Help on how to make hotter...

[Whitey]

I currently have a 55 gal. with a UTH and a red light on one side. I just put in my thermostat and it is saying 82. How can I make this hotter? Thanks.

Whitey

 

[justindh1]

THe first question is where are you taking the tempuraure readings at? If its the ambient then your fine or its close for the cold side. If its the hot side you are too cold. YOu need to check the ground temp on the hot side and if its not in the 90-95 range and your pad isn't the bigger ones then you need to get a bigger pad. UTH's and heat bulbs are the main heating devices. A gecko needs belly heat so as long as you have a spot 90-95 you are fine.

 

[Frognut]

How big is your UTH and what wattage is your red light? And how far away from the enclosure is the red light?

When I was having problems with my tank, I added a red light and adjusted the height of the light (which was mounted outside the tank) closer and farther from the lid until I got the right temp.

You have a couple of variables with your set up - increase the watts on the bulb, move it closer and possibly get an additional UTH (not necessarily practical - but sometimes an option).

Also how much of the enclosure is vented? You could try to cover part of the lid to help keep in the heat.

 

[acpart]

I have been able to increase heat by taping aluminum foil over the bottom of the UTH (so the UTH is sandwiched between the bottom of the tank and the aluminum foil.

Aliza

 

[Whitey]

Ok, well, I have a UTH (medium sized one I believe) and it sits on the bottom of the tank (right hand side of tank which is also where my light sits) and on top of the UTH I have tiles. Probably like a centimeter thick.

I put the thermometer all the way in the right hand corner (front) side of the tank and on the ground. I dont think it is measuring the ground temp but more the air.

 

[justindh1]

Well being a 55 gallon tank, which is really big for geckos but will work, having more space in the tank will make it harder to heat up. The first thing i would do is go up a size in heat pad or just go all the way to the large. Having only a medium sized pad will heat up a portion of the tank. If they hot spot gets up to 90-95 then i wouldn't change anything with the heat pad. If the 82 dgree reading is the ambient air then its not bad at all. Could use a couple more degrees hotter but will work. Check your cold side and make sure it doesn't get any lower then 75-80 degrees. Is your red bulb a heat bulb or just a regular one? If its a regular red bulb then you should get a small wattage red heat bulb to bring up the ambient temps.

 

[Whitey]

Well, moved the thermometer to the cold side of the tank and it is saying 78... I just want to get the hot side a little hotter.... I mean I have a cave that they can crawl in that heat comes up from under the tiles, I might try putting the thermometer in there to see how it is in the cave.

 

[ElapidSVT]

glass is a great conductor of heat, this makes it lose heat as easily as it gains it. simply insulating the glass sides and back will help keep the internal temps up. painting the glass helps, styrofoam or other foam insulation taped to the outside will help even more. make sure you take your reading from the surface the gecko can contact, i.e. the substrate.

 

[Zynx_Keekeio]

what brand of thermo stat I can almost I say almost garuntee it's an inaccurate thermostat, is it a probe? what's your substrate

 

[Whitey]

substrate is tile.... my thermostat wasnt anything great.... just a little $4 I picked up while I was at lowes. I know its not the greatest, I just picked it up because I was there and walking past it but it has to give some sort of idea of the temp... right???

 

[Frognut]

Actually, thermostats don't have to be expensive to be accurate. You just want the digital ones - not the dial kind. I picked one up at the hardware store that has the extra probe on it so I can check the ambient temps and spot check any areas that I need to monitor, and it only cost about $13

Insulating the glass is an excellent idea - and also inexpensive. You can get that blue thin foam like stuff at the hardware store, although that may not be so pretty. I actually wrapped a light blanket around the three sides of my tank during the winter because our house temps drop. It worked and didn't look so bad. (it matched my living room colors:main_rolleyes

 

[acpart]

Somehow I have this feeling that people are confusing "thermostats" with "thermometers" accidentally.

Remember a THERMOSTAT regulates the temperature by turning the heat source on and off (either on/off or on a continuum)

A THERMOMETER (which sounds like what the last 2 posts at least are about) only measures the temperature but doesn't regulate it.

Excuse me if I'm wrong about this confusion.

Aliza

 

[Frognut]

Somehow I have this feeling that people are confusing "thermostats" with "thermometers" accidentally.

Remember a THERMOSTAT regulates the temperature by turning the heat source on and off (either on/off or on a continuum)

A THERMOMETER (which sounds like what the last 2 posts at least are about) only measures the temperature but doesn't regulate it.

Excuse me if I'm wrong about this confusion.

Aliza

Nope - you're right. I'm talking thermometer - not thermostat! :blush:

 

[justindh1]

without the information about the hot side temps then its hard to say how to get it hotter because it depends on how much hotter you need. Cold side temps are only a part of it.

 

[Whitey]

Well, I took the temp underneath their cave on the hot side and it read 96... right outside of the cave however it read 82. On the cold side cave it read 72, but right outside of the cave it read 79. So should this be fine... me = clueless

 

[justindh1]

Don't worry bout anything if those temps are correct. The 79 temp at the cold side is good but the 72 is a little on the lower side but will work. The hot side is what is most important and it seems that your at a good temp at 96 degrees. I wouldn't change anything in your setup, it all seems fine.

 

[Gregg M]

Honestly, a 55 gallon is too large in my opinion... As you are finding out, bigger is not always better...