you get the red bulb, or a heat emitter (plugs in like a bulb but doesn't produce light, just heat).

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Originally Posted by anatess

Moonlight bulbs don't give out too much heat. They're designed for a "night drop" in temps. I suggest you get the red bulb, or a heat emitter (plugs in like a bulb but doesn't produce light, just heat).

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Are the heat emitters better for humidity than lights?

I have posted this in various threads over the past few months, so I apologize if everyone has already seen this. I had humidity probs at first until I got this. Now my humidity with almost no work is 50-60 percent and with only a little work 70 for shed.

1) glass tank 20gal with sliding and locking screen top. I use a 40watt daylight bulb (on a dimmer) during the day timed for 1.5-2 hrs on and 1 hour off depending on the day (I have my tank in a windowed room with the blinds shut 24/7). I also have a 40 watt moon light bulb on during the night at about the same timed schedule. I also use a 20-30gal sized desert UTH on a hydrofarm thermostat. Aspen chip substrate.

2) I have foil wrapped cardboard (5 or 6) panels that I lay on top of the screened cover between the two lamps. They get slid and adjusted as needed to raise/lower humidity. Usually I leave them alone.

3) I have a Fluker's mini dripper in the tank dripping slowly into a ramiken filled with spahgnum moss. It gets changed weekly.

4) I have 2 plastic plants and a piece of mopani wood in the tank for decoration that I mist once daily.

5) I mave bits of eco-terra jungle moss spread on top of the aspen which gets dampened when needed.

6) When shedding I spray the walls/plants about 3-4 times daily, dampen the moss in the tank, and add spahgnum to once of the hides (He has never used it but it makes me feel better in case he wants to use it). I also turn off my day light to help keep the humidity in when I am not home during the day.

Hope this helps or at least gives you ideas. The forum has a great search option that should also steer you in the right direction. When I first was setting up my tank, a local breeder told me that there wasn't much diff. between a moon bulb and red bulb for the snake, so I went with the blue. Not sure how the same wattage would compare between the two, but I imagine a light is a light and both will affect the humidity to some degree.

BPQueen

How think should I spread the substrate if I go back to using that? The substrate temp on the hot side was around 15 degrees cooler than the glass under it.

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Originally Posted by Joelolly

Are the heat emitters better for humidity than lights?

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No. The heat emitters also kill humidity.

This is what I do to my tank for humidity - zero need for spray in my case. My house humidity sometimes go to 10% during winter. I can keep the glass tank at 50-60% humidity during winter with this set-up.

I got a 30gal long tank.

1.) I have 2 heat lamps that are on during winter - a dayglo and a nightglo bulb - both 75W with a dimmer to keep ambient temps at 80. They are on a timer - dayglo on for 12 hours, nightglo on for the next 12 hours. I could use just one red light to be on 24 hours but I like the look of the daytime/nightime lights - my glass tank is for decorative display.
2.) I wrap 3 sides of my tank with thick cork board.
3.) I put plexiglass wrapped in tin-foil on top of the screen that covers all the way to where the lamps sit - it covers about 80% of the tank.
4.) I use the XL Zoomed ReptiRock water bowl (I used the Exo-Terra water dish before and that doesn't work for humidity, the Reptirock is made of plastic so it is more sensitive to heat) and put it halfway on top of the UTH right on top of the glass (not sitting on substrate).
5.) I use cypress substrate in the tank about an inch to 2 inches thick.
6.) My hides have bottoms on them, so the warm side hide sits right on top of the glass. I put a thin layer of cypress inside. The temperature probe sits inside the hide under the substrate to read at 90.
7.) I supplement with damp sphagnum moss in small plastic container without lid right underneath the lamps during shed cycle.

That's it.

http://i314.photobucket.com/albums/l.../sunshine1.jpg

The stores have one that plugs into lamps so no wiring needed for about 10$. From there you can use a standard thermoter or go to a pet store and they carry the probed ones for about 30$.

I almost have it ideal! Without the light, ambient temps stay around 75-78. Is this acceptable? With the light, I can bring them up without a problem, but then run into problems with humidity. All I need to know is are these ambient temps accetable?

it might change at night and in winter u might need it

I got it! All it took was a bigger/more shallow water bowl. Ran into a problem though: mites!!!! Gonna look around here to see what I need to do about that...

GREAT, except for the mites gud luck with that

Thank you very much. You have been a TON of help and I am very greatful for that!

Get Provent-A-Mite. It's the best for mites. You can find it on ebay or just do some googling for an online source.
PAM