Lighting and heating?

[Houlee]

Alright I'll try it with just the MVB then, I've never used them so I don't really know their strength

[donkeybuff]

You dont need heating down cool end though do you

I keep thinking of the 160 watt mvb bulbs,i genetally only use 60 watt regular spotlights in 36 inch fishtanks,even a few 48 inch ones,my bulb fixtures are inside the tank though so once basking places are in bulbs not to far away being regular sized fish tanks of 14 inches in width and 18 in height,100 watt bulbs would be overkill for me,my ambients vary from 6 degrees in winter to low 30s in summer,sometimes hotter so have to move animals to tubs at floor level when the mercury reallu rises

Correct, I do not use any supplemental heat.

[saisaac]

I have used MVB in the past. In an aquarium style tank it worked great. I have used the Mega Ray by Reptile UV and the Active UV Heat by T-Rex. Both of them kept my 90 tank's basking area really hot and produced a good amount of UV as was clear by my beardies increase in activity vs flourecent supplemented by occasion outdoors excursions. When I built a melamine 4x2x2 enclosure those bulbs hung down far too far and made the basking spot over 120 F. So I have been using flourecents ever since. I have also heard good things about using Metal Halides, but I have never tried that myself.