snakessss
New member
As of now, I have a 10 Gallon tank with sliding/locking lid.
Recently I was reading alot on heating and realized that my heat mat was probably too hot. In addition to my heat mat, I have a repti-glo black-lite that seems to warm the ambient temp a little, but doesn't do too much to the substrate. My predicament is this.
First of all, after I make this post i am going to order a digital thermometer with two probes. The one I am getting is below.
Digital Thermometer With Dual Probes
That solves my first problem, which is getting accurate readings of the temps so i can see what I need to do to lower the temps. No more crappy stick on ambient temp therms.
My second problem is getting the temps to a good range. I cant be too sure what the temps are now, but I'm estimating their somewhere in the vicinity of 95 on the hot end and 75 on the cool end. As for the cool end, i would like it to stay just where it is. For the hot end, i would like to lower it to around 87 degrees.
In an attempt to do this, I took a heating pad and mounted it on a ceramic tile. I elevated my cage, and slid the tile with heating pad under the tank, pad side up. It does not touch the glass, but it is very close. I am hoping this seperation will lower the temperature slightly.
As I was doing this, I remembered I still have a heating pad (not plugged in) stuck to the underside of my tank. Unfortunately, I believe the heat is going from the tile w/ pad to the attached pad, and still providing direct heat on the glass.
My problem is this. I would love to remove the heating pad stuck to the glass to test out the heating pad w/ tile, but if i do that, it would mean wasting yet another pad. As it stands, I have gone through 3 20$ heating pads.
The reason i dont want to remove the stuck heating pad, is because if the elevation doesnt work, I may be forced to buy a thermostat, which I would use with the attached heating pad.
So here is what my question(s) is/are
First of all, is the thermometer suitable for my needs? I would like to start investing in some thermometers that actually work. (unlike those shi**y stick on ones)
Second of all, does a repti-glo purple black-lite contribute in warming the substrate, or just the ambient temp? Keep in mind it is being used with a uth in a 10 gallon tank.
Third, does mounting a uth on a ceramic tile and then sliding the tile under so the uth is not directly touching the glass provide a good amount of heat? Because as it is, directly mounted to the glass provides too much. Has anyone been able to keep a stable 83-87 (acceptable warm zone temp) using the method I described?
Fourth, is using the black-lite in conjunction with the uth overheating my cage? My room temp is around 70, and the black-lite helps raise the cool end temp a little, along with the warm end.
Fifth, is having a uth (not plugged in) under my tank above the uth on the ceramic tile just causing the heat to go from the active uth to the non active uth, which is in direct contact with the glass, defeating the purpose?
Please explain good ways to regulate a uth without using a thermostat/rheostat. In addition, please let me know about the under/over effectiveness of the blacklite for heating.
Thank you very much
Recently I was reading alot on heating and realized that my heat mat was probably too hot. In addition to my heat mat, I have a repti-glo black-lite that seems to warm the ambient temp a little, but doesn't do too much to the substrate. My predicament is this.
First of all, after I make this post i am going to order a digital thermometer with two probes. The one I am getting is below.
Digital Thermometer With Dual Probes
That solves my first problem, which is getting accurate readings of the temps so i can see what I need to do to lower the temps. No more crappy stick on ambient temp therms.
My second problem is getting the temps to a good range. I cant be too sure what the temps are now, but I'm estimating their somewhere in the vicinity of 95 on the hot end and 75 on the cool end. As for the cool end, i would like it to stay just where it is. For the hot end, i would like to lower it to around 87 degrees.
In an attempt to do this, I took a heating pad and mounted it on a ceramic tile. I elevated my cage, and slid the tile with heating pad under the tank, pad side up. It does not touch the glass, but it is very close. I am hoping this seperation will lower the temperature slightly.
As I was doing this, I remembered I still have a heating pad (not plugged in) stuck to the underside of my tank. Unfortunately, I believe the heat is going from the tile w/ pad to the attached pad, and still providing direct heat on the glass.
My problem is this. I would love to remove the heating pad stuck to the glass to test out the heating pad w/ tile, but if i do that, it would mean wasting yet another pad. As it stands, I have gone through 3 20$ heating pads.
The reason i dont want to remove the stuck heating pad, is because if the elevation doesnt work, I may be forced to buy a thermostat, which I would use with the attached heating pad.
So here is what my question(s) is/are
First of all, is the thermometer suitable for my needs? I would like to start investing in some thermometers that actually work. (unlike those shi**y stick on ones)
Second of all, does a repti-glo purple black-lite contribute in warming the substrate, or just the ambient temp? Keep in mind it is being used with a uth in a 10 gallon tank.
Third, does mounting a uth on a ceramic tile and then sliding the tile under so the uth is not directly touching the glass provide a good amount of heat? Because as it is, directly mounted to the glass provides too much. Has anyone been able to keep a stable 83-87 (acceptable warm zone temp) using the method I described?
Fourth, is using the black-lite in conjunction with the uth overheating my cage? My room temp is around 70, and the black-lite helps raise the cool end temp a little, along with the warm end.
Fifth, is having a uth (not plugged in) under my tank above the uth on the ceramic tile just causing the heat to go from the active uth to the non active uth, which is in direct contact with the glass, defeating the purpose?
Please explain good ways to regulate a uth without using a thermostat/rheostat. In addition, please let me know about the under/over effectiveness of the blacklite for heating.
Thank you very much
