Should I remove the attached acrylic lens on "ESU Reptile Slimline Light Fixture with 18 Super UV Lamp"?

Question

I purchased a "ESU Reptile Slimline Light Fixture with 18 Super UV Lamp" (http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753220) for my turtle tank. The lamp comes attached with an acrylic lens (as seen in the picture at the link). I know plastic blocks out UV radiation, and my red-eared slider turtle requires the UVB rays for proper development. However, (as you may or may not know), red-eared sliders required heated water, so I have a water heater in the tank to keep the water warm, which creates lots of evaporation. So my concern is, if I remove the acrylic lens on the UV lamp (which will go over the tank), will all the moisture from evaporation damage the UV lamp?

Answer 1

wow that is a toughy.

maybe create a condensation trap of somekind just below the light that will allow UV through and not water.

you could use very fine wired screen, and wipe it down everyday to make sure not that much water is getting to the light bulb. but i am sure that there wouldn't be that much condensation that it would ruin your light. since it is hot enough to evapourate the water on touch.

hope that helped a bit.

Answer 2

Take that fixture back.  It's cheap and you get what you pay for.  The UVB bulb puts out as much UVB as a regular house bulb (aka NONE).  Go buy yourself a ReptiSun 5.0 or 10.0 and then go to a hardware store and buy an under-cabinet fixture for $5-10.  Take any sort of plastic off that is would cover the UVB bulb, then mount it above your tank.

Large-hole mesh will allow enough UVB rays in that you'll be fine.  It's small mesh you want to stay away from.  The amount of condensation created shouldn't be bad as you need to replace your bulb every 3-6 months anyway.  The amount of time it would take to really cause an issue would be longer than that.