Arcadia 55 watt D3+UV flood

[Ozric Jonathan]

This is the bigger brother of the 24 watt UV flood lamp and I'm really happy with it. In fact I just ordered a second one.

The lamp has a reflective metal backing piece that does what you would expect and the unit is very light. A cable goes to the power supply which is quite compact and also light and easy to handle. It's a simple plug-and-play lamp.

I set the lamp up using a very basic wooden support arm which is held in place by a simple corner bracket. This isn't adjustable like the arcadia stand, but it only cost me about 5p to do.

It's set up about 16" from the substrate and the notional uvb at tortoise level under it is around 140+ uw/cm2. There is a good diagram on the box which I'm sure is much more accurate than me holding a uv meter, but there is something reassuring about measuring it yourself.

Compared to the T5 uvb D3+12% tubes this flood lamp is quicker and easier to set up as well as tidier in terms of cables etc. At the moment the price of one of these is £60 on Swells and a replacement lamp would be £24.

I'd say this lamp is a really cost-effective uv option. For those of us who prefer to provide heat separately to uv this unit must be a contender.