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Prefered Brand of UTH

Jace91

Jace91

New member
So for my first corn back when I was younger I used a Exo Terra Heat Wave Desert UTH, but now that I'm setting up a new tank I was wondering if anyone had a preference on UTH brands?
 
I have had great luck with Zoomed Reptitherm UTHs, but I don't stick them to the bottom of the tank directly, the sticky stuff they use is really strong and hard to remove the UTH if you need to.

I peel the paper off the sticky side, place it on a piece of aluminum foil and fold the edges of the foil over. I tape that to the bottom of the tank with regular packing tape. If I need to remove it it comes off easy and I don't damage the wires or pad this way.
 
My favorite is the Ultratherm. It doesn't have adhesive, so you use that thick aluminum tape to attach it. They are MUCH higher quality than ZooMed or Exoterra. I _think_ Bean Farm sells them. Yup-link.
 
Ultratherm are definitely awesome. Aside from them, ZooMed. About to try a Flukers. I avoid the ExoTerras like the plague personally.
 
Zoo Med, Fluker, Exo Terra, Zilla and such are essentially the same pad, and are built the exact same way, it wouldn't surprise me if they were coming out of the same factory in China. There is nothing wrong with any of them, but they aren't the highest quality. I have had all fail. The only one that is noticeably different is Ultratherm. I will echo that UTH's are best not attached to your tank.
 
Isn't Exo Terra the type that are thin, virtually impossible to remove, and come in Rain Forest and Desert? I've had one failure (off, thank God) with ZooMed and ExoTerra Desert. I'm running several of each. I have three Ultratherms, and never a problem from any of them.
 
Well it looks like I'll be getting a UltraTherm, and Nanci those are the Exo Terra's that I used. I had one fail outright, and a second developed hot spots and I had it on a Rheo. Thanks everyone for your reccs.
 
Nanci said:
Isn't Exo Terra the type that are thin, virtually impossible to remove, and come in Rain Forest and Desert?
Click to expand...

I think that would describe all of them, except the last part. The rain forest are too low wattage to use in most applications, I think people try to buy those to avoid purchasing a thermostat. Having used (and sold) all these brands for years, they all work fairly well when they are new, most don't last as long as they should, and all are Chinese. Ultratherm are made in Scotland, I believe, and are very thin and rigid, and have no adhesive. While I have many, many less hours of running them to go by, they certainly appear to be superior to any of the typical pet shop brands.
 
My exo terras are definitely a lot different than my zoomeds. The exo terra is really thin, a lot like the ultratherm, whereas the zoomed is generally a thicker product. Now, how much of that thickness is the heating element itself is a different story, but there's a pretty big, almost 1/4 inch, difference between the exo terra which is almost as thin as a sheet of laminate and teh zoomeds which have a more "pad" type size and build.
 
One of these days I really want to pick up an intellitemp from Big Apple. They boast some decent features, like full flexibility and lower max temps (similar to the flukers)
 
I should have pointed out that the Zillas and Zoomeds do have a covering on them. Inside, the connection and heat tape look the same, and they still reach the same temps as the pads without, and I haven't found they have a better (or worse) failure rate. Like all of them, the lower the wattage & size, the hotter their surface gets.
2vdradi.jpg
 
Yeah, i know an unregulated zilla and zoomed and exoterra get pretty hot (excluding the rain forest which is about as useful as a wet piece of paper)... I don't have any personal experience with ultratherm, but i know that flukers and intellitemp both advertise a ~95F max temp. I'll have more experience with that when i get Isis's new home set up.
 
I have zoomed and exo terra deserts, I like both. I really like the rubber risers that come with the exo terras. Exo terra has good customer service too. I had one uth come without the risers, I called and they sent some out to me no questions. They were apologetic and sent them fast.
 
I like my Ultratherm. I have the 11x11 size. I would buy more Ultratherm over any other heat pad in a second.
 
Jace91 said:
What size UltraTherm would you recommend for a ten gallon starter tank?
Click to expand...

The UTH needs to be 1/3 the size of your tank and goes underneath the glass at one end. It should be regulated with a thermostat at 85°. The cool side will be about 75°. You will need a probe thermometer also (some thermostats have attached thermometers, most of us I think use the yellow ones that are cheap on eBay) and have the probe stuck down INSIDE the tank directly over the middle of the UTH. Cover this with substrate and put a hide over it. Some people use hot glue to stick them down, I use the suction cup that comes with it and put a heavy rock in the corner over where the wire starts to come up and out of the tank. Just check it if the temps seem off, I have had the probe pulled off the glass a couple of times.

Make sure you have a hide on each end at least, and a few in the middle or some leafy groundcover (plastic or silk plants work well) especially if they are little. The more comfort the better, and you can use toilet paper tubes flattened at one end and dug a bit into the substrate or toothpaste boxes or anything disposable or cleanable. It doesn't have to be expensive or pretty, just functional!

As for the aluminum foil, it doesn't matter which side is out. It is only there to prevent the very sticky side from touching anything and rendering it impossible to move, and it isn't flammable like paper. I just pull a sheet of foil twice as big as the UTH, lay the UTH sticky side down in the middle of he foil and fold all sides around it. Then you can use tape to stick it to the bottom of the tank. If the foil rips when you remove it you can always just stick a patch on! It definitely isn't about aesthetics.

Here is a pic of the Reptitherm, it is a thicker pad than the Ultratherm, and I don't have experience with the "stickiness" of Ultratherms. This is good for a 10-20 gallon tank, so when you have to upgrade you can just peel the tape off and put it on the bigger tank.

http://www.tarheelants.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/6x8-heat-mat.jpg

Would anyone who uses Ultras over Reptis do anything differently as far as wrapping it with foil? Does the Ultra come off easier without damage?
 
smigon said:
It should be regulated with a thermostat at 85°.
Click to expand...

Only thing I would point out is that you don't necessarily want to set the thermostat at 85. 85 is where you want the surface temp to stay. In most cases, your thermostat will need to be set several degrees higher. This is one more reason to get a good IRL thermometer and tinker with the enclosure a couple days before putting an animal in it.
 
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