UTH not enough?!

[Ipsl]

So I just got my two girls with two new UTH's for there 10gallon cages all at the Expo.. but its still not getting much over 85 degrees in there. Its wierd cause I hear people say you need a dimmer on it but mine are going full bore and they're just not cutting it. Im a little perplexed and concered as I dont want to stunt my new girls growth or color. And I have a small feeling thats why they haven't ate yet. (Been only 4 days not too concerned)

 

[Stitch]

What type of substrate are you using? Who is the manufacturer of the UTH? Is the cage raised off the surface it is sitting on? Do you know the room temperature?

 

[Ipsl]

The substrate is paper towels, 2 thick, the room temps are low 70's. The cages are raised and I even have aluminum foil under as to prevent excess heat loss.

 

[Stitch]

I'm not sure why you would place aluminum foil under the tank. Do you think it could be the reason for it not heating up? I'm sure what you meant by it being underneath to prevent heat loss. Is it under the tank but laying over top the UTH and the bottom of the tank?

 

[Ipsl]

Red is the UTH and the yellow is the foil. I also think it might be cause of the air bubbles that formed in the seal between the UTH and the tank.

 

[Cheaton]

Are you sure your thermometer is accurate? Are you placing it in such a way to get an accurate reading? With my petsmart bought digi thermometer I have to tape the thing to the floor to get any sort of accurate reading, and even then it's lower than the readin I get from my infrared. Also, it takes at least 6-8 hours for the UTH's to get up to full steam.

The other possibility is maybe they're just cheap and/or defective.

 

[Stitch]

I noticed too that there always seems to be a lot of air bubbles when you first attach it. You just need to go over it a couple of times to get them out.

I'm not really sure what to tell you. The UTH may be defective or the foil could be the culprit. Try taking the foil off and see what happens.

 

[Ipsl]

It's weird cause I even put my hand on the UTH and its not that warm. Its seems wierd that I would get two defective UTH's from the expo. I even went to the vendor that sold them a little more than the cheapest cause the cheap ones of the same model (zoo med) were a little bent looking. I'll try to work out the air bubbles and see what happens. Than take off the foil. Thanks for the quick responses guys. Man I love this forum.

 

[GoGo]

I've noticed 10 gallon uth's ALWAYS give us problems, and weve gone through lik e4 brands and 8 or so different heaters. Only now we finally got one workin, and with a lot of bitching and complaining from the thermostat at that.