Very Cold House (Newbie)

[NewHermOwner]

Hi Everyone!

We've had our crabs for about a week and a half now. I'm using a 60W bulb (I got a two-pack with a day one and a night one) to heat a 10 gallon aquarium for two small (baby?) crabs. We live in a 140 year old uninsulated house in Montreal, and no matter what we do, it's always cold in our house. So far, the aquarium is getting to be between 70-75 degrees and will not get any higher. I have a metal mesh lid with plexiglass underneath cut to fit perfectly, and just the end three inches or so are open where the heat lamp goes.

I looked around and everyone seems to say that 100W is way too high for a ten gallon aquarium, but what else could I do? The store I got them from did not recommend the heat rock type thing because they said that crabs burn themselves. It's not even that cold yet here because it's October and we're having a bit of a "heat wave" for this time of year. I'm very worried about what is going to happen when it actually gets cold here.

So--what do you think? Could I try a 100W and just keep my eye on it? I work from home and can check frequently. What are my other options?

Thanks!

[curlysister]

Welcome to crabbing and to the site!
What are your humidity readings in the tank?
I live in Manitoba, on the prairies, in an old farm house....so I know your frustrations with heat! When it gets cold here (and often when it gets hot here), it gets dry. Like really dry. So not only do you need to heat your tank, you need to keep the humidity in there around 80% too! The easiest, least frustrating way to do this is to use heat pads instead of heat lamps. The product you want is called an 'under tank heater' or UTH. They are made for reptile enclosures, but we use them 'off label' for hermit crabs - and we put them on the back or the side(s) of the tank, NOT underneath the tank. And because we are using them to heat the air, don't go by the number of gallons a UTH is made for. Go by the dimensions. You want one that is going to cover most of the back of the tank from side to side, and probably about half of it up and down. You put the UTH mostly above the level of the substrate.
I don't know what brands of UTH are available in Quebec, but if possible and in your budget, you want one that is not sticky on one side. Reptile Basics and Bean Farm are two brands that are good. Zoo Med is sticky and not as good. The sticky ones cannot be insulated over top, but the other ones (which you attach with duct or electrical or other tape) can be.
My tank is upstairs where the air conditioning does not reach in summer, and the furnace does not reach in winter (there is a baseboard heater in the room). I have four UTH - two on the back and one on each side. That way, I can plug and unplug them as necessary. Some people use a thermostat that will automatically shut of the UTH if the air in the tank gets too hot.