Thank you for watching the episode! Personally, I will be sticking with my T5's. Of course, I will always be open to reviewing new evidence should some emerge!
I just found your channel and subscribed! This is an interesting discussion. I have some Green Anoles and am using an old fluorescent light over the tank that I'm not sure is putting out enough or the right light. The cage is 20" wide and the screen area in the lid is 18" wide (it has a plastic border around it). Which light would you recommend? I don't know what fits in this fixture so I probably want to get a tube and fixture to totally replace this one. If you could provide a link that would be really helpful or if there are several you'd recommend to choose from that would be good too. I want to get one as soon as possible to make sure they thrive and eat reliably.
I just found your channel and subscribed! This is an interesting discussion. I have some Green Anoles and am using an old fluorescent light over the tank that I'm not sure is putting out enough or the right light. The cage is 20" wide and the screen area in the lid is 18" wide (it has a plastic border around it). Which light would you recommend? I don't know what fits in this fixture so I probably want to get a tube and fixture to totally replace this one. If you could provide a link that would be really helpful or if there are several you'd recommend to choose from that would be good too. I want to get one as soon as possible to make sure they thrive and eat reliably.
@@IAMGiftbearer thanks for watching and subbing to the channel! I would check out the Arcadia lighting guide, it will tell you exactly what fixture and strength of UV you should use, it’s very helpful. www.arcadiareptile.com/lighting/guide/
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast Good! Erica and Ryan have spent a ton of time getting the LED UVB bulbs on par. I know Ryan worked with Dr. Francis Baines for the Zilla UVB's. So I have heavy confidence the new VivTech LED UVB bulbs will be just as good as the T5's.
Whenever I start a new bioactive tank I use compost from my indoor composter mixed with soil and coir based substrate. That compost has the composting bacteria and fungus you need to breakdown the animals waste. It also has various beneficial worms and arthropods from day one.
Just found your channel.. yey science.. this is what I need, not people waving different morphs around or cutting eggs .. quality herpetological information.. 👏😀
Really good discussion, especially with the new LED bulbs just hitting the market. This definitely helped me understand all the information that has been thrown out in the lighting and AHH groups lately.
I love his point about the reptile hobby learning from the aquarists. Coming from fish keeping, I was surprised by how my parameter measurements of my reptile enclosures were limited to temps and humidity. I hope we will one day be able to monitor our enclosures as closely as fish keepers do!
It’s funny, because the most recent episode I posted discusses why we sometimes sugarcoat the aquarium hobby. However, I still think there are many incredible fish keepers out there who deserve to be looked up to from a reptile keepers perspective!
I've been eyeing up the reptile systems led uvi lamps keeping a close eye on them a solar meter 8.0 checking for uvc read zero meaning no uvc however a spectrometer reading is really needed. I can't wait to see that. I'm sure others will check the spectrum .
Haha well some lamps can produce a a false negative on a UVC meter but not all. As you said, the spectrometer is really what is needed. Great to see companies pushing for new technology though
Just catching this now - what a resource. Thank you both for taking the Tim etc put this together and share with the world. Knowledge is power and without the knowledge, we cannot call ourselves responsible caretakers. Our Hobby just got that much more expensive! And that is OK.
This is super interesting! I've definitely been interested in setting up a bioactive enclosure for my future reptiles, and this has shown me that I have a lot more research to do!
Going back to the bioactive set ups, how do I know for certain if mine is correct? Like what is the checklist? Now I don’t think I can obtain native plants from New Caledonia, unless someone can point me in the right direction. But I would like to know for certain if my bioactive is a true bioactive. Still confused
I would definitely recommend grabbing John‘s book as it goes into great detail! However, the main point John was trying to drive home here is, bio active set ups take time to establish as the soil and substrate need to fully populate with bacterial cultures and insects/inverts. If you’ve had your set up running for a while, and you have a healthy population of cleanup crew insects, waste materials are being broken down and you have life plants to filter the soil, then you have a bio active set up! The issue we’re starting to see in the hobby is keepers assuming that if you a few isopod running around that counts as “bioactive”, not realizing that to be truly bioactive the soil needs to be functioning as a biological filter (not just a place for inverts to scurry around on 😂)
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast will do and gotcha!!!! Makes sense. I feel like someone could easily make a short comic of it. Just sprinkle some bugs and wa la bioactive! 🤣 thank you again!
It's always great to hear John talk, he is a wealth of knowledge. Do you know what the suffix in his name refers to? I can't figure out what MRSB means, lol. Also, are there any reptile Facebook groups you would recommend? Or even forums that are still active? A lot of the Facebook groups just feel like a tide of damage control for new owners that were misinformed
Yes he certainly is! I believe it stands for “Royal society of biology member”. I’m not exactly sure what it is though 🤷🏼♂️ I would check out Advancing Herpetological Husbandry FB group. That one is good 👍🏼
Let me see if I got it right.... Stick to my T5 UVB and add the jungle dawn apart. I still haven't got around to getting the jungle dawns since the cuttings I got are still too small to go into the enclosure. Not to buy LEDS with UVB because even though they give off UVB, they also give off UVC (which is dangerous) but not UVA (which is what make us stop the production of Vit D3 when there's enough). Is that right?
Yep, that is correct for all the bulbs that are on the market and that have tests/study results available. There are still a few bulbs that are apparently in prototype that do not have data available yet (maybe we will find that they are different from the other problematic UV LED bulbs… time will tell!)
You won’t regret the jungle dawn add on .. it’s fantastic.. just don’t look at your decorating skills with it (blushes) .. I’m getting another as a work lamp for next time I paint my ceiling 😂
@@spotsandstripes2 I finally did get the jungle dawn and I put plants in the enclosure too! It looks soooo much better now. And you're right about it being bright, I don't think I have any other light in my house as bright.
So I'm not having the easiest time following, my main question is in regards to led UVB bulbs. Do they provide sufficient UVB for reptiles (depending on species and distance of the lamp) but not sufficient UVA? As well harmful amounts of UVC?
Depending on the brand some will have UVC, VivTech ones don’t. But all LEDUV bulbs are currently lacking the UV a spectrum. They throw off plenty of UVB, but not enough UVA.
UV LEDs were made for industrial applications and medical applications, so it's designed to have that really tight wave length- It's NOT intended to be used long term with living things.
I don’t believe Arcadia has an LEDUVB available. As of right now this holds true for most of the LED bulbs on the market (referring to the potential issue of overproduction of D3)
I don’t keep animals that have strict uv requirements. I mostly stick to plants and invertebrates, as they require minimal husbandry. Fortunately I don’t need to worry about complicated lighting so much. I just buy a fancy aquascaping light with good colour rendition & customisation options, and then call it a day.
Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has become concerned about this. I don't have bioactive yet because I haven't calculated a stable system for my hognose yet and I won't be introducing her until it is active for several months once I do have one. If your plants keep dying in your bio actives, it isn't bio active yet. My girl is in a non natural but engaging build which I keep making more elaborate as she grows, but I would like to go more natural with bioactive eventually. Basically, bio active is a terrarium that is entirely self contained that eventually you can add a reptile to without killing the whole thing provided you give food and fresh water and air flow etc.
I'm making a custom cabinet up cycle /re furb build, doing a background, water proofing making ventilation correct making a real project out of it. I want to put an animal in it (leechie or Whites tree frogs) but before I do that as I haven't made a decision I'm gonna let it grow in for a whole let plants really thrive and custodians to get going. I want a a terrainum that looks like a slice of forest and then I'll add the animal but that hasn't been decided yet so will come in time
I look at "bioactive" as a The breakdown of nitrogenous waste and detritus It's like cycling a fish tank, And yes not everything needs it I would say only animals in humid wet environments will need and benefit from it, stuff like bearded dragons leopard geckos can be set up to be "bioactive" but they do just as good on a "naturalistic" setup.
Yeah, I haven't found a good bioactive plan for hognose yet. I'm going to put together my own some day, but for now I do an engaging and challenging not natural but mentally stimulating system because I value brain development over looking like the wild. I'll move more towards the natural when I get to know the species better and my animal is larger. Once I go through that with her, I can start making grow up systems for additional generations based on the findings.
You very briefly mentioned it and it's got me wondering: can you safely mix different species of springtails and isopods together? I was hoping to, but I got spooked reading online about how most of the time, one species of isopod will outcompete the other, or potentially leading to both species dying off.
I think in some cases that is true. I think generally that happens when people try and mix isopod species within their breeding containers. In those scenarios I think the environment is just too small and one species eventually will out-compete. However, in a large Viv setting that’s less of an issue. I keep dwarf white and powder blue isopods in my day gecko enclosure and each colony thrives.
Bioactivity and the Theory of Wild Re-Creation. You can find it on Acardia's website... although I'm not sure you can buy it off their site. I think Light Your Reptiles sells his books in the US
Animals at Home is doing a great job getting my attention, i have listened to 3 so far, and it is great. i did not make my bearded dragons enclosure bio active, i made them gardens to go in, so it is easy to get out and fix, i have been wanting to put more bugs in, cuz i did let it sit for 2 months, but i think they had died, i will have to pick up his book. and my dragons do us their gardens, but most of the plants have died. i thought about what is normal for their home, but also what they could eat. I disagree with his statement that you need to close off 3 walls, that is not an absolute, so that is what makes it wrong, your guest from abronia group doesn't, and i put up acrylic on both side of my dragons enclosure so they can look out 2 different windows, but i do not have cats or dogs. their is a benefit for humans to deal with the right amount of stress it is healthy, to much stress is unhealthy, not a small amount, unless they can never get rid of it.
I'm so glad I found this video, I currently don't have any reptiles or amphibians but I do have a fish tank and now I'm reconsidering my choice of putting led bar there in favour of fluorescent light.
Thank you for listening! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using LED bulbs for visible light. So I wouldn’t worry about changing your current fish tank bulbs
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast thanks for your help! Also great video and very educational especially since I'm planning on getting some reptiles in the near future
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast yes this is correct Dillion. Quality visible light can be provided for aquaria and terraria by LED, it is only the provision of the correct spectrum of UV that has huge questions.
Personally, I’d like to see a little more development in their tech but in the future they may be something to keep an eye on! You can catch my chat with Ryan here: ua-cam.com/video/b0ikLyAElEM/v-deo.html
Personally, I’d like to see a little more development in their tech but in the future they may be something to keep an eye on! You can catch my chat with Ryan here: ua-cam.com/video/b0ikLyAElEM/v-deo.html
Is it safe to have a UV corn bulb? Its the purple LED one. What does it give off? Uvb or uva or nothing and its only for show to make things glow? I have no idea
I definitely wouldn’t use that. It’s hard to say what wavelength it’s giving off, safe or not to use it. Plus, I imagine a purple environment may be somewhat stressful for the animal.
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast i ended up buying this mini gazebo and had some fake vines tied around it and hung it in my backyard but was careful to have in centered in my house so we wont walk off to a neighbor. i will leave him outside for 3 hours before placing him back into hi enclosure to ear. at the same time as he is outside i spray him once an hour. is it safe to but calcium drops into his water? i place 2-4 drops on his dish and walks down and bends over to drink with the tip of his mouth.
Some people definitely do go out and just buy a fishtank and put fish in it the same day, I feel bad for the fish honestly. I want to try doing a bioactive, I'm getting a custom 6 ft long, 3 ft deep and 4 ft high Viv built with a 15 inch area at the bottom for the substrate, though honestly I'm still researching and learning about how to do it as I want to use live plants and moss in the enclosure with a waterfall feature and cuc, though I'm planning on building up the cuc in a smaller container for a few months to build the numbers up. It's for my cornsnake, so I'm also trying to research what plants they have in their natural habitat and if I can get them here in the UK. The next snake I want is a ball python and if I can get my cornsnakes enclosure to work I'll be doing a similar set up for the ball python (with plants from their habitat) (same sized vivarium, before anyone says anything yes I know 4x2x2ft is "fine" for them, but I believe in going bigger and letting the snake be able to fully stretch out)
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast Thank you, I hope so as I want to eventually use my animals to teach others about reptiles and I wouldn't feel right doing that unless I was giving them the very best set up I am able to give them and recommending better care to others, like I could never keep them in an empty rack with nothing to stimulate them (racks do have their uses for like hatchlings ect) and then go into a school to teach kids about them knowing my husbandry isn't up to standard. I feel bad now knowing my cornsnake is in a 4 by 2 by 2 foot enclosure when I'm talking to the neighbors kids about him because I want to do better which is why I have this new big Viv planned out for him
Yeah I've seen the spectrum they've produced. It still lacks volume between UVB/UVA (likely due to the single UVA diode). That doesn't necessarily mean is a bad lamp, it just means T5's are probably still superior. I think the main question comes down to: Should we be striving to provide full-spectrum light? Or should be just be providing the specific wavelengths of energy that are responsible for D3, Vision, etc. It's a topic I plan on getting deeper into in the next 4-6 weeks 👍
@@varanaut1308 look at the SPD, does energy continue to increase smoothly upwards from terrestrial UV-B up through UV-A into visible, or are there spikes and troughs??????
I would LOVE to see the data about the "fact" of hypervitaminosis caused by single wavelength UVB. All the existing literature points to 295nm being the "sweet spot" of ideal conversion of 7DHC into Previtamin D3, and as long as UVA is also provided, overproduction of vitamin D3 is self limiting. I would just like to see what peer-reviewed journal he's referencing.
“As long as UVA is also provided” is the key here. Many (if not most) of the UV LED lamps on the market lack an appropriate volume and spectrum of UVA. It’s impossible to provide the correct spectrum of UVA with 1-2 diodes.
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast It just seems that this is a relatively small hurdle to overcome. 2 additional diodes and the crux of the argument and fear of "LEDs are bad" seems to evaporate. Further, his argument seems to be that "single wavelength UVB at 295nm" is not adequate, and that ONLY the spectrum from T5s in the UVB range are acceptable, which seems to be untrue.
Adding a few more UVA wavelength diode‘s with solve part of the problem. But then you would still be left with the volume issue. There’s far more UVA energy in terrestrial sunlight and there is UVB. So to match this with an LED lamp, you need to make sure the UVA specific diode‘s are a higher wattage. In other words, as you move from UVB to UVA diode‘s the wattage has to increase. At the end of the day it comes down to two schools of thought. A) we should try and replicate full spectrum sunlight or B) we can take a reductionist approach and only supply the sections of the spectrum that we deem “important”. Personally, I think we know too little about how reptiles interact with sunlight to feel comfortable selecting parts of the spectrum we think are important. Over the next 2 to 3 months I have a few more episodes that dive into this topic at a much deeper level so you may want to tune into those!
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast Absolutely! Matching the volume is incredibly important, or at least seems to be without any direct studies of wavelength and power and their relationship with biological functions. I also totally agree in your assessment and can see both sides. Matching the sun is great, but if we can quantitatively define the required spectrums and power and do it "better" that may also be the way forward. No matter what, we need proper studies to understand what the animals need, as we travel into new LED territory. I will certainly watch those episodes, thanks for your in depth replies!
When you/he talk about bioactive. He says it’s not bioactive whit only springtails and isopods. But he doesn’t say what more you need? Is it earth worms and what not? I think it’s not good to say «you are doing it wrong» whit out saying what is right.
I understand your perspective, but honestly, bioactivity is such a complex topic it would be tough to do it any justice in a single podcast episode. The purpose of this episode was to highlight the errors being made with “bioactivity”. If you find yourself with many bio active related questions, then more research is necessary. I can’t recommend John’s book enough, he breaks down all of the important topics in great detail. So if you’re looking for more information, I would start there 👍🏼
Good question, I thought the same thing. Yes, and no. Yes, a full array of the solar spectrum via LEDs would solve the problem, however, there are two issues. First, currently, there aren't enough LED bulbs to fill the spectrum (i.e., a lack of technology, we don't have bulbs that produce certain wavelengths), and second, different sections of the spectrum are denser than others, meaning you would have to program the lamp so that the individual diodes produce a varying level of output (for lack of a better term, some diodes would need to be brighter than others). I assume one day we will get there!
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast This was two years ago, and Zoomed released a UVB led with UVA, I can't find much on it, but all reddit/board posts I have found have reported it to be effective. Do you know anything about that?
The ZooMed lamp is safe as far as not containing any UVC however the actual spectrum of the bulb still lacks certain wavelengths of UVA that regulate D3 production. In my opinion, the ZooMed bulb should be paired with a conventional T5 UV bulb as well to ensure there is no risk of D3 overproduction. The folks at ZooMed echoed that as well: ua-cam.com/video/sad0z5tZZOo/v-deo.htmlsi=-j9cDJ_B_dVo--Gr
Are you sponsored by Arcadia in any way? Even given bulbs? Because this is quite biased if you wanted to put out a good video that really had the industry in mind you should have had both sides of the story before putting out this all LED/UVB is deadly propaganda.
I am not sponsored by Acadia nor have they ever given me any products. This video presents the current facts surrounding LEDs as they exist today. I have reached out to the brands producing UVLED bulbs, I even sent some of them an early copy of this episode. The issue is, those brands don’t have enough data/test results to refute the claims made in this video. At this point, I am waiting for them to gather and finalize data. Once they have it, they will be on the show to present it. Until then, we must follow the science currently available. Do you think I should have waited until those brands had test/data available for the public before releasing this video?
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast yes I do. By not looking at the whole story you give things a slant one way or another. To remain truly bias let the other side have a chance to refute claims. While anyone can make claims that are supported with facts or data in either direction there should be a chance give for those test to be run that would show a full picture not one companies interpretation of the facts.
So you expect me, a podcast, to wait for these companies to establish scientific data/test results to support the product… But you don’t expect the companies themselves to acquire that same data BEFORE they bring their product to market? This video is a direct response to products being sold without data being available.
Very interesting... I've been keeping reef aquaria for ten years and it's quite common for people to make their own lights using CREE XTE LEDs including blues and Royal blue, the latter having a UV element as corals "glow" under them. The dominant wave lengths are from 452 - 465nm... Not sure these would be any use for reptiles as I'm not a lighting engineer and the datasheet could be written in Klingon for all I know cree-led.com/media/documents/XLampXTE.pdf
That is interesting… I’m not exactly sure how that translates to reptiles. I know some LEDs with high levels of blue light can cause damage to reptiles,It’s possible that the water filters out the “harshness” of the blue light so the fish aren’t affected. I always find it amazing how much technology is on the aquarium side of the hobby
You are right, CREE are very good at what they do and have been used for aquatics for years. These diodes are visible blue only being around 450-470nm depending on bin. This is not within UV or even long wavelength UV-A ad should not be described as such. In tests for corals over years from Arcadia Aquatic we found 440nm to be most effective for coral fluorescence. I am not sure what positive role on their biology this has, but it makes them look pretty to the human at least. Blue travels well through water, as does UV.
@@ArcadiaReptile As mentioned, I wasn't sure if the wavelengths were beneficial for reptiles or not. Just that when just the Royal blues are run, its like an old 1970's disco with anything white glowing as if under a black light, so in my mind some UV of some wavelength is being emitted, and even with a mix of 2x Royal Blue to one Cree cool white (6K) the corals in my tank are doing well. My main concern is I often wonder how long it will be before governments start to look at phasing out fluorescent tubes due to the rare coatings and gasses used in their production. Here in the UK Halogens are now banned from general sale. Whether this includes specialist reptile lamps I don't know.... Lets hope that by the time the powers that be enforce a policy that ALL lighting must be LED the manufactures have developed the technology that provides LEDs that do the same job as what's currently on the market when it comes to providing UV or "natural" daylight.
Thank you for watching the episode! Personally, I will be sticking with my T5's. Of course, I will always be open to reviewing new evidence should some emerge!
And, I will be happy to read your reviews, but you will have to pry my Arcadia bulbs from my cold, dead hands, when I die.
I just found your channel and subscribed! This is an interesting discussion. I have some Green Anoles and am using an old fluorescent light over the tank that I'm not sure is putting out enough or the right light. The cage is 20" wide and the screen area in the lid is 18" wide (it has a plastic border around it). Which light would you recommend? I don't know what fits in this fixture so I probably want to get a tube and fixture to totally replace this one. If you could provide a link that would be really helpful or if there are several you'd recommend to choose from that would be good too. I want to get one as soon as possible to make sure they thrive and eat reliably.
I just found your channel and subscribed! This is an interesting discussion. I have some Green Anoles and am using an old fluorescent light over the tank that I'm not sure is putting out enough or the right light. The cage is 20" wide and the screen area in the lid is 18" wide (it has a plastic border around it). Which light would you recommend? I don't know what fits in this fixture so I probably want to get a tube and fixture to totally replace this one. If you could provide a link that would be really helpful or if there are several you'd recommend to choose from that would be good too. I want to get one as soon as possible to make sure they thrive and eat reliably.
@@IAMGiftbearer thanks for watching and subbing to the channel! I would check out the Arcadia lighting guide, it will tell you exactly what fixture and strength of UV you should use, it’s very helpful. www.arcadiareptile.com/lighting/guide/
I would definitely recommend doing a with Ryan Mcveigh and his wife on their new sursun bulbs, which definitely plan on getting
Yeah, I’ve already been chatting with Ryan. As soon as the data is released on their bulbs, we plan on organizing an episode to have them on
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast Good! Erica and Ryan have spent a ton of time getting the LED UVB bulbs on par. I know Ryan worked with Dr. Francis Baines for the Zilla UVB's. So I have heavy confidence the new VivTech LED UVB bulbs will be just as good as the T5's.
Whenever I start a new bioactive tank I use compost from my indoor composter mixed with soil and coir based substrate. That compost has the composting bacteria and fungus you need to breakdown the animals waste. It also has various beneficial worms and arthropods from day one.
That is a fantastic tip! Thank you for sharing
Elijah I am happy for you to comment on which of the cited papers you would rewrite with your view of the facts.
Thanks i will listen to this video regularly
His knowledge on UVA/UVB-bulbs are
exceptional 👍 Subscribed!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you for watching and subscribing
Just found your channel.. yey science.. this is what I need, not people waving different morphs around or cutting eggs .. quality herpetological information..
👏😀
Welcome to the channel 🙂
Fascinating conversation. You guys need talk more often.
Thanks for listening, John will definitely be back on in the future!
Really good discussion, especially with the new LED bulbs just hitting the market. This definitely helped me understand all the information that has been thrown out in the lighting and AHH groups lately.
Thank you for listening, Mary! I’m glad you enjoyed the episode
Glad I had the opportunity to get John's help when setting up for my BTS. Much more for me to do still.
He is an amazing resource!
Excellent discussion on LEDs! I'll have to go back and watch the bioactive discussion when I get the chance, good stuff!
Thanks for listening to the LED section, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the bio active section just as much!
I love his point about the reptile hobby learning from the aquarists. Coming from fish keeping, I was surprised by how my parameter measurements of my reptile enclosures were limited to temps and humidity. I hope we will one day be able to monitor our enclosures as closely as fish keepers do!
It’s funny, because the most recent episode I posted discusses why we sometimes sugarcoat the aquarium hobby. However, I still think there are many incredible fish keepers out there who deserve to be looked up to from a reptile keepers perspective!
I've been eyeing up the reptile systems led uvi lamps keeping a close eye on them a solar meter 8.0 checking for uvc read zero meaning no uvc however a spectrometer reading is really needed. I can't wait to see that. I'm sure others will check the spectrum .
I comment this the then u hear him say how they false read on the uvc meter hahhaa
Haha well some lamps can produce a a false negative on a UVC meter but not all. As you said, the spectrometer is really what is needed. Great to see companies pushing for new technology though
Just catching this now - what a resource. Thank you both for taking the Tim etc put this together and share with the world. Knowledge is power and without the knowledge, we cannot call ourselves responsible caretakers. Our Hobby just got that much more expensive! And that is OK.
Thanks for watching, Bradley! I’m glad you enjoyed it 👌🏼
This is super interesting! I've definitely been interested in setting up a bioactive enclosure for my future reptiles, and this has shown me that I have a lot more research to do!
Thank you for listening, glad you found it helpful!
Going back to the bioactive set ups, how do I know for certain if mine is correct? Like what is the checklist?
Now I don’t think I can obtain native plants from New Caledonia, unless someone can point me in the right direction.
But I would like to know for certain if my bioactive is a true bioactive. Still confused
I would definitely recommend grabbing John‘s book as it goes into great detail! However, the main point John was trying to drive home here is, bio active set ups take time to establish as the soil and substrate need to fully populate with bacterial cultures and insects/inverts. If you’ve had your set up running for a while, and you have a healthy population of cleanup crew insects, waste materials are being broken down and you have life plants to filter the soil, then you have a bio active set up! The issue we’re starting to see in the hobby is keepers assuming that if you a few isopod running around that counts as “bioactive”, not realizing that to be truly bioactive the soil needs to be functioning as a biological filter (not just a place for inverts to scurry around on 😂)
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast will do and gotcha!!!! Makes sense. I feel like someone could easily make a short comic of it. Just sprinkle some bugs and wa la bioactive! 🤣 thank you again!
it's been 2 years, any update on the lighting technology? especially on the LED UVB
We will be recording another episode later this fall, it will include some updates!
Just when I thought I was competent with what I knew about bio activity...
Haha yes I hear ya! Every time I talk to John I have the urge to start from scratch 🤣
Just to add, i do not feel competent either... we are all learning!
It's always great to hear John talk, he is a wealth of knowledge. Do you know what the suffix in his name refers to? I can't figure out what MRSB means, lol.
Also, are there any reptile Facebook groups you would recommend? Or even forums that are still active? A lot of the Facebook groups just feel like a tide of damage control for new owners that were misinformed
Yes he certainly is! I believe it stands for “Royal society of biology member”. I’m not exactly sure what it is though 🤷🏼♂️ I would check out Advancing Herpetological Husbandry FB group. That one is good 👍🏼
Let me see if I got it right.... Stick to my T5 UVB and add the jungle dawn apart. I still haven't got around to getting the jungle dawns since the cuttings I got are still too small to go into the enclosure. Not to buy LEDS with UVB because even though they give off UVB, they also give off UVC (which is dangerous) but not UVA (which is what make us stop the production of Vit D3 when there's enough). Is that right?
Yep, that is correct for all the bulbs that are on the market and that have tests/study results available. There are still a few bulbs that are apparently in prototype that do not have data available yet (maybe we will find that they are different from the other problematic UV LED bulbs… time will tell!)
You won’t regret the jungle dawn add on .. it’s fantastic.. just don’t look at your decorating skills with it (blushes) .. I’m getting another as a work lamp for next time I paint my ceiling 😂
@@spotsandstripes2 I finally did get the jungle dawn and I put plants in the enclosure too! It looks soooo much better now. And you're right about it being bright, I don't think I have any other light in my house as bright.
@@lagestita 👍😁
So I'm not having the easiest time following, my main question is in regards to led UVB bulbs. Do they provide sufficient UVB for reptiles (depending on species and distance of the lamp) but not sufficient UVA? As well harmful amounts of UVC?
Depending on the brand some will have UVC, VivTech ones don’t. But all LEDUV bulbs are currently lacking the UV a spectrum. They throw off plenty of UVB, but not enough UVA.
I bought his book before the 35 minute mark!
It is well worth it!
UV LEDs were made for industrial applications and medical applications, so it's designed to have that really tight wave length- It's NOT intended to be used long term with living things.
As far as I know, that is correct. I don’t know if any current LEDs that have a wide bandwidth
Does this still hold true with the zoomed led/uvb lamp just released and the acacia led uvb lamp both are using uva diods along with uvb diods
I don’t believe Arcadia has an LEDUVB available. As of right now this holds true for most of the LED bulbs on the market (referring to the potential issue of overproduction of D3)
I don’t keep animals that have strict uv requirements. I mostly stick to plants and invertebrates, as they require minimal husbandry. Fortunately I don’t need to worry about complicated lighting so much. I just buy a fancy aquascaping light with good colour rendition & customisation options, and then call it a day.
That certainly does simplify things!
Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one who has become concerned about this. I don't have bioactive yet because I haven't calculated a stable system for my hognose yet and I won't be introducing her until it is active for several months once I do have one. If your plants keep dying in your bio actives, it isn't bio active yet. My girl is in a non natural but engaging build which I keep making more elaborate as she grows, but I would like to go more natural with bioactive eventually. Basically, bio active is a terrarium that is entirely self contained that eventually you can add a reptile to without killing the whole thing provided you give food and fresh water and air flow etc.
Precisely! Thank you for listening!
Get Ryan on the show!
I’ve been chatting with Ryan this week, as soon as they’ve finalized and released the data on their bulbs we will have them on the show 👌🏼
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast Sweet! Looking forward to it mate.
I'm making a custom cabinet up cycle /re furb build, doing a background, water proofing making ventilation correct making a real project out of it. I want to put an animal in it (leechie or Whites tree frogs) but before I do that as I haven't made a decision I'm gonna let it grow in for a whole let plants really thrive and custodians to get going. I want a a terrainum that looks like a slice of forest and then I'll add the animal but that hasn't been decided yet so will come in time
That's an excellent plan!
I look at "bioactive" as a The breakdown of nitrogenous waste and detritus It's like cycling a fish tank, And yes not everything needs it I would say only animals in humid wet environments will need and benefit from it, stuff like bearded dragons leopard geckos can be set up to be "bioactive" but they do just as good on a "naturalistic" setup.
Yeah, I haven't found a good bioactive plan for hognose yet. I'm going to put together my own some day, but for now I do an engaging and challenging not natural but mentally stimulating system because I value brain development over looking like the wild. I'll move more towards the natural when I get to know the species better and my animal is larger. Once I go through that with her, I can start making grow up systems for additional generations based on the findings.
You very briefly mentioned it and it's got me wondering: can you safely mix different species of springtails and isopods together? I was hoping to, but I got spooked reading online about how most of the time, one species of isopod will outcompete the other, or potentially leading to both species dying off.
I think in some cases that is true. I think generally that happens when people try and mix isopod species within their breeding containers. In those scenarios I think the environment is just too small and one species eventually will out-compete. However, in a large Viv setting that’s less of an issue. I keep dwarf white and powder blue isopods in my day gecko enclosure and each colony thrives.
Whats the name of John's book on bioactive stuff? I can't find it lol. Thanks for the great podcast! Lots of good stuff
Bioactivity and the Theory of Wild Re-Creation. You can find it on Acardia's website... although I'm not sure you can buy it off their site. I think Light Your Reptiles sells his books in the US
Well ya found be talking about it on IG and now you gotta fan sir
Thanks, man! Glad you like what you see so far!
fantastic!!
Enjoy!
Animals at Home is doing a great job getting my attention, i have listened to 3 so far, and it is great.
i did not make my bearded dragons enclosure bio active, i made them gardens to go in, so it is easy to get out and fix, i have been wanting to put more bugs in, cuz i did let it sit for 2 months, but i think they had died, i will have to pick up his book. and my dragons do us their gardens, but most of the plants have died. i thought about what is normal for their home, but also what they could eat.
I disagree with his statement that you need to close off 3 walls, that is not an absolute, so that is what makes it wrong, your guest from abronia group doesn't, and i put up acrylic on both side of my dragons enclosure so they can look out 2 different windows, but i do not have cats or dogs. their is a benefit for humans to deal with the right amount of stress it is healthy, to much stress is unhealthy, not a small amount, unless they can never get rid of it.
Thank you for listening, I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Oooohoho, I knew this topic would be coming up.
Enjoy the episode! It’s a complex topic!
I guess I'll still to my Mercury Vapor lamps for my BP.
I'm so glad I found this video, I currently don't have any reptiles or amphibians but I do have a fish tank and now I'm reconsidering my choice of putting led bar there in favour of fluorescent light.
Thank you for listening! I don’t think there’s anything wrong with using LED bulbs for visible light. So I wouldn’t worry about changing your current fish tank bulbs
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast thanks for your help! Also great video and very educational especially since I'm planning on getting some reptiles in the near future
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast yes this is correct Dillion. Quality visible light can be provided for aquaria and terraria by LED, it is only the provision of the correct spectrum of UV that has huge questions.
Does this include my vivtech led uv light I just bought?
No, for the section re: UVC. Yes, for the section discussion lack of UVA. Ryan explains here: ua-cam.com/video/b0ikLyAElEM/v-deo.html
What about vivtech products? Are we saying they aren't safe or are they the exception given that they do test with a spectrometer?
Personally, I’d like to see a little more development in their tech but in the future they may be something to keep an eye on! You can catch my chat with Ryan here: ua-cam.com/video/b0ikLyAElEM/v-deo.html
Personally, I’d like to see a little more development in their tech but in the future they may be something to keep an eye on! You can catch my chat with Ryan here: ua-cam.com/video/b0ikLyAElEM/v-deo.html
Is it safe to have a UV corn bulb? Its the purple LED one. What does it give off? Uvb or uva or nothing and its only for show to make things glow? I have no idea
I definitely wouldn’t use that. It’s hard to say what wavelength it’s giving off, safe or not to use it. Plus, I imagine a purple environment may be somewhat stressful for the animal.
It’s best to replicate natural sunlight
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast i ended up buying this mini gazebo and had some fake vines tied around it and hung it in my backyard but was careful to have in centered in my house so we wont walk off to a neighbor. i will leave him outside for 3 hours before placing him back into hi enclosure to ear. at the same time as he is outside i spray him once an hour. is it safe to but calcium drops into his water? i place 2-4 drops on his dish and walks down and bends over to drink with the tip of his mouth.
@@Raaa1111.. what species?
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast panther red/blue bar
Some people definitely do go out and just buy a fishtank and put fish in it the same day, I feel bad for the fish honestly.
I want to try doing a bioactive, I'm getting a custom 6 ft long, 3 ft deep and 4 ft high Viv built with a 15 inch area at the bottom for the substrate, though honestly I'm still researching and learning about how to do it as I want to use live plants and moss in the enclosure with a waterfall feature and cuc, though I'm planning on building up the cuc in a smaller container for a few months to build the numbers up.
It's for my cornsnake, so I'm also trying to research what plants they have in their natural habitat and if I can get them here in the UK.
The next snake I want is a ball python and if I can get my cornsnakes enclosure to work I'll be doing a similar set up for the ball python (with plants from their habitat) (same sized vivarium, before anyone says anything yes I know 4x2x2ft is "fine" for them, but I believe in going bigger and letting the snake be able to fully stretch out)
Sounds like you have a very thought out and thorough plan! My guess is you’re going to have a pretty amazing set up once finished 👌🏼
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast Thank you, I hope so as I want to eventually use my animals to teach others about reptiles and I wouldn't feel right doing that unless I was giving them the very best set up I am able to give them and recommending better care to others, like I could never keep them in an empty rack with nothing to stimulate them (racks do have their uses for like hatchlings ect) and then go into a school to teach kids about them knowing my husbandry isn't up to standard.
I feel bad now knowing my cornsnake is in a 4 by 2 by 2 foot enclosure when I'm talking to the neighbors kids about him because I want to do better which is why I have this new big Viv planned out for him
@Rex Colubra I really, really hate people like that.
I feel if someone is going to get an animal they should give it the best, safest life possible.
Zoomed has a uvb led that is coming to market eventually. Looks like it has more than 4 diodes. Any data on that?
I haven't seen any third party analysis of those bulbs yet. Now that they are on the market, it shouldn't be long!
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast zoomed.com/uvbled/
Is the spectrum here good, assuming accuracy?
Yeah I've seen the spectrum they've produced. It still lacks volume between UVB/UVA (likely due to the single UVA diode). That doesn't necessarily mean is a bad lamp, it just means T5's are probably still superior. I think the main question comes down to: Should we be striving to provide full-spectrum light? Or should be just be providing the specific wavelengths of energy that are responsible for D3, Vision, etc. It's a topic I plan on getting deeper into in the next 4-6 weeks 👍
@@varanaut1308 look at the SPD, does energy continue to increase smoothly upwards from terrestrial UV-B up through UV-A into visible, or are there spikes and troughs??????
They should just use a UVC led inside a bulb with same phosphors as the fluorescent bulbs.
So what I'm getting from this, stick with the Arcadia UVB tubes until the LED technology can properly apply all the wavelengths that are safe.
That’s what I plan on doing!
I would LOVE to see the data about the "fact" of hypervitaminosis caused by single wavelength UVB. All the existing literature points to 295nm being the "sweet spot" of ideal conversion of 7DHC into Previtamin D3, and as long as UVA is also provided, overproduction of vitamin D3 is self limiting. I would just like to see what peer-reviewed journal he's referencing.
“As long as UVA is also provided” is the key here. Many (if not most) of the UV LED lamps on the market lack an appropriate volume and spectrum of UVA. It’s impossible to provide the correct spectrum of UVA with 1-2 diodes.
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast It just seems that this is a relatively small hurdle to overcome. 2 additional diodes and the crux of the argument and fear of "LEDs are bad" seems to evaporate. Further, his argument seems to be that "single wavelength UVB at 295nm" is not adequate, and that ONLY the spectrum from T5s in the UVB range are acceptable, which seems to be untrue.
Adding a few more UVA wavelength diode‘s with solve part of the problem. But then you would still be left with the volume issue. There’s far more UVA energy in terrestrial sunlight and there is UVB. So to match this with an LED lamp, you need to make sure the UVA specific diode‘s are a higher wattage. In other words, as you move from UVB to UVA diode‘s the wattage has to increase.
At the end of the day it comes down to two schools of thought. A) we should try and replicate full spectrum sunlight or B) we can take a reductionist approach and only supply the sections of the spectrum that we deem “important”.
Personally, I think we know too little about how reptiles interact with sunlight to feel comfortable selecting parts of the spectrum we think are important.
Over the next 2 to 3 months I have a few more episodes that dive into this topic at a much deeper level so you may want to tune into those!
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast Absolutely! Matching the volume is incredibly important, or at least seems to be without any direct studies of wavelength and power and their relationship with biological functions.
I also totally agree in your assessment and can see both sides. Matching the sun is great, but if we can quantitatively define the required spectrums and power and do it "better" that may also be the way forward.
No matter what, we need proper studies to understand what the animals need, as we travel into new LED territory.
I will certainly watch those episodes, thanks for your in depth replies!
When you/he talk about bioactive. He says it’s not bioactive whit only springtails and isopods. But he doesn’t say what more you need?
Is it earth worms and what not?
I think it’s not good to say «you are doing it wrong» whit out saying what is right.
I understand your perspective, but honestly, bioactivity is such a complex topic it would be tough to do it any justice in a single podcast episode. The purpose of this episode was to highlight the errors being made with “bioactivity”. If you find yourself with many bio active related questions, then more research is necessary. I can’t recommend John’s book enough, he breaks down all of the important topics in great detail. So if you’re looking for more information, I would start there 👍🏼
Wouldn't an array of LEDS that hit different parts of the spectrum solve the problem of being to "specific" of a light?
Good question, I thought the same thing. Yes, and no. Yes, a full array of the solar spectrum via LEDs would solve the problem, however, there are two issues. First, currently, there aren't enough LED bulbs to fill the spectrum (i.e., a lack of technology, we don't have bulbs that produce certain wavelengths), and second, different sections of the spectrum are denser than others, meaning you would have to program the lamp so that the individual diodes produce a varying level of output (for lack of a better term, some diodes would need to be brighter than others). I assume one day we will get there!
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast This was two years ago, and Zoomed released a UVB led with UVA, I can't find much on it, but all reddit/board posts I have found have reported it to be effective. Do you know anything about that?
The ZooMed lamp is safe as far as not containing any UVC however the actual spectrum of the bulb still lacks certain wavelengths of UVA that regulate D3 production. In my opinion, the ZooMed bulb should be paired with a conventional T5 UV bulb as well to ensure there is no risk of D3 overproduction. The folks at ZooMed echoed that as well: ua-cam.com/video/sad0z5tZZOo/v-deo.htmlsi=-j9cDJ_B_dVo--Gr
Ruh oh!
Are you sponsored by Arcadia in any way? Even given bulbs? Because this is quite biased if you wanted to put out a good video that really had the industry in mind you should have had both sides of the story before putting out this all LED/UVB is deadly propaganda.
I am not sponsored by Acadia nor have they ever given me any products. This video presents the current facts surrounding LEDs as they exist today. I have reached out to the brands producing UVLED bulbs, I even sent some of them an early copy of this episode. The issue is, those brands don’t have enough data/test results to refute the claims made in this video. At this point, I am waiting for them to gather and finalize data. Once they have it, they will be on the show to present it. Until then, we must follow the science currently available. Do you think I should have waited until those brands had test/data available for the public before releasing this video?
@@AnimalsatHomePodcast yes I do. By not looking at the whole story you give things a slant one way or another. To remain truly bias let the other side have a chance to refute claims. While anyone can make claims that are supported with facts or data in either direction there should be a chance give for those test to be run that would show a full picture not one companies interpretation of the facts.
So you expect me, a podcast, to wait for these companies to establish scientific data/test results to support the product… But you don’t expect the companies themselves to acquire that same data BEFORE they bring their product to market? This video is a direct response to products being sold without data being available.
Check out Nordic Ants for a true 100% bio active tank. This guy spent so much time on his tank build.
Awesome, thank you for the recommendation. I will check it out!
Very interesting... I've been keeping reef aquaria for ten years and it's quite common for people to make their own lights using CREE XTE LEDs including blues and Royal blue, the latter having a UV element as corals "glow" under them. The dominant wave lengths are from 452 - 465nm... Not sure these would be any use for reptiles as I'm not a lighting engineer and the datasheet could be written in Klingon for all I know cree-led.com/media/documents/XLampXTE.pdf
That is interesting… I’m not exactly sure how that translates to reptiles. I know some LEDs with high levels of blue light can cause damage to reptiles,It’s possible that the water filters out the “harshness” of the blue light so the fish aren’t affected. I always find it amazing how much technology is on the aquarium side of the hobby
You are right, CREE are very good at what they do and have been used for aquatics for years. These diodes are visible blue only being around 450-470nm depending on bin. This is not within UV or even long wavelength UV-A ad should not be described as such. In tests for corals over years from Arcadia Aquatic we found 440nm to be most effective for coral fluorescence. I am not sure what positive role on their biology this has, but it makes them look pretty to the human at least. Blue travels well through water, as does UV.
@@ArcadiaReptile As mentioned, I wasn't sure if the wavelengths were beneficial for reptiles or not. Just that when just the Royal blues are run, its like an old 1970's disco with anything white glowing as if under a black light, so in my mind some UV of some wavelength is being emitted, and even with a mix of 2x Royal Blue to one Cree cool white (6K) the corals in my tank are doing well. My main concern is I often wonder how long it will be before governments start to look at phasing out fluorescent tubes due to the rare coatings and gasses used in their production. Here in the UK Halogens are now banned from general sale. Whether this includes specialist reptile lamps I don't know.... Lets hope that by the time the powers that be enforce a policy that ALL lighting must be LED the manufactures have developed the technology that provides LEDs that do the same job as what's currently on the market when it comes to providing UV or "natural" daylight.