UTH in a glass tank

leeshis0019 · 04-10-15, 11:13 AM

Alright, so my rosy is in a glass-tank at the moment. He's moving into a wooden enclosure in a week or so (whenever I can't smell solvent fumes anymore), but for now I can't seem to get the temperature just right in the tank.

The ambient temperature (cool side) is around 73 degrees and the hot side is around 80 degrees, but this fluctuates between 78 and 82. Is that even hot enough? He'll be getting a meal in a few days and I'd like it to be hot enough to digest.

My problem is that the UTH doesn't seem to be doing that good a job with the glass tank. I have the thermostat currently set at 105 degrees F and when I use the temperature gun the bottom of the tank is only ~91 degrees, but the substrate doesn't appear to be heating up well. When I check the temperature in his hot-side hide it's around 79.

prairiepanda · 04-10-15, 12:45 PM

Yeah, UTHs tend to be really good at heating glass and not so great at heating substrate or air. This makes them pretty good for shallow tubs with newspaper or something similar instead of particulate substrate, but not so great for other applications. In your case, the surface temperature of your hot end seems a bit cool for a rosy, but if the glass under the substrate is 91 then your snake can settle under the substrate to get the heat it needs for digestion.

How are you planning on heating your wooden enclosure when it's ready?

leeshis0019 · 04-10-15, 01:05 PM

I have heat tape coming in that I'm going to cover the hot-end with on the interior. Then I'll put ceramic tiles on top of it and substrate on top of that. Before he goes in I'll probably get temperature readings for a day and shift things around if necessary.

The tiles really do hold heat well (sort of like a heat rock) and they disperse it too. So I'll have the thermostat set for the tiles to get to 89-91. I'm hoping that the enclosed space will hold heat better as the opening into the wooden cage is on the front [and not the top].

Edit: Also, I changed my thermostat to be on a pulse setting instead of the dimmer setting and it seems to be working a little better.

prairiepanda · 04-11-15, 10:00 AM

Ceramic is also good at radiating heat(into the air), so that sounds like it'll be a great setup. What you've got now is fine for temporary housing and shouldn't cause any digestive issues, though.

**millertime89** · 04-11-15, 02:56 PM

Glass is an excellent insulator which is why a uth will heat that but not the air too much.