So cold at night - how do I warm up tank, UTH on full

[ggg111]

Hi all,

My tank is a 20L and in one corner where the dry hides are I have a Zoo-Med UTH for a 10-20 gal. At night the room temperature is dropping low (in the 50s) and the tank is not warm enough. The UTH is connected to a thermometer (Zoo-med also I believe) and is set on high, I even moved the temperature probe to a cold area so that it will always try to be as hot as possible 24/7. I have one layer of repti-carpet but when I put my hand over it at night it is barely warm. So, how do I heat it up? I looked at some light fixtures for ceramic lights but they are huge and I dont think they will heat up the bottom of the tank.

One idea I thought of was to buy the 30-40 gallon heat pad and use that in my 20L. Does this sound like a good idea?

What about one of those little halogen fiztures? Are they a fire hazard?

 

[molzonice]

The only problem with the bigger UTH is that it will change the temperature gradient for the geckos. I use calci sand and that retains the heat very well for the geckos.

 

[Mel&Keith]

Is this a year round problem or only in the winter? We're using an oil heater in the gecko room right now because it's getting cold in the house but we only have to use it a month out of the year.

 

[Ratman667]

I use calci sand...

I'm not touching that.

You could try using a light to supplement heat at night. I would guestimate that a 60w red bulb in a dome reflector would work just fine.

If the light would keep you up at night, you could use a ceramic heat emitter. Just keep an eye on your temps the first night to get your thermostat zeroed in.

 

[leogecko88]

I have to use an oil filled heater in my gecko room to keep the room temp at 78.

 

[valknut79]

My ceramic bulb brings temps up about 8 degrees on the hot side, and I fit it in one of those little dome light stands so it fits well on a 10gal. That might be a good option.

 

[janjgeckos]

you can use a red spot light, spot lights direct the heat to a tighter area and will heat the floor of the hot side just dont use to big of a spot or you can burn the geckos.

 

[Latlaw]

I have 20 gal long tanks and I ended up buying the 30-40 gal UTH's. It heats a larger area which I think it better. Since the temps have gotten colder here too, I had a piece of plexiglass cut to fit over half the screen tops (cool side) and then put a 40 watt infrared bulb on top of the screen on the warm side. Works great. My temps are now between 92-94. I do have thermostats on them. Also, the bulb is sitting closer to the middle of the tank to help with the ambient temps and to insure the the main heat is coming from the UTH.

 

[roger]

50 watt infra red light.Not a red light but an INFRA RED light.The carton will say INFRA RED,with a reflector

 

[Ratman667]

50 watt infra red light.Not a red light but an INFRA RED light.The carton will say INFRA RED,with a reflector

I stand corrected.