# Mercury vapour bulbs



## Andylsg (May 11, 2010)

Was just wondering what everybody thought of these? Will be getting a uromastyx soon (yay) and wondered whether this would be better than a uv strip/heat lamp combo? And which wattage would be strong enough to get a basking temp of around 120f?! Thanks

andy


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## petman99 (Aug 22, 2010)

I use powersun bulbs all the time. :2thumb:


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## FireupDragons (Aug 29, 2010)

I use them try & shop about they can cost Between £24.99p & £77.99p
there is no guarantee how long it lasts it says up to 1000 hours but like any bulbs it could last a day.
make sure you get a good deal.


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## Andylsg (May 11, 2010)

*hi*

coolio thanks again  and thanks for the advice with shopping around as well i know its an expensive hobby but so worth it 
so say in an 20in tall tank you reckon 100w or 120w would get a bask8ing spot of 120f?

cheers again


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

You sure that's right, only 1000 hours? That's only about 3 months if it's on for 10-12 hours a day, not very much at all!

I'd be disappointed with a MVB that didn't last at least a year.


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## petman99 (Aug 22, 2010)

We get a good year out of our powersuns as long as you traet them ok.


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

I'd expect at least that, even a flourescent is good for 6 months, a MVB that only lasted 3 months would work out very expensive! My last MegaRay/T-Rex lasted 2 1/2 years, and the LR metal halides that I intend to replace it with are claimed to average 6000 hours.


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## Andylsg (May 11, 2010)

*hi*

ok so to every one using these what kind of basking temps do you get out of them?

cheers :2thumb:


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

I had a 100W T-Rex (new ones are higher wattage) and could easily achieve 32-35°C at a safe 14", minimum safe distance is 12" so you can go hotter, higher wattage ones would go hotter still of course.

The metal halides are said to achieve similar temps and UVB output for a considerably lower power consumption, so cheaper to run.


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## Kaouthia (Sep 30, 2010)

Love 'em, used to use them on beardies, Uromastyx, and a couple of iggies.

Now the only diurnal lizard we have is a water monitor, and he has a couple too.


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## Andylsg (May 11, 2010)

*help*

Again thankyou very much Graham  i think in futurei might just direct my questions to you haha 

Oh and i wanted to ask are the mvb's safe to use with a dimmer stat? i think i saw on a cust review that this cant be done? i would imagine its to stop the uv output being reduced?! So would you use an mvb in conjuction with a uv tube thats on a constant then have the mvb on a stat? or another method? its going to be for an ocellated uro so just want it perfect to be honest : victory:

andy


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## Kaouthia (Sep 30, 2010)

Nope, mercury vapour bulbs can't be used with any type of stat or dimmer.

Once they're on, you leave them on until it's time to go night night. 

After they're turned off, they need a certain "cooling period" before you can even turn them back on again (which is why no on/off type thermostats either).

Basically, you adjust the height of the bulb relative to the basking spots so that the very hottest spot is about as hot as that particular species finds comfortable. If you find it's getting too cool in some areas, you can supplement with regular incandescent bulbs or ceramic heat emitters on dimmers/stats.


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## petman99 (Aug 22, 2010)

Kaouthia said:


> Nope, mercury vapour bulbs can't be used with any type of stat or dimmer.
> 
> Once they're on, you leave them on until it's time to go night night.
> 
> ...


 
Take this advice spot on


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## Kaouthia (Sep 30, 2010)

Just one other thing, if you do have to start adding extra supplemental heating to add to the MV bulb, keep checking that hotspot, as the extra incandescent bulbs or CHEs could have an additive effect that might require you to move the MV bulb slightly further away.

It can be a fine balance, but worth the work in the end. All the diurnal lizards I've had under them in the past have absolutely thrived.


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## Andylsg (May 11, 2010)

*mvb*

thankyou so much 
im yet to won a reptile that requires this much fine tuning so will be a steep learning curve i reckon  right better crack on with the experimenting i guess :2thumb:


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## petman99 (Aug 22, 2010)

repti-dude2 said:


> How would you know?
> You have just started selling reptile products & dont even sell reptiles:lol2:


Shows how much you really no.
We did reptile supplies 3 years ago also had over 200 reptiles at our place in Hersham from Geckos to Nile Monitors.

So i think we used a few powersuns.


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## Graham (Jan 27, 2007)

> You have just started selling reptile products & dont even sell reptiles


You obviously never saw the "zoo" they used to have upstairs, otherwise you'd never make a dumb statement like that!

More reptiles than most of us could ever dream of keeping, some really big stuff too, I doubt there's many people on this forum with the experience of reptile keeping that they have.


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