Using a heat mat on a glass tank?

Hey
I need a quick reply to this question
My brother is going to set up my tank with the thermostat and heat mat tomorrow while im at college.. and I need to leave him with instructions. I need to know what to do with a heat mat for a glass tank because I have only ever used one inside a wooden viv. I know it goes underneath.. but i'm unsure about the gap for air and all that. can someone tell me how i need to set it up underneath?

I need the reply quickly.. well by 6:30 tomorrow morning because I need to tell my brother how to do it before I set off to college in the morning

thankyouuu everyone

If you have a thermostat then your heatmat will be regulated and so it shouldnt overheat the glass.

SO basically, heatmat plugged into thermostat, thermostat plugged into mains, heatmat under tank, bobs your uncle.


Some people believe there should be an airflow as such and so suggest raising the tank a little bit.
BUT (and i confess) i have a tank where the heatmat is just placed under the tank and thats it, and i've had no problems with it... i generally check the heat whenever i clean it out, and it feels fine.
So its up to you whether or not you go 'safe and sensible' , or if you go 'im sure it will be fine'* ... which i shouldn't be encouraging lol.




*which it will be.

okay thanks. I know about everything about thermostats and such.. i just didnt know whether to leave an air gap or not.. but i think i won't leave one

In my experience with having a wood stove for heat and using a heat mat, it takes quite a bit to light a piece of wood on fire without tinder and all, not saying it's not possible but not very likely. Companies put that on their warnings to cover their butts. My heat mat ha alway just at underneath and been fine. In my opinion if a heat mat cause a fire there is something wrong with it.

BUT, you have to be comfortable with it as well. If you are constantly worrying about it then put a gap!

I have my tank propped up on a couple of thin slats of wood (they're called 1x1 slats here in the US)... then the uth, being a cobra and not self stick, is held up by a couple pieces of plastic styrofoam like this:



It is very porous almost like those sponges you put in fish tank filters, but much more still. It is very breatheable and works well to not only hold up my uth firmly but it also breathes being so porous. You can fold up a small kitchen towel or bath towel and put it under the uth to act as an insulator (or to hold it agasint the tank better) if you're afraid of it eventually damaging whatever piece of furniture you're putting it on. Even a cotton towel is porous and will breathe. There are internal sensors in most uth that detect when there is a failure and they should shut down the heat mat... an internal "trip" if you will to prevent the mat from malfunctioning. Then again keep in mind that the most a uth usually puts out is no more than 110*F so even at that not enough to start a fire even with prolonged esposure to flamable material.

What is the best wattage for a UTH? I've read elsewhere that the mat should cover at least a third of the length of the tank. The local pet store is selling a 10 in. x 11 in., 8 watt mat; my viv is 36 inches long. The floor is glass covered with vinyl tile. Will this mat give me the desired temps?

P.S. Sorry for the units. The first time I wrote this post, I had the metric conversions in it, but I lost it before I could post it and now I have to go to bed.

That size heatmat would be a sufficient size for your viv definitely.
However I don't know much about the wattage, Kel seems to know all that sort of stuff, i think her husband is an electrical engineer or something similar? So im sure she will help.

It should give the temperatures you need but in a smaller than recommended area. our leo is in a 30 inch long 12 inch wide tank with a 6x11 7 watt cobra uth. How wide is your tank and what brand uth is it? Anything less than a cobra or ultratherm (such as zoomed, exo terra or any off brand) that is designed to operate at a consistant 100 degrees F you should likely bump up to a 12 watt mat.

ps Jordan hubby is a former helicopter mechanic with the marines now working building oil meters for pipelines so he is well versed in hydraulics electrical and plumbing pipe. He might as well be an engineer, he's forever teaching them how to do their job

Funny, my dad is a steamfitter and says the same thing about engineers.

Ya know? It's like to be an engineer you have to leave your senses behind when you get your degree. only thing they can engine is more excuses for why stuff isn't right.

Hands on experience is a powerful teacher. It's not that they don't know how things should be, it's just that they rarely get their hands dirty enough to discover how things really are.