Heating a natural vivarium

[RAD House]

I am wondering how most of you heat your planted vivarium. I currently have an under tank heater with a thermostat ready to use when I finally set it up. Two things concern me. First that the uth will not be effective enough to heat 4 inches of soil substrate. Second that the heater will dry the dirt out killing the crucial bacteria. It is possible for one third of the aquarium to be in direct sunlight. I would like to avoid using a lamp for several reasons. Mainly these are fire hazard, energy consumption, and that they make opening the tank awkward. Radiant heat panels are out of my budget at the time.

[prairiepanda]

A lot of people use similar heat pads or heat cables for heating soil. With 4 inches of soil, the UTH should be sufficient to warm the soil for the plants but if you need heat above the soil it won't provide that. Be sure to use a thermostat to prevent overheating. If you're concerned about drying, you can put a layer of expanded clay balls on the bottom full of water, and then put the substrate on top of that(with a mesh or something in between). That way the heat will actually bring moisture up into the soil. Very common setup with frogs.

As for heating the air above the soil, if it's necessary...you say 1/3 of the aquarium can be in direct sunlight? How large is the aquarium? If it isn't very long then this should provide plenty enough heat. If not, then you can try heat cable inside the aquarium(although if you plan on having any animals inside I wouldn't recommend this)

[David VB]

I use heat panels in all my enclosures.

[RAD House]

What do you mean by heat panels?
It is a 20 gallon long tank. Yeah the desk it sits on is partially in front of a south facing window. There will be a garter snake in the tank.

[eminart]

You're probably not doing to be able to get around using a lamp with your setup. On my daughter's corns, I used a UTH and a lamp with a low wattage bulb to get the warm side temps right.

[David VB]

What do you mean by heat panels?
It is a 20 gallon long tank. Yeah the desk it sits on is partially in front of a south facing window. There will be a garter snake in the tank.

http:// Heatpanels - Tropic-Shop.de (http://www.tropic-shop.de/heatpanels-ohne-thermostat-p-2734.html)

[RAD House]

As I do not know German, I still do not know what you are talking about. Is it a radiant heat panel?

[David VB]

Yes it is :)

[prairiepanda]

Since there will be a garter snake in there, I think a heat lamp would be a good idea. But you should check to see how hot it gets with full sun. Direct sun exposure in a glass tank with animals in it can be dangerous.

[RAD House]

I will set up the tank prior to putting the snake in and monitor the temps in the sun light. Other than that a heat lamp seems to be the best option. Would you recommend it in place of the uth or in conjunction.

[prairiepanda]

I would use both. That way you can have the UTH on 24/7 and the lamp on just during the day and the snake will always have the opportunity for belly heat. Both on thermostats, of course.

You could get away with just the lamp if you want, though.