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Heater size for new 50G tank?

B

B_ELLIS

New member
I have just upgraded from a 15 gallon tank to a 50 gallon one. In no rush to move the snake (5 months old). Will do that in the late spring. The 15 gallon tank is 24”L x 12” W x 12" H. I am using a medium Heat Wave Rainforest 8W under tank heater 10" x 11" right under his cave positioned at one end of the tank. The snake spends a couple of days in there right after he gets his weekly dinner. He later moves, for a good chunk of the week into the leafy branches above the substrate (Forest Bark). Still makes the occasional trip to the cave. The warm end under the cave is 82 degrees Fahrenheit 24/7. The cool end is 68 degrees Fahrenheit (where the branches are) 24/7.

The house temperature (winter months) during the day is 68 and goes down to 60 degrees Fahrenheit at night.

The 50 gallon tank is 36” L x 16” W 18" H. A large Heat Wave Rainforest under tank heater is 12W and is 11" x 17" in size.

If I get the large size it will make ½ the tank warm as opposed to the medium one which would heat a third of the tank. Which size should I buy?

Thanks
 
It's the floor coverage that you need to focus on, and the standard is to get a mat that covers one-third of the floor area. The idea of the mat is that it heats the floor of the tank.

As long as you have the right temp on the warm third of the floor and a hide there that your fella likes (and it sounds like you have), then I wouldn't worry about him hanging out up a branch. He's thermoregulating, so he'll move to the place with the best temp and hiding space as he needs to.
 
The guideline I've always followed is to have approximately 1/3 of the tank floor as the warm side, but saying that, in my 36" x 18" x 18" tanks I have 12" x 12" heat mats and there are big adult guys in them weighing 500 to 600 grams and about 4 to 5ft long and they can curl up comfortably, with room to spare, in their warm hides over those mats :)
 
B_ELLIS said:
Susielea, Sue, do you remember how many watts the heater is in your tank? Would it be 8 or 12 watts?
Click to expand...

The heat mats I use are Ultratherm heat mats, see link below, and they are actually listed as 11" x 11" and 14 or 14.5 watts (I have two slightly different types, one type with black panels in them and another, possibly newer with strips of black in them instead of the panels, hence the different wattage) but they both seem to work the same with the thermostats I use. I'm not sure if the wattage makes a big difference, as long as the mat is controlled by a thermostat, maybe it would though if a Rheostat was used instead :shrugs:

I'm over in the UK and it sounds like our house temps are very similar and I've had no problem running these for the last 7 years :)

Ultratherm heat mats, this link is for The Bean Farm, but I'm sure you can get them at other places too.

Hope that helps :)
 
The large pad is closer to 1/3 thant he medium one.

Your total area is about 576 sq inches.

1/3 of that is 192 sq inches.

The large pad is 186 sq inches, whereas the medium pad is like 110 sq inches.

I would look for a 15X14 pad as this will almost give you perfect coverage. 11X17 is a compromise. 14X14 is ok too. Good luck!
 
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