heating advice

Laughingman868 · 05-20-15, 11:12 PM

I have a spare 40 gallon tank that I'm going to use to temporarily house a gtp I'm picking up.

Has anyone successfully heated an aquarium without the use of a radiant heat panel or over head lamp? I was fooling around with ideas of snaking a heat cable on the side and hoping it would heat it. I also thought of using a heat pad but attaching it to the top or side. The thing is that i dont think the heat from those will travel very far.

Im thinking of just selling this tank and my 18x18x24 exo terra and using the money to build a wooden tank with sliding doors.

yeloowtang · 05-21-15, 06:45 AM

In some of my cages (exos) i've successfully been using heat tape until i manage to buy more panel..
what i did was linking 3x 12x12 heat tape on the top back corner of the cages.
so you have one on the top/back left side, another on the top back/back side and a third piece on the top rear left corner. This gives me a full corner with 69W of heating for 15$

i then place a plexy on top to seal the exo in order to keep humidity inside, the top screen lets more of the top heat in and by placing the probe in that corner, my cages stay at the desired temps..

I also wire it in a way that the two side heat tapes are together and have both male and female from the extenssion cord, the top one is wired with the male only, this makes life easier if you decide ytou need to remove the top for whatever reason, all you do is unplug it..

I found it really effective doing it this way, i still have 8 cages heated this way now for over 1.5 years and it works great, not has easy as a heat panel but 15$ versus 100$ each cage.

also having multiple cages that are the same size and require the same temps can be linked together on one probe, so when one cage heats up the other do the same, but you need to test when doing this to make sure they are at the same temps..

hope this all makes sense and helps

Laughingman868 · 05-23-15, 12:28 AM

Thank you yeloowtang, that is some excellent info and exactly what I was looking for, you were able to answer a simple question that the entire MVF for some reason couldn't.

I think I my get online and buy some of that, the only thing is that I have now been given a 36x18x24 exo terra and have more space to heat so I think I may buy a little more. What do you use to keep them in place?

yeloowtang · 05-25-15, 08:04 AM

Hey !! my pleasure and hope it works just as great with your set up

all I use to hold it in place is black electrical tape that i use on all the edges, it matches the heat tape and looks nice. the top one is held the same way on the 2 side edges , the section where the screen is, is supported by the center brace !! but all this is ok since a plexi sits on top and keeps it in place nicely.
the best tape is the foil tape, this stuff really sticks well

but I didn't like seeing it (just cosmetic) duck tape works well too but same thing as the foil..
included a picture where you see one of the back heat tapes, this one i installed with the coper strips showing !!!! mistake

my others are installed with the other side showing, less visible..

since i cover the outside of the cages with a black aquarium back ground, everything looks nice.. I use this set up for my arboreal snakes so having the sides and back covered makes them feel more secure..

but the fact you have a 36L cage now, you can install a 18" long piece to heat more space, but this all depends on the species you are keeping in there.
if you just need a basking spot for arboreals, you want to keep one side with no heat for the snake thermoregulate, but if you keep a bottom dweller and need ambiant temps higher !! a full strip 36"l along the top and back will be better/ or maybe 24" in order to keep one end slightly cooler, then add a under tank heat matt/ or heat tape under the hot spot.
they sell by the foot, you then just cut the lenghts you need, best is to have = lenghts. 3x 12" or 3x18" etc etc.....

whatever you decide to go with, make sure that you control the heat tape with something, herpstat , VE or the likes of that.. heat tape gets hot 110-125 deg so it needs to be controlled top and belly.

Laughingman868 · 05-26-15, 02:59 PM

The way you have it set up looks pretty nice and at that price I will definitely have to get some. I will probably stick with just a strip on the top and corner on the left hand side. I think I will be able to get the gradient I'm looking for with that.

The tank is for an adult gtp. I dont know the locality type exactly but he's about full grown. I have a spare zoomed hygrotherm I'm using now but I prefer my herpstat hooked to my other gtp tank so I may switch over the summer. I felt so bad because he actually has a burn now, or what I believe to be a burn, from the previous owner not using a thermostat.

One more thing, is that piece that your perch lays in shaped like an upside down T so it has something to rest on and doesn't spin? then theres just a notch cut in the actual perch?