• Hello!

    Either you have not registered on this site yet, or you are registered but have not logged in. In either case, you will not be able to use the full functionality of this site until you have registered, and then logged in after your registration has been approved.

    Registration is FREE, so please register so you can participate instead of remaining a lurker....

    Please be certain that the location field is correctly filled out when you register. All registrations that appear to be bogus will be rejected. Which means that if your location field does NOT match the actual location of your registration IP address, then your registration will be rejected.

    Sorry about the strictness of this requirement, but it is necessary to block spammers and scammers at the door as much as possible.

Heating Question

I agree, if your temps are steady now then go ahead and feed. I would wait until you have all the supplies to do the gluing and rearrange the tank. Put her in a critter carrier until the glue is cooled. Assuming you're going to use glue.
 
I had to remove the tape and everything tonight so I did that and put the thermometers where they should go and secured the pad but am not using it yet. I'm keeping the temps regular for now but would like to use the pad this weekend after she digests. While she was out and about I did a test of the temp control rheostat thing and the lowest temp on the lowest setting was reading 94° right on the glass. That's pretty high...and I couldn't get it lower. It's off now because the light is still working but I'm wondering if there's a problem with the mat? Or if it's just the rheostat? Will the thermostat be able to get a more exact temp? I can't do anything else until this weekend now, but just looking for info. I'm only using the lights still at this point.

Here is a photo of her post dinner. She was pretty active but now she's sleeping. Lol. uploadfromtaptalk1449108839625.jpg

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
it takes about an hour or so for the mat to fully heat up and if you make a change it could take about an hour to show up. Did you give it enough time? Also, is the pad inside the tank or under the bottom of the tank? Are you measuring the mat temp on the inside of the tank on the glass directly above it?

I have 2 mats and 2 rheostats. I keep one all the way down at the lowest setting and it runs about 80 degrees on the glass. With the Substrate Liner installed the temp on the substrate is about 74 - 76. The other mat I crank up about 1/4 turn from the lowest setting and it measures about 91 directly on the glass. Once the substrate liner is in place it measures about 84 - 87.

But I make the adjustments in very small amounts, and tape the knobs down so they can't be moved, and monitor the temps for several hours to make sure it is correct.

As your house heats and cools, those temps may be affected. A few degrees one way or the other won't hurt. That's how rheostats work. If you invest in Thermostats they can get your temps more precise but they also cost more money.
 
Thanks for this. I left it for an hour to get to temp, but even on the lowest setting directly on the glass was too hot. I did purchase a thermostat that should come this weekend. I will just use the lights until then. Thanks!

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
The thermostat will keep it from getting too hot. It will cut off power as soon as the target high is reached. The space will continue to gain a couple of degrees than it will slowly cool until the stat cuts back in. Depending on the room temperature, mine seem to cycle about once or twice per hour.
 
Alright, I got the thermostat set up and let it do its thing a couple of times. I set it to 85 and it heats up until about 85.4 then rises a little more to at most 86, them decreases again to about 82 and the cycle starts over. I am happy with this thermostat for sure, but those measurements are with the thermostat probe and the thermometer probe are directly on the glass under the substrate. I don't use a huge amount of substrate though because she is so small she only needs a little to be fully hidden. When I touch the substrate, I don't feel much heat. Would it be something I should be able to recognize or is it just good enough for her? Should the glass temp be a little higher so it gets through the aspen? I worry about her burrowing into it and hitting the glass. She doesn't do it often but now that it will be warmer she might. Just want to keep it warm enough but avoid danger.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
That's normal. Remember, unless your hand is quite chilly, temps in the 80s don't feel warm to us. I keep mine set to 86 and they cycle from 84 to about 88.
 
So glad to hear that. I finally feel like things are coming together. I learned a lot these first 2 weeks. She's so active lately and really likes being out with me. She has even come right into my hand from her tank now.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top