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Post by muddydragon on Sept 8, 2009 7:23:45 GMT
ok so i have 2 11" x 11" 12w heatmats one on a 2foot by 1 foot tank and one on a 3 foot by 1 foot tank. foil behind the heatmats covering 2 layers of card with bubble wrap inbetween. the average temperature is about 23 degrees in the smaller tank and less in the bigger tank whe room is around 20 degrees. the sphagnum by the heatmat isn't even that warm. i have thermostats - not that they are doing much. the smaller tank has margies and retics in in currently (young - will probably get a second similar tank and split them into two- once bigger) I would really like to get that tank warmer obviously! though one retic in particular still seems happy when the temp got as low as 19 degrees - the heatmats got unplugged - they are now taped in! hes an utter pig he must have a tardis in that shell only way he could fit so much food in his body! but im not happy with them at this temperature i want it alot warmer for them! does my heatmat need more insulation etc? or do i need a higher watt heatmat (the thermostat can handle up to 100 w) but all ive ever seen is that with increasing wattage the heatmats get bigger and i dont want to cover the whole tank! any advise? thanks
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Post by crossless on Sept 8, 2009 9:02:07 GMT
Heat mat should be 1/3 of tanks bottoms size and that's how you should be getting enough heat heatmat has to be choosen by from size of used tank that needs warming not by watts, so won't warm enough some will make tank too hot . Usually people just take that sticker off heat at and "glue" it to wall not much insulation there. Maybe between heatmat and cold wall, so heat will go to tank intead. If you have thermostat you should adjust it to higher heat maybe.. I'm not expert but that is what I have read about heat mats.
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 8, 2009 18:47:53 GMT
well the thermostat is on all the time, because the tanks dont reach the temperature that they are set at. well i've set up plenty of insulation to make sure heat is directed the correct way. but the number of watts effect the heating capability of the heatmat surely! besides they are about 1 third of the base (nearly half on the smaller tank) - but obviously not on the base on the side!
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goose
Juvenile
James gave the huffle of a snail in danger and nobody heard him at all
Posts: 58
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Post by goose on Sept 9, 2009 21:08:01 GMT
I have never had any success with heat mats, in my experience they only provide background heat and mine never seemed to get the temp about that of the house central heating (when I first started keeping snails I asked the same question as you and many people had the same problem with heat mats). You could maybe use a red heat lamp on a thermostat? I use terracotta plant heaters inside all my tanks which are great. Unfortunately I can't find the instructions for making them, they were on Arno Brosi's website but the link has broken. Basically you need a terracotta plant pot and 2 glazed terracotta saucers (the diameter of the saucers need to match the top diameter of the plant pot). Attach an SES light bulb fitting with attached flex into the bottom saucer, turn the plant pot upside down over it (you will probably need to chip a small part off the rim of the pot to let the flex through). Glue the other saucer to the top and fill with water. This is flexible beacuse you can use different wattage bulbs depending on the heat output you want. My tanks are 3 ft and I use 40w bulbs for my tigers (gets to about 25 degrees) and 25w for fulicas, megas, stays around 20 -22 degrees degrees. You might need to experiment with size of pot for bulb wattage so the terracotta doesn't get to hot to touch - I use 17 cm diameter ones. Best of all the evaporation from the top saucer keeps the tanks nice and humid - just top up morning and evening. Hope this explanation isn't too confusing. Will try and post a pic of my heaters to help.
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Post by AlienSnail on Sept 9, 2009 21:13:14 GMT
Intriguing.....
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 9, 2009 22:31:32 GMT
sounds great!, i could even use the thermostats with the ceramic pot lightbulb thing. i look forward to seeing pics sounds most ingenious! and i really would like to get the temperature up
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Post by muddydragon on Sept 10, 2009 21:26:30 GMT
nice, i can just immagine it as some sort of water feature on ground force or the like! i'll see what i can do once i get hold of everything i would need! hmmm electrics + water never good combo, gonna have to think about that.... THANKS! ;D
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Post by crossless on Sept 11, 2009 7:52:43 GMT
Yes lighting have to suitable to damp locations that's why bathrooms different type of lamps than other house.
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goose
Juvenile
James gave the huffle of a snail in danger and nobody heard him at all
Posts: 58
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Post by goose on Sept 11, 2009 9:39:56 GMT
Never had any problems with it tbh and think a few other people have tried these with no problems. If its set up right then there is no way water can get to the bulb fitting unless you fill the tank up with water above the level of the top of the bottom saucer! Just don't spray directly onto the exposed bulb fitting and make sure the flex isn't damaged. Even if you accidently overfill the top saucer it sticks out beyond the bottom of the heater and the water will simply spill onto the substrate. Just make sure the bulbs are turrned off before any maintenance.
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Post by vandamay on Apr 22, 2010 16:55:58 GMT
Have been reading this goose and it seems to to a damn cheap idea, i will definately be trying this, i have a 12 watt and a 7 watt mat on my large 4 ft tank and it is really not as warm as i would like thanks
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flutterby
Juvenile
aren't i cute, nomming ur cucumber XD
Posts: 51
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Post by flutterby on Aug 27, 2010 3:13:38 GMT
Impressive goose, I've been looking at doing this just to make something incase i need a bit of extra heat in the winter, coz this will be my 1st winter with my snails, I heard of every1 deaths from last winter and just want to be prepared for the cold. So my tank is roughly about 1'x1'x2' (30cmx30cmx60cm) so would just one of these do the trick? with or without heat mat? I want to keep the tank around 23oC. winter gets down to about -5oC here (hopefully the inside of my house will be less icey than this lol). Just don't want them to die
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