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Heat mat/ heat bulb or both?!

smigon said:
What size is your tank?

I use the ReptiTherms, a 10-20 gallon is what most of my tanks have except the 55 gallons. It gets up to over 100° without a thermostat in a 10 or 20 gallon tank, so maybe the two smaller ones aren't adequate.

One trick I use with the sticky pads is to get a sheet of aluminum foil twice the size of the UTH, stick it to the foil, fold the foil over until it is a little packet with the wires coming out one end. I use packing tape and secure it under my tanks, this way if you want to switch the UTH to a different tank or need to use a lot of water to scrub your tank you can take the UTH off with no damage to the pad or wires. And the foil does not affect the heat output at all from the UTH.

I get them from Amazon or eBay, sometimes you can find them really cheap!
Click to expand...

I believe the tank is 27.5 gallons.

Actually, those UTHs are exactly what I use, one on either end of the tank. Here's how well it fits on the underside. The hide is right above it. Too small, you think?
 

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daddio207 said:
I'm still processing this :bird:

We set ours at 68 ! 72 I wish !! LOL

Make sure your verifying the IR gun is reading accurately. Bit me in the butt recently.
Click to expand...

Haha, I'm from Hawaii, where 72 is considered cold!

Should I get another gun? :p I use this one. I also have those yellow ZooMed digital thermometers twisty-tied to the thermostat probes to fall back on.
 
Neekko said:
I believe the tank is 27.5 gallons.

Actually, those UTHs are exactly what I use, one on either end of the tank. Here's how well it fits on the underside. The hide is right above it. Too small, you think?
Click to expand...

Yes, a wee bit on the small size, I would upgrade to the next size.

And also, I am really not sure of how the plywood holds the heat, I only use glass aquariums, so I hope someone else chimes in here who has used UTHs with wood.
 
smigon said:
Yes, a wee bit on the small size, I would upgrade to the next size.

And also, I am really not sure of how the plywood holds the heat, I only use glass aquariums, so I hope someone else chimes in here who has used UTHs with wood.
Click to expand...

Whelp, looks like I have some shopping to do!

Do you mean those brown things? Those are strips of cardboard to prop up the tank so that there's enough room for the UTH cords. It is a glass bottom tank.
 
Neekko said:
Whelp, looks like I have some shopping to do!

Do you mean those brown things? Those are strips of cardboard to prop up the tank so that there's enough room for the UTH cords. It is a glass bottom tank.
Click to expand...

Well butter my ass and call me a biscuit! From the underneath with the substrate it looked like plywood to me, but I looked again just now and it is glass! Sorry about that!

So if the temps aren't rising on glass, definitely get a new, bigger UTH. I love Amazon, and here is a link to the 30-40 gallon UTH.
 
smigon said:
Well butter my ass and call me a biscuit! From the underneath with the substrate it looked like plywood to me, but I looked again just now and it is glass! Sorry about that!

So if the temps aren't rising on glass, definitely get a new, bigger UTH. I love Amazon, and here is a link to the 30-40 gallon UTH.
Click to expand...

No biggie, it happens. :p Though cleaning poo off of plywood sounds dreadful!

Thank you for the link. Now the fun part--removing the old UTH!
 
Neekko said:
No biggie, it happens. :p Though cleaning poo off of plywood sounds dreadful!

Thank you for the link. Now the fun part--removing the old UTH!
Click to expand...

I know, I see people building their own vivs or enclosures for other animals, I don't think they realize how hard that is to keep clean!

Try to pry the old UTH off gently, you may have to use a razor blade if it is really stuck on, but once it is off inspect it really carefully to ensure that the pad and wires are undamaged. If they are damaged, toss it, the fire hazard isn't worth it.

I don't know if you read my other post about wrapping the UTH in foil before attaching it with packing tape, but it really is a great trick that won't harm the pad or wires when you do have to remove it.
 
smigon said:
I know, I see people building their own vivs or enclosures for other animals, I don't think they realize how hard that is to keep clean!

Try to pry the old UTH off gently, you may have to use a razor blade if it is really stuck on, but once it is off inspect it really carefully to ensure that the pad and wires are undamaged. If they are damaged, toss it, the fire hazard isn't worth it.

I don't know if you read my other post about wrapping the UTH in foil before attaching it with packing tape, but it really is a great trick that won't harm the pad or wires when you do have to remove it.
Click to expand...

I'll definitely use the foil technique. :) Will electrical tape work, too?
 
Neekko said:
Haha, I'm from Hawaii, where 72 is considered cold!

Should I get another gun? :p I use this one. I also have those yellow ZooMed digital thermometers twisty-tied to the thermostat probes to fall back on.
Click to expand...

Well I kind a figured you were from somewhere warm originally :)

We call 68 degrees beach weather LOL

That's the same gun, less the buttons for light and F to C, I have that just failed.....
Make slush water (water and ice crystals) then shoot it with the IR gun to see if it reads 32 degrees. Or buy a Slushy but it must be grape flavored LOL JK.
Or you can shoot the probe end of your thermometer and it should read the same +/- 2 degrees. Just make sure your zeroed in on the small probe bulb and not reading anything else.
 
daddio207 said:
Well I kind a figured you were from somewhere warm originally :)

We call 68 degrees beach weather LOL

That's the same gun, less the buttons for light and F to C, I have that just failed.....
Make slush water (water and ice crystals) then shoot it with the IR gun to see if it reads 32 degrees. Or buy a Slushy but it must be grape flavored LOL JK.
Or you can shoot the probe end of your thermometer and it should read the same +/- 2 degrees. Just make sure your zeroed in on the small probe bulb and not reading anything else.
Click to expand...

How did you know that I don't like grape??? D:

I do occasionally point the gun directly at the probe and it reads the same, albeit, like you said, off by a degree or two. I did it just now and it's still working fine! I'll make a habit of checking to see if it's still functional.
 
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