Reddit reviews Exo Terra Mirror Dome Light (7 in)

Eyy! My time to shine! I have a red eared slider in a 150 gallon plywood aquarium I built. For filtration, I would recommend a Fluval Fx-5 or 6. You want at least 2 times your gallonage in filtration. For lighting fixtures, get some good reflective domes with ceramic sockets. I've had great luck with these ones from Exo Terra. Now for lighting, you will need a source of UVA and UVB as well as heat. The UV light is needed for calcium absorbtion. Without it, their shells will become very unhealthy and it may kill them. The best way to accomplish this is with a Mercury Vapor Bulb such as that one. If the bulb doesn't supply enough heat for the open topper, you will need a Ceramic Heat Emitter. You will likely need a heater for the water. DO NOT USE A GLASS HEATER! Use one with a metal body such as this one. A turtle's shell could break a glass heater and electrocute them. Please note that red eared sliders can climb pretty well, so you will likely need a cover for the basking area. Also, if the turtle is female, please make sure they have a nesting box available. They are easy to put together and with out it, the turtle could become egg bound and die. For substrate (Material at the bottom) avoid gravel. Turtles tend to eat it and it can also potentially kill them. I use a heavy filtration sand instead. It's heavy enough where the filter will be unable to pick it up for the most part. If you have any other questions, please ask away!

I have the following ones wishlisted (for clarity's sake, I haven't actually tried any of them yet, so I don't actually know from personal experience if they're any good).

Exo Terra Night-Glo Moonlight A19 Lamp, 75-Watt
http://amzn.com/B000633URQ

Exo Terra Heat-Glo Infrared Spot Lamp, 75-Watt/120-Volt
http://amzn.com/B0002AR3QC

Exo Terra Repti-Glo 2.0 Compact Fluorescent Full Spectrum Terrarium Lamp, 26-Watt
http://amzn.com/B00101IC7G

And I'm looking to put them in a set of these:

Exo Terra Mirror Dome Light, 7-Inch
http://amzn.com/B0041OU75O

If these are the ones you had bad results with, well, I'd love to hear about it so I can look for something else!

Exo Terra sells a heat lamp and mount
7 inch lamp housing
bracket
The lamp housing supports up to a 150w bulb
And you might want to regulate it with a rheostat
Checking temps regularly with a temp gun

Or you can use a thermostat with the probe on the hot side to regulate the CHE, but I've heard of snakes moving them causing temps to drop or climb, depending.

You know, I've taken the bulb from a fixture and put it in another fixture in the exact location and gotten temps as much as 30F higher. The small domes that are white on the inside seem to give out the least heat. This beauty gives out a lot of heat. It also depends on the room temperature - I have to adjust bulbs when the seasons change because my basking spots will rise or drop a significant amount. My indoor temps rarely go below 80 (my lizards' tanks heat my apartment!) and even in the winter, I only have to use a 75 watt bulb at most (in 40 gallon and bigger tanks). It's just a trial and error thing. If you can't leave the dome fixture on top of the lid safely, then investing in an adjustable lamp stand is probably the way to go. Grabbing a rheostat/dimmer does make it easier to adjust temps.

The height of your basking spot should be ~8 inches from the UVB bulb, so that your beardie can get to about 6 inches of the bulb. Then you figure out how to get the temps in the basking spot to where they should be by lowering/raising the basking fixture or changing bulbs or whatever.

In case you aren't aware, pine and cedar are both toxic to beardies, and one of our member's beardies recently had an issue that appears to have been due to super glue being used on a basking platform. Make sure your materials are reptile friendly. :)

Hi again!

I thank you once again for your help with my little critter, I do want the best for him :)

I was looking into the heat-thread you forwarded to me and I was wondering if you have an opinion on these two Domes (keep in mind it's a glass enclosure)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exo-Terra-PT2057-Light-Fixture/dp/B0041OU75O/ref=sr_1_1?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1458440532&sr=1-1&keywords=light+dome
And
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Exo-Terra-PT2054-Reflector-Medium/dp/B0017JHHXQ

Or perhaps you have an even better solution?

I was thinking of using a 100W Halogen light with whichever Dome I purchase and use a dimmer to control the heat more accurately as well. :)