I've just had my Viv delivered (not built it yet as one part is faulty!) and am getting some accessories together before buying some Geckos... The question is, what kind of lighting should I use for day lighting? I am going to use 2 cold cathode tubes to give a moonlight effect at night but am unsure what to use during the day. The viv will be in a corner which is not particularly light and I would therefore like to have some light in there. I know they do not require UVB.
Will a standard household buld be ok (or perhaps one of those energy efficient ones?) or should I put some sort of flourescent tube in there???

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Are you talking about cold cathodes for like a computer? If so those wont work, they are far to bright at night. All ive seen and used were far to bright. Get a red bulb for the night. You can use a uvb light, they will benifit some from it, like early morning or early evening.

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Everything I use is from exo terra. I use a day glo on all my tanks during the day, and then at night I use what they call a night glo. And on all my tanks it makes a diffence. During the day they all hide but come time for that night glo light to come on they all start moving and coming out. And I use this with 7 geckos.

The type of bulb to use depends on what you use as a heat source. If you want the bulb to produce heat, a basking light or normal incandescent house bulb will work. If you already have a heat source then you may wish to go with a fluorescent of some type, or a low wattage house bulb. As for nocturnal light, if you must have it then you'll definitely need to go with an infrared or "Night Glo" type of light.

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Thanks for your replies! I will be using a heat mat as the primary heat source, so if I was to go for the Exo Terra bulbs (day & night), what watt should I go for. Also, what kind of fixtures will I need for the bulbs. The viv is 36".

Thanks again...

Hello,

The heat mat will do nothing for the ambient temperatures in the enclosure. You will need a separate heat source to warm the air. Heat mats just provide "belly" heat.

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I use 75 watts on all my 10 gallon tanks. On my 30 I run a day light with an extra night glo on for extra heat. I also use undertank heaters. But as rich said that is just belly heat!

75 watts in a 10 gallon,,,whats the temp on the cool side?

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

Lower 80's and on my cool side I also have hides...and on the hot side I have basking spots. Most of them don't come out except to maybe bask for a little while or more around...And I have found that most of them would rather just live in the moist box!

I want to jump in here and ask a question too. On my cool side it runs 72ish or so and my hot side it runs about 86. This is during the day. Is that warm enought. In the evening I turn the lamp off and just leave the Under Tank Heater on and the cool side drops a little and the hot side goes down to about 78-80. Is this okay?