Mega-ray 100
 

Hello.

I've just put a Mega-ray 100W mercury vapor bulb in a deep dome unit above one of our tanks. I have it approx 22 inches above the basking area as the turtles stack up on each other and the one on top would be around 18 inches from the bottom of the bulb.

My wife felt the heat from the bulb and read about the amount of UVB produced. She is now convinced that we are at risk from the bulb. We have the tank in the living room and the sofa where we sit is approx 3m from the bulb. I'd be grateful if anyone could tell me anything to put her mind at ease.

I hope this is an appropriate section to post this. Apologies if it's not.

Many thanks.

S

I assume this is a glass aquarium. The glass walls of the tank do not transmit UVB, so if you have the bulb pointed down into the tank, and there is no direct path for the radiation to get from the bulb to your eyes or skin that is not through the glass, then there is zero risk to you.

You should also be able to find data on how fast that UVB decreases at distance from the bulb (it drops off very rapidly). If you're sitting across the room, the UVB transmitted is negligible -- but you should find some data to ease your wife's mind.

Try this:
http://www.reptileuvinfo.com/html/me...ood-report.htm

At 3 meters, you get no UV at all.

Hello.

The bulb blew after one full day of use. I turned it on, there was a loud hissing and then it went out. I replaced it with a 11W Powersun and that only lasted 2 days.

I'm done with mercury vapor.

Thanks for the reply and the information.

S.