Crabs and Sunlight

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 3:15 pm

I had always kept my office where my crab tank is dark, mainly because I live in Phoenix where the sun's rays are very powerful and a window with the shades up can generate a lot of heat in a room.

After posting with Dion about the benefits of sunlight I have been keeping my shades up during the day and so far it hasn't affected the temp of the tank (may be because it's still winter).

I thought since they were nocturnal it meant I would have seen less of them, but they'd have a more realistic day-night cycle. But it seems like I'm getting more activity from my crabs during the day since I've been doing this, as if they are trying to take advantage of the sunlight.

Has anyone else noticed this before?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 4:26 pm

Awesome! This is what I mean by sunlight/natural light is beneficial. If you cant get them by a window to experiance natural light, setting up a a lighting system on a timer works really well too!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:04 pm

I am getting uva/uvb bulbs soon - would this be good for my hermies? they wre for my turtles, but I am getting two anyway....

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:06 pm

I would set them up on a timer to turn on and off at the same time everyday. Also, if they are incandesent bulbs, they will raise the temperature, and if you dont have a good lid, it will drop your humidity. It is not hard to remedy the humidity factor, but if yout temp goes to high, you could have a problem, which is why i use flouresent lighting.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:16 pm

actually, i have been experimenting with incandesant lighting recently....it seems to not get too hot with a regular bulb, and dents the humidity a little, but that is good b/c my humidity keeps creeping up to the 90's.

crabber, does the beneficial stuff in the sunlight get thru the glass?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:27 pm

interesting. i think i'll open up the curtain at my girlfriend's dorm tomorrow.

BAB · Post by **BAB** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:31 pm

Okay... I'm looking into lighting for my crabbies. I've always worried about their current placement and not getting enough sunlight.

Are there bulbs that produce somewhat the same effects as the sun that will go in a lamp?!?! May seem odd... but I have not hood. The prices of some comb lids and things have my mind spinning. It's only a few more months and our new house will be done and I'm getting a wonderful 30 gallon tank with all the trimmings! Seems silly to spend $40 now on my smaller tank that I won't be using then.

Thanks!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:36 pm

there are uva/uvb bulbs that fit itno incandesant lamps - if you look in the shopping drop down bar at the right, they should be in the buffalo pet website under the reptile section.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:37 pm

Most of my lighting came from a hardware store. Fouresent light fixtures are a lot cheaper at the hardware store than at a pet store, and the bulbs arent as much either.

Only recently have I pucked up ceramic light fixtured from the pet store, but that is because I am using 150 watt ceramic heat emitters, and the clamp lights from the hardware store are only rated to abot 100 watts.

A lot of basic housing supplies can be found at hardware stores for a lot less than at a pet store, its a good place to look for supplies

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:50 pm

yep! that's where i get my sand.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:01 pm

The next splurge on them will be for some kind of lighting, I'd especially like to get a moon-glow kind of thing.

I do worry about the purchase changing the temp in the tat though. My temp in my 40 gallon is a perfect 79-82. I'm not sure I'd want it to get even a degree or two warmer than that.

I'm just starting my research on it now. I was told that incandancent lighting would not really raise the temps. So I'm wondering if there are incandescent bulbs which simulate the benefits of sunlight? If not than I think I'd just use the open blinds method and consider getting a black light for night.

There is a black light on Petdiscounters which is 18" I was thinking about. If I could come up with something similar, which would provide just as much light and would be cheaper I would do it. But the pet discounters light seems to be in a frame where you could just set it on top of glass (I have a glass lid). If I got a regular black light I'm not sure how I'd install it over the tat, or if it would be safe to set on top of the glass?

I know the timer, hood set up is expensive! I'd rather accomplish this spending up to 40.00 tops.

Layne, it seems like some benefits of the sunlight is making it through the glass, but I am basing this solely off an increased activity level, I can't really say for sure.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:07 pm

Depending on the wattage, incandecent bulbs are going to raise your temperature more than flouresent bulbs. And incandesents designed to simulate sunlight are far more expensive than flouresent lighting. Timers are really cheap, I got mine for less than $5 at the hardware store. As for the flouresent lighting to simulate the sunlight, I use a combination of two lights, as the shoplight hood I bought holds 2 lights. One bulb was labelled "sunlight" and the other was labelled "plant and aquarium."

So here is a breakdown of cost:
1. Shoplight hood: ABout $20
2. Timer: Less than $5
4. Light bulbs: $5 - 10 each.

Max cost: about $50

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:25 pm

Thanks for the info. I very well could have misunderstood the info on the lighting, for some reason all the options puts my brain into overload and it does not want to compute.

Is a Shop light hood a kind of hood, or a brand name? I couldn't find it easily searching the net. Is this what you bought the fixture for? Did the fixture go inside the shop light hood? I do have NOT an engineering brain at all, so I'm picturing the hood, fixtures inside the hood (which makes the bulbs work) and the bulbs themselves as three pieces of one apparatus. Is this correct?

Excuse my ignorance, I'm sure lighting has been covered a million times, but my brain never wants to process it.

EDIT: And what about those light strips I see advertised? Do they go inside a hood?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:47 pm

By shoplight hoods, i meant essentially flouresent shop light fixtures At many hardware stores you can find them in various lengths etc...THey are not made for animals, but they give off light just the same.

Im not sure what you mean by light strips, sorry.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 8:15 pm

Thanks for the link. I see what you mean.

I guess my main concern is installation. I have a versa lid glass top.

I don't want to invest in lighting, and a new top, so I'm looking for something that can either be set on top of the glass safely, or that I can put near the tat or on the wall.

The light strips don't appear to be installed in the hood, but I am still not sure if I can place them on top of the glass top I have already.

CLICK HERE FOR PHOTO

It says can be placed over a glass top, well I would like to place it on top of. I'm not sure if that is the way these work or not. If I went with your Home store suggestion I'd still have the same installation questions. I don't want to have to figure it out as I'm doing it if I can avoid it.

Edit: Adjusted Link to avoid pushing dialogue.