• 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.

UTH question

mindfreak

mindfreak

New member
Long story short, I had some heat tape under my snake's cage a while ago and it worked great for a long time. One day it overheatted so I took it off, but now the glass is cracked.

I just got a zoo med UTH and I actually have 2 questions about this:

1. I would much prefer to put it on the side of the tank that happens to be cracked. Would putting it over the cracks cause any issues?

2. I have 2 thermometers but I would like to use a thermostat to control the temp of the UTH and prevent this from happening again. Petco, petsmart, and walmart didn't have anything. I think Petco has one online, but I wanted to check with you guys to see if there are any better options! So is there a certain thermostat you would recommend?

Thanks guys!
 
A dimmer will mean that you have to constantly monitor the UTH temperature and manually adjust it. A thermostat is more expensive, but once you have it set up, it will automatically switch the UTH up/down or on/off (depending on which type you buy).

Thermostats are less work and have less margin for error in under/overheating. Having said that, there are folks here with steady indoor temps year round, who use dimmers.

As long as you use a thermostat, the UTH will never get hot enough to make the crack any worse. I'd maybe just seal it with some silicone aquariun sealant, so that you don't get poop seeping through it and onto the UTH.
 
You can go with either a dimmer or thermostat. I use dimmers on all my tanks, but my indoor temps are pretty much the same year round. If yours vary quite a bit, then I would go with a thermostat if I were you. There is a tread on this site about how to make your own dimmer for under $8. I would give a link but I'm on my phone so I can't. Just search "how to make your own rheostat". I used that guide to make mine, and they work great. And like bitsy said, I would seal the crack with some sealant.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top