zoomed powersun

Shenanigans · Posted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 9:34 pm Post subject: zoomed powersun

I just ordered a powersun yesterday for $35. I've read a lot about them and they seem pretty good. Can anyone vouch for them?

bubbasherps · Respected Member Joined: Dec 16, 2005 Posts: 459

Ive tryed them work great

Lizards benifit from them

Place where I worked sell zoo med products

mercury vapor lights are great for uva/uvb rays

_________________
TEGUS TEGUS AND MORE TEGUS

plundus · Member Joined: Sep 26, 2007 Posts: 13

I've got three or four powersuns going in different cages and there ok. The only thing I've found wrong with them is the temps they throw out. I find it quite difficult to get up to decent basking temps using the powersun on its own especially if you follow the recommended instructions for placement (size/watt ratio, open top cages, and minimum distance from animal). The basic problem is that the powersun has a safety cut-out switch which turns the bulb off for about five minutes until it cools down a bit. In summer I've had some bulbs popping on and off every 20/30 minutes or so. My lizards were totally freaking. The guy in the shop said raise the bulb to 30 inches away from the basking site! Yeah right. They had to get on a ladder to catch some rays! This is especially the case with the 100 watt bulb. I took two back before I got one that held up to the heat a bit more. If you supplement the heat with a ceramic bulb on a thermostat then you end up producing too much heat around the mercury vapor bulb and so it goes on. If you think about it the whole idea of MVB is that you have everthing in one source and so the high price is balanced off, but if you have to buy all the other stuff as well I wonder if it's worth it.

Any feedback???
Thanks.

Shenanigans · Posted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 2:21 pm Post subject: powersun

I got it for my 6 month b+w arg tegu and he's in a 20 gallon. i ordered a 160 watt powersun, so hopefully there wont be any problems with getting it to the right basking temp. Since the cage is so small its hard to get another heat source on the basking side of the enclosure with out making the ambient temp way too high. Thats why i went for the powersun becuz it has the UVA and UVB in one bulb so it takes up a lot less space on top of the enclosure. Right now i have a 150 watt tight beam basking light and a 10.0 UVB bulb. Is that sufficient for my tegu?

plundus · Member Joined: Sep 26, 2007 Posts: 13

I'm not telling you how to do it, but a 20 gallon seems pretty small to me. Your tegu is definitely going to outgrow that in about nothing flat. The powersun 160 is recommended for a tank minimum 60 gallons. Take into consideration that the bulb is going to be well over the top of the tank because there is no way you can install that bulb enclosed inside a 20 gallon tank - it's physically impossible. Therefore most of the heat it gives off is gone into the air and the light from a mercury vapor doesn't project as much heat downward as other types of bulbs with the same watts. (I was getting a hotter basking area with a well placed normal 75 watt tight beam spot than I was with a 100 watt powersun (no UVBs with a normal bulb of course). If I were you I'd stay with the spot you have at the moment (adjust the height until your getting 100-110 on the basking spot) then use a UVB compact 5.0 26watt (take up a lot less space and don't need an expensive fixture) and save the powersun for a bigger enclosure when the time comes.

Good luck.

Groovinonfunk · New Member Joined: Feb 27, 2008 Posts: 2

I have a zoomed powersun for my bearded dragon and after doing a lot of researched have realized buying it was a mistake.

The best mercury vapor bulbs can be bought at www.reptileuv.com.
I do not work for them and am in no way affiliated with them so my opinion is unbiased. The Mega Ray bulb has the best UV output.

the T-Rex MVB bulb is made by the same guys and is the second best available mvb.

the powersun is like fourth or fifth. i'll try to get the link where I found all of these studies and post it here later. there are charts and numbers that show how good each bulb is in terms of uv output.

the megaray is the same price as the powersun on that website!
www.reptileuv.com

i have a powersun and can't wait to change it. definitely getting a megaray next