UVA/UVB HID upgrade complete

[infernalis]

Re did the lighting to include Mercury Vapour and Metal Halide lamps, the cage interior is insanely bright. The lizards are already more active, as if that was even possible considering how hyper they already were before.

The ballasts had to be wired, took me about 15 minutes each.


The Metal halide was plain boxed...


For comparison, the light output of 4 different lamp types.

[Mikoh4792]

Looking good. lol at the cat

[wareagleA5]

How do they compare to the halogen as far as basking spot temps and area?

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by wareagleA5

How do they compare to the halogen as far as basking spot temps and area?

Almost impossible to compare.

The output of the metal halide lamp is 5 times brighter, rich in UVA/UVB but a little lacking un the IR (InfraRed) that makes the basking stone heat up.

http://www.exo-terra.com/download/sa...unRay_Bulb.pdf

^^^^ I did this at about 1/3 the cost by wiring it myself.

[nepoez]

How does it compare with the MVB?

[TheFrogman]

Awesome, looks great ! My cat watches my Brooks King like that too...LOL

[Rob_H]

Brilliant! As well as brighter, the spectra is usually much closer to sunlight with these bulbs. The lizards see the world in the way they've evolved to see it (they have better and very different colour vision compared to us), which probably explains the much higher activity levels you'll probably notice for a while. I observe it in all the lizards that I swap the HID bulbs with.... I guess I'd also want to walk around checking out my garden and house again if someone bathed it in white light after I'd spent my life seeing it only in one particular colour!

[Skits]

Nice job

I was wondering what the metal halide and mercury vapor does exactly and what do they give the monitor specifically? Is it something good for all monitors?

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by Skits

Nice job

I was wondering what the metal halide and mercury vapor does exactly and what do they give the monitor specifically? Is it something good for all monitors?

First off, the brighter light is more natural. Think about it for a minute.. a sunny day outside your pupils constrict, you need sunglasses.

Mercury vapour and metal halide flood the whole cage with rich UVB & UVA bolstering white blood cell count and boosting immunities.

[Pirarucu]

Can you post some pictures of how you set up the wiring? Do you have the ballast on top of the cage?

[Skits]

Originally Posted by infernalis

First off, the brighter light is more natural. Think about it for a minute.. a sunny day outside your pupils constrict, you need sunglasses.

Mercury vapour and metal halide flood the whole cage with rich UVB & UVA bolstering white blood cell count and boosting immunities.

Awesome. Yes it seems logical! Is it possible to give them too much UVB? I have a reptisun 10.0 (100) in my tank, I thought it was enough but noticed you aded the extra bulbs for more of them, and I see you use the 10.0 as well.

[Pirarucu]

Originally Posted by Skits

Awesome. Yes it seems logical! Is it possible to give them too much UVB? I have a reptisun 10.0 (100) in my tank, I thought it was enough but noticed you aded the extra bulbs for more of them, and I see you use the 10.0 as well.

Yes, too much UVB can be very bad. Too much for humans results in sunburns and eventually skin cancer. However, you will find that providing too much for reptiles using artificial lighting is very hard to do unintentionally.

[infernalis]

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

Yes, too much UVB can be very bad. Too much for humans results in sunburns and eventually skin cancer. However, you will find that providing too much for reptiles using artificial lighting is very hard to do unintentionally.

Precisely. I am removing the 4 foot tube, in favor of the mercury vapour lamps, Reason being that the MV lamps throw the UV further so they can still be effective while being mounted high up.

The 4 foot bulb has outlived it's usefulness anyway, it's been running 2 years non stop.

[Pirarucu]

Why not leave it just for the lighting?

[Sublimeballs]

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

Why not leave it just for the lighting?

That's what I was thinking