how hot does your UHT get?

[bigbuck270]

I've been setting up my leo to be's home. I stuck the zoo med 10-20 gallon UTH under my 20L tank and plugged it in. I put a digital therometer on the floor and in two hours it when from 65 to 87 so I know it is working. I didnt dare to leave it plugged in because I dont know how hot they get and being a firefighter I just didnt dare. My thermostat should be here Wednesday so I will be set then, I was just hoping to get things set up today.

So anyway, if I leave it plugged in how hot do these UTHs usually get? Do they get hot enough to start a fire or crack the glass if they are not controlled?

 

[efx*]

I'm sure it won't get hot enough to break glass or catch on fire.

But I have always used a thermostat so I don't really no.

 

[Ccrashca069]

In the last 11 years of using UTH's for varies reptiles, I have only had 2 glass tank bottoms crack. Those were easy fixes by just putting aquarium sealer on afterwards.
I used to have a lot of box turtles and leopard tortoises. The ex wife kepted them all and some how managed to kill them.

 

[Leopardbreeder]

I have gauged a 10/20 gallon zoo-med UTH MAXING at 131*f. I did NOT measure this with anything in the tank. It was purely to see how hot it got!

 

[acpart]

Last summer I tried an experiment to see how hot the Zoomed 1-5 gallon UTH got vs. the 10-20 gallon. I used a 10 gallon tank with ceramic tile substrate and about 1/2" space under the tank to vent the heat. The 1-5 gallon got up to about 92º and the 10-20 got up to about 106º.

Aliza

 

[Leopardbreeder]

I measured right on top of the UTH with nothing over top.

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Most of the commercial UTH's on the market are fairly conservative with their temperatures... in otherwords, they don't get hot enough with the larger sized tank they specify. I have found that going with the larger size UTH and turning the temp down via rheostat, or better yet a controller, you have better performance.

 

[moosassah]

Make sure there room for air flow under the tank. Some tanks come with feet that you simply apply to the bottom of the tank. I have 1 tank on a dresser that I put wood blocks under the 4 corners. Don't set it flat on any surface.