Repti Heat Cable

[clockwurk]

Anyone have experience with Repti Heat Cable?

 

[Dougefresh]

I do what do you want to know?

 

[clockwurk]

General info I guess. Did it work well for you and do you like recommend it for multiple tanks? Also, how well does it compare to flex watt heat tape?

Thx.

 

[clockwurk]

Ohh... and I read that its only for glass aquariums, but I saw a bunch of people using it under plastic tubs. I dont know if this is safe.

 

[acpart]

I use zoomed heat cable and I love it because I can configure it however I want, and then change the configuration. I feel that these heating elements can all be used with plastic as long as a reliable thermostat is used. The one important thing, is that electrical tape and duct tape will eventually fail and the heat cable will sag. The best stuff I've used is this foil tape that looks like shiny duct tape, but it's much easier to tear and has paper backing that you peel off. I got it in the gutter section of Home Depot.

Aliza

 

[Jordan]

i use the zoo med heat cable to heat quite a lot of boxes, a good 5 shelves. its fine, though my only problem with it is, it only heats up the thin strip of tank that it runs under, it doest heat up a whole side of the tank or anything. so it might be best to get one double the length of what you need and double it back on itself to give a wider heating area.

 

[RAlbrecht]

Heat Cable works good on racks with a thermostat of course. But like Jordan said, its very small so you usually do need to "double up" for better heating. The cable it self does have a "cold" part that doesn't provide heat, so when buying it make sure you take that into account so you don't short yourself, they also say don't let the cables cross when you are laying down more then one strip

 

[acpart]

I run mine like a sine curve along the area I want it to cover (this is on the bottom of tanks, not in a rack).

Aliza

 

[clockwurk]

Thanks for the tips guys! I'll pick one up and see how it goes.

 

[rubym]

I have the zoo med heat cables under my baby tubs. Ive used them for several years and never had a problem with them being under the plastic tubs. They are also easy to configure the way I want them

 

[fl_orchidslave]

We use both cable and flexwatt, depending on the configuration for each rack. Both have been fine for many years.

 

[clockwurk]

I think I will give them a shot. I'm fairly new at this and I was looking for an alternative to the flexwatt. I read horror stories about fires with malfunctioning flexwatts.

I only have one leo as of now. I'm gonna give myself until March of next year ( there's a local reptile show then ) before I get more. I think by then, I'll have more experience. I wanted to setup a couple of enclosures to keep as hospital tanks for the new babies I will buy, before I put them together. I think the cable should work well.