Correct Type of Lightbulb

[NickHendrix007]

I seem to be burning through lightbulbs REALLY quickly. I have a 25watt max light fixture and have the correct 25watt tubular light bulbs. Both burned out in less than 3 weeks. I do normal, 12 hours of light a day. My light fixture is actually 4 years old or so. Could it be the problem?

Also, the bulbs seem to be kind of expensive compared to other bulbs and all they are are incandescent bulbs. Can I just buy the bulb of my choice that is tubular from like Walmart or something for half the cost? I know there is a post on lighting so I know that people have different preferences on types of light and there are certain animals that need certain light, etc, etc.

Thanks!

[deranged chipmunk]

As long as the animal you are housing does not need uv light, then yes, you can use walmart light bulbs.

[NickHendrix007]

Thanks Bill! Always a help. BTW your tank you are working on looks awesome. Quick update on mine: I'm at school right now and only get to work on it when I go home, but it's a work in progress!

Instead of eggcrate, I cut and shaped plastic plant holders (the 24"Lx8"W ones) and drilled a bunch of drainage holes in them. Then I have PVC glued to the bottom of the tank. Smaller PVC is glued to the bottoms of the plastic plant holders so that they simply slide into the ones glued to the bottom and this way when I want to do cleaning I can just lift both the land portions out to clean it. The plant holder are surprisingly durable and hold a lot of weight. I cut off the edges of 2 of the sides that touch the water and am putting cut and formed PVC on them to protect the frogs for when they get in and out of the water because the cut edges of the plant holders were sharp! The plant holders have a layer of gravel covered in organic dirt and peat moss that will be heavily planted/decorated. The entire bottom 5 inches of the tank will be underwater and there is about 1/2 inch of air between the plastic and the top of the water. This way, the roots of the plants I will be planting will grow down through the substrate and land gravel, down through the drilled holes and into the water of the tank, watering them as well as offering shelter for guppies. Its a 20G Long and basically has 2 land portions on either end with the great stuff wterfall in the back that houses the filter. Its about 50/50 land water ratio. The PVC pipes are also roughly sanded and I am glueing sand and then mesh over them to grow moss on them to get rid of the "fake" look of the PVC. Anyway, quick update on the tank you answered so many questions about a few weeks ago! Thanks!

[deranged chipmunk]

No problem Nick. If you have pics, i'd love to see it. I love the idea of using smaller diameter pvc and making the.land removable. Very creative idea.

And thanks for the kind words. Stay tuned, i may be posting pics of my hissing cockroach build soon