heating problames

[yoyofanatic]

Well I have a 20 gal long and I've tried heating with a 75 watt moolight lamp but it doesn't get over 85f at hottest. So I got a heat mat but when I turn it on it is way to hot like 95f but only in the spot right above it. but its room temp a few inches away from it. Then I tried putting the heat lamp on and covering most of the other parts of the mesh lid. This worked for a while but slowly decreased now right under the lamp its 83f and doping. What do you recommend I do.
All help is appreciated,
yoyofanatic

 

[Bennayboi]

Thermostat.

 

[yoyofanatic]

How would I use it because even when I just have the heat mat it doesn't radiate to other places in the tank...

 

[Bennayboi]

Usually they come with a probe sensor that you put over the heat pad. Then you can turn the heat up and down as you want.

 

[malt_geckos]

What is your room temp? Leos only need a hot spot of 91 and they need belly heat, not air heat. If the room temp is 72 and up they should be fine.

 

[Snowy & Petra de Gecko]

Malt Geckos is correct

You need to have the floor at 90 or so (88 to 92).

Air temp is not what you should be shooting for.

You should have a proper UTH and not a lot of substrate (1 to 2 inches depending on what it is.)

And the air temp of the room will also have to be factored in.

And you need to observe your Leos and see what they are doing. (Where do they go, where do they stay, are they eating, and are they pooping, etc.):main_rolleyes:

Good Luck.:main_thumbsup:

 

[yoyofanatic]

The room temp is 74. But when I put the heat pad in it heats up to like 96... what should I do?

 

[OhioGecko]

Put a thermostat on the heatpad and monitor it's temp until you get a steady temp between 90 - 92.

 

[LizMarie]

The heat from the heat mat on one side of your enclosure isn't suppose to radiate to the other side because they need a heat gradient (Change in temp). The side with the heat mat should be (88-92) and the cool side I believe should be in the 70's.

if your heat mat is getting too hot you simply get a thermostat to control it. you can also use a rheothostat aka a light dimmer but I have one and wouldn't recommend it. You simply plug the heat mat into either one and set it. you should so have a DIGITAL THERMOMETER with a PROBE (very important) if you don't have one you should. It gives you the chance to measure the floor temps and NOT the air temps.

PS You don't need the lamp up if your room temps are ok and the heat mat reaches the desired temps.

 

[yoyofanatic]

what is a good thermostat? and do they sell them locally or just online?

 

[OhioGecko]

I like the Herpstats the best and I am currenlty using (Herpstat, Helix, and Johnson Controls) These range anywhere from $75 - $150 with the Johnsons on the low end.
http://www.beanfarm.com/store/agora.cgi?cart_id=2979134.491&product=Temperature_Control&xm=on

Someone else might be able to comment on some of the other thermostats out there.

Good Luck.

 

[Snowy & Petra de Gecko]

Well ...

I don't really know how to respond.

How much money you have will depend on what you can do.

You could get a theromstat which will turn off if the temp gets to be too high.
Beanfarm also sells these for about 30 or 40 bucks.

I think, but I do not know, that it may not be that bad getting to a 96 degree mark.

I am assuming that you are looking at or measuring the surface temp. The Beanfarm also has a noncontact theromoter for sale so you can measure the floor temp and it is about 30 bucks.

There are probably two main considerations 1) that your Leo can move to the colder part of the tank if it needs to and 2) that the outside temp does not get too hot.

I think that a UTH is designed to raise the outside air temp by 20 degrees. So I think it would depend on how hot it gets in your Leo Room.

I am giving the best advice for what little that I know. I only have two Leos and they are not very old and I have only had them for about 7 months

 

[kyahbean]

I don't know if this will help, but I have a UTH and when the temp got a little higher than I wanted it to, I put insulator in between the UTH and the bottom of the tank. I used a piece of fabric, but you could use a towel or whatever. It was just enough to bring it down a few degrees. So that may work for you.

I'm not sure how to solve the issue about it only heating in one spot. The base of my tank is a piece of slate, not glass, so it absorbs the heat and distributes it fairly evenly, leaving one side a little cooler than the other. It obviously wouldn't be helpful for me to tell you to go out and get a slate bottom for your tank, but I don't think that it's a huge issue that it's not heating the entire bottom, because like others have said, if he's cold, he'll go to the warm spots.