Mercury Vapour's

[Tyl3r]

Hey guys,
I have heard some good things about Mercury Vapour lights and want to give them a shot. I just have one question, is there a minimum distance I need to keep the bulb away from the lizard? (obviously so they can't touch it)

Thanks,
Tyler

 

[pinefamily]

What sort of lizard?

 

[Tyl3r]

Pygmy Beardy

 

[pinefamily]

We don't use them ourselves, but read recently that a distance of about 40 cm from the MVB and the basking spot is good.

 

[Rogue5861]

Depending on wattage it will vary from about 12" (30cm) up to about 18-20" (45-50cm). All brands vary as well of course.

The last MVB i used didnt produce qute enough heat (around 35-37c) at minimum distance and this seems like a common thing, ambient temps both ends were good though so i didnt really wanna go adding more heat.


Rick

 

[pinefamily]

But shouldn't the basking spot be hotter? The only reason I ask is there was a recent discussion on ambient vs basking temps on another forum.

 

[Rogue5861]

But shouldn't the basking spot be hotter? The only reason I ask is there was a recent discussion on ambient vs basking temps on another forum.

Yep an most mvb's dont quite produce enough heat. Gone back to tube and a halogen spot globe.


Rick

 

[pinefamily]

That's what we use, a tube fluoro and spot globe for heat.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[Tyl3r]

Yeah, I have decided to stick with tube and spot basking globe. I heard you can't run MVB's on thermostat also?

 

[Blinky]

Now I remember why this website the way it is.

 

[pinefamily]

Seriously some people need to research more about products before giving out information on them ( Not you OP ). MVB's are fantastic. I use them on all my dragons and monitors and the difference in the last few years from keeping them on MVB's compared to just other means of UV include greater growth and the color is brought out a lot more. Never run a MVB on a thermostat as yes they will break. Ideally MVB's come in 100w, 125w and 150w. For a pygmy beardie I would go a 100w to start with as I am fairly sure that would give a correct basking site. If too hot or too col it should just be a simple adjustment of substrate level or increasing / decreasing the basking site to get the temperature correct. A $15 temp gun off ebay are excellent and is very well money spent. As for the original question I would not have the globe within 10cm as thermal burns are a very real thing ( google as to what they can look like ). If you need to have the bulb that close to get the basking spot right it would be better just to go up a wattage and keep the distance. Hope this helps some what.

As for MVB's not giving out enough heat, majority of my monitors have basking sites of 55-70 ( depending on species ) easily achieved by a 125w. There are external factors that can influence this etc glass enclosures will lose heat alot more then what wood will.

Before bagging other posters, perhaps you should actually read what they have said. My original post stated that we don't use them ourselves, but having RESEARCHED BEFORE have read that the distance quoted was ok. Have also been involved in the discussion mentioned in my other post about ambient vs basking temps (in case you didn't read that one either).
A lot of people, including yourself, use MVB's with success. Others, like Rick and myself, have had equal success with spot globes and separate fluoros. Is there a right or wrong answer? No. Can we pass on what we have had success with? Yes. Do we need to be criticized for it? No.

 

[Bushfire]

Metal halides are the answer to not having a hot enough basking spot. Min. Distance is still around the 30cm mark, but produces more heat and uv.

 

[pinefamily]

Metal halides are the answer to not having a hot enough basking spot. Min. Distance is still around the 30cm mark, but produces more heat and uv.

How do they compare in running costs to a PAR38? That's what we are currently using for our ackies.

 

[Bushfire]

Well I'm running 70w metal halides instead say 120w mvb or 50w halogen plus 26w fluro.

 

[Rogue5861]

Well I'm running 70w metal halides instead say 120w mvb or 50w halogen plus 26w fluro.

These are the externally ballast ones? Yea they look good but to kit out 3-4 vivariums i would need to sell my arm and a leg, look like the answer to a lot of the mvb issues (short life, temps, different brands ect) thought so i will probably be getting a couple when i get around to building a new vivarium for my ridge tails.


Rick

 

[Bushfire]

Yep external ballasts. When I did a major rebuild just over a year ago I brought 32 ballasts and 64 bulbs costed about $1000 all up. Every lizard except the geckos are using this system now. To be honest now that I've used metal halides I won't go back to MVBs. The thing to remember is to get reptile ones as a few are saying the normal ones don't produce UV (I can't confirm how true this is). I'm using the solar raptor brand. It's been over a year and all bulbs are working great and the UV is still in an acceptable range. There has been some decay as expected with all bulbs but not much. I have both 6.2 and 6.5 solar meters so I regular check the decay.