Turtle Heat Lamps in fish aquarium

[Ed3SJ]

I have a 85 gallon aquarium and have a number of fish. I also have rocks piled up to a top basking area for my turtles. My question is do i have to go out and buy a special heat lamp or will my eclipse floresent bulbs do the trick? i want to make sure my little yellow belly sliders are gettin the proper light to digest there food! thanks let me know!

[Fishguy2727]

For aquatic turtles you need a heat lamp over their basking area (basking area needs to be at least about 10F warmer than the water) and they also need full spectrum lighting (with UVB). Most likely you have neither. There are a few options for each. For the heat you can get either the standard heat lamp or you can get a ceramic heat emitter. For the UVB you can use either full spectrum fluorescents, or you can get a bulb that does heat and UVB. These are much more expensive, but actually should balance out in the long run, and the quality of light is the best with the hybrid bulbs.

How many turtles?
How big?
What fish?
What filtration?

[Ed3SJ]

I have 2 small turtles (1.5 inch), i am running 2 eclipse 3 filters. i have about 6 mollies right now. how can i get these lights working with my current setup? do i actually need to leave my hoods open to make the lights work? how do i know my floresent lights dont emmit UVB? i figure they would since they came from eclipse and they say "natural daylight". i dunno though.. let me know

[zackish]

For aquatic turtles you need a heat lamp over their basking area (basking area needs to be at least about 10F warmer than the water) and they also need full spectrum lighting (with UVB). Most likely you have neither. There are a few options for each. For the heat you can get either the standard heat lamp or you can get a ceramic heat emitter. For the UVB you can use either full spectrum fluorescents, or you can get a bulb that does heat and UVB. These are much more expensive, but actually should balance out in the long run, and the quality of light is the best with the hybrid bulbs.

How many turtles?
How big?
What fish?
What filtration?

It was a few months ago but I heard that those UVB lights that emit heat were like a couple hundred dollars. Maybe it was the fixture and they had the bulbs but I heard it was something in the making.

[Fishguy2727]

The fixtures are just any reptile fixtures that have a ceramic base to them (not plastic casing on the part that actually holds the bulb) and can handle the wattage. These run about $14 at my work. The bulbs should be in the vacinity of $50-70 in store, less online.

Unless the bulbs are designed to give off UVB, they are probably not giving it off at all. You may be able to find bulbs that fit your fixture that will give off UVB, but it is easier to get one specifically designed to give off UVB. I am not sure how your tank is setup. Most turtle tanks are not completely filled with water, have the basking area, and have a screen on top, which is a good way to hold the lights.