What kind of bulbs?

[NeWbE123]

Hi! I have a simple 20 gallon tank right now and I have the average aquarium lid on it covered with plastic to keep the humidity in, however my dilemma is that I can't figure out what kind of bulb i should be using in this aquarium lighting unit. I have a standard lightbulb in it right now and I have a heating pad on the back. i turn off the heating pad during the day but while the bulb is on it gets too hot in the aquarium but if i just use the heating pad it's too cold. what should I do? what should I use?

[wodesorel]

What kind of "standard" lightbulb is it? Incandescent?

[NeWbE123]

yes, its a 40 watt bulb

[Happyhermiehome]

Try a lower wattage bulb like a 25 watt or perhaps a plug in dimmer slide which. I use these on my dome lights to dial in the perfect temp.

[wodesorel]

Try an LED screw in! They run much cooler. I swapped out all my incandescent and CFLs for them a few months ago and just love how much light they put out without messing much with the temp. No need to change the fixture, either.

[Hermiesguardian]

Try an LED screw in! They run much cooler. I swapped out all my incandescent and CFLs for them a few months ago and just love how much light they put out without messing much with the temp. No need to change the fixture, either.

Even though I just started using a dimmer switch on my nighttime red bulb, which is awesome, my husband suggested an led bulb. I saw one at home depot.com. someone asked about the spectrum. This was the answer: I think these are regular spectrum with a red case. Not suitable for growing plants.
So if it's not a red spectrum, will the crabs still see the light?

[wodesorel]

Crabs see red light no matter what kind of bulb it is. Insects and arachnids cannot, but crustaceans can.

[Hermiesguardian]

Crabs see red light no matter what kind of bulb it is. Insects and arachnids cannot, but crustaceans can.

I thought I read they cannot see anything in the red spectrum. That was why a night time red bulb was ok., so to them they are still in the dark.

[wodesorel]

It was thought it was okay quite a while ago, but I can confirm myself they have no trouble seeing shadows that a red light casts. (My old critter room was hermits, exotic roaches and scorpions, and the hermits would duck and scramble every time I walked past the light but the others had no reaction unless I flashed white light at them.)

Blue and red are recommended for night if there are no other options as it doesn't seem affect them like white light at night does, but they will definitely see both! The only heat options for night that are truly dark for them are UTH and ceramic bulbs.

LED really don't put out much heat, if that is your primary heating method or if it is providing a boost of more than a couple degrees of heat, you'll probably need to stick with the incandescent heat bulbs. If you just want to use it for watching them a bit at night, there should be no harm in doing so, but it is a good idea to turn it off when you're done.

[Hermiesguardian]

Try an LED screw in! They run much cooler. I swapped out all my incandescent and CFLs for them a few months ago and just love how much light they put out without messing much with the temp. No need to change the fixture, either.

Do you use an led bulb for nighttime? What color? I recently installed a camera in the tank so I could playback their activity at night. It does have nightvision but it's black/gray. I think if I had a light on it would show up much better. Daytime is in full color, just no crabs. Lol. I want an led so it doesn't get warm. I would be leaving it on all night.