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I've been doing some research on UVB lights. From what I've done in the past and read on Turtle Talk I like the Reptisun 5.0, but I am confused on one thing.

There are two options 13 Watt and 26 Watt. I understand that the Watts are different, but what does the mean in effectiveness of the light? Is one better than the other? Any thoughts?

Thanks.
Christine and Crush

From what I understand, the 26 Watt will be brighter. Most likely the UVB will be projected a bit further too. I would lean towards the 26 Watt.

Welcome to the forum!

I was just looking at these two bulbs the other day as i needed to replace the 42" tube lamp i was using.

The chart on the two boxes (26W and 13W) shows the different levels of light (UVA, UVB, photosynth and lux) that is given at the different distances shown. According to the chart the 26W bulb (which i just bought) loses the effective UVB significantly for every 4" further away it is.

So that being said.... i guess you need to consider how far away the bulb will be from the turtle when it is basking. That is how i see it.
I have several other questions regarding proper lighting that i will be asking in the near future.

Considering the colder color light of fluorescents, I would want to keep it further away.

Steve, i'm not sure i follow... What does the "colder color light" have to do with it if what we are trying to do is deliver sufficient UVA & UVB light to the turtle?
(Are UVB lamps available in incandescent or other bulb types? I think i've only seen tube or spiral florescent UVB bulbs.)

That being said, where can we find what the appropriate levels of UVA & UVB light are that we should be providing?

For the ExoTerra Reptile UVB100 26W (which appears to replace(?) the ReptiGlo 5.0 Compact) the level of UVB at 4" is 170 microW/cm2, compared to 45 micro/cm2 at 8" and down to only 20 microW/cm2 at 12".
Those seem like pretty drastic drops in UVB levels in relatively short distances, don't you think?

It doesn't have anything to do with the delivery of UVB, but I think they prefer the warmer (yellower) lights. The only other types of UVB lamps are MVBs (mercury vapor bulb). You are right about the ExoTerra, but that does seem consistent with their product. Why are you moving away from the tubes? Those are generally considered better.