HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I dont get it, thos sucker just doesnt seem to work well for me. Ive got a 6x23 and an old medium sized zoo med on the side. Ive wrapped it all up in reflectix, bought a glass top lid, and covered the back half of the lid with plastic wrap. Everything has been relatively sound at 80% n 80°. Woke up this morning temp is at 70° n 65%. Zoo med os pumping good heat, but as i felt the back at the ultratherm behind the reflectix its not very warm at all. What the heck? I dont get it. What am i not doing? Ive calibrated my guages about 3 weeks ago its good. When i reached my hand in it definetly felt like 70°.

I have 2 crabs down and my son came home with the neighbor kids 2 crabs last night saying theu didnt want them and were going to THROW THEM OUT. I OBVI took them. Popped em in, gave em a quick dip in the FW. But i feel terrible that its so chilly in there.

I dont know what to do at this point tho

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what's the dimension of your tank? does your ultratherm covers the entire back? does your reflectix cover the entire back? if your ultratherm doesn't go across the entire back, have your reflectix cover the entire back might help, too. does the glass lid covers the top without gaps? what's your room temperature? if your glass lid is already air tight, then maybe try to cover the entire lid with reflectix could help, too?
you may have a gap somewhere that's leaking heat and humidity.

my old 15gl has a slide in screen lid (that i covered up with relfectix), sometimes i find if i closed it without push it in really hard, a tiny crack will leak humidity.

i also found sometimes on a colder night if i throw a folded towel on top, it keeps the temp and humidity up better, too.
ultratherm doesn't feel as warm as zoo med, but i think it is more heat efficient for crab tanks.

aprilmay wrote:what's the dimension of your tank? does your ultratherm covers the entire back? does your reflectix cover the entire back? if your ultratherm doesn't go across the entire back, have your reflectix cover the entire back might help, too. does the glass lid covers the top without gaps? what's your room temperature? if your glass lid is already air tight, then maybe try to cover the entire lid with reflectix could help, too?
you may have a gap somewhere that's leaking heat and humidity.

my old 15gl has a slide in screen lid (that i covered up with relfectix), sometimes i find if i closed it without push it in really hard, a tiny crack will leak humidity.

i also found sometimes on a colder night if i throw a folded towel on top, it keeps the temp and humidity up better, too.
ultratherm doesn't feel as warm as zoo med, but i think it is more heat efficient for crab tanks.

20 long, i have about 2 inches on either side of the ultratherm as a gap because next size up i found would overlap the sides so i went with the 6x23 i think. I do have the back half of the glass lid covered in plastic wrap because there is a gap running the length of it. My downstairs temp is about 68 but i have a space heater in front of the tank on my upstairs landing, its cozy a d the heat is finally coming back up but externally . Yes the entire back and both sides are covered top to tail in reflectix and taped as tight as i could maneuver. Im at this moment cutting and fitting reflectix piece to lay over the top.

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Can you move it away from the window? That acts like a giant heat sink and is hard to combat.

wodesorel wrote:Can you move it away from the window? That acts like a giant heat sink and is hard to combat.

So, lol, i assume "heat sink" means the window is sucking out the heat? Lol. I thought of that, but its sealed shut and literally the ONLY place in my home that gets sun is this darn nook. I plan on moving it, and soon, i just dont quite have a place for it yet. In the winter since heat rises its pretty warm up there, that spot particular, i figured ot was good, but my actual heat isnt on yet. I just gotta move it i guess

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Couple of suggestions...Is the ultratherm on the right way? The piece that the cord goes into the ultratherm has a flat side, and a kind of curved side.

Next, I would try insulating the back of the tank with another layer like foam board over the reflectix. I agree with Wode...the window will make a huge difference on temperature.

Try that

Don't give up on the ultratherms - they are great!

Yep ultratherm is on correctly, i know what ur saying about the flat side. Foam board over reflectix, ill give it a shot

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elly_bananas wrote:Yep ultratherm is on correctly, i know what ur saying about the flat side. Foam board over reflectix, ill give it a shot

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You could also use cardboard or styrofoam

Even the difference between an outside and inside wall can make a huge difference in the temperature of a tank. I love my temperature gun because I can get reading of any surface, and it is really surprising just how much of a temperature gradient there is around windows, chimneys and outside walls compared to the rest of the room. I've seen 20 degrees in my own old house, and more than that when the thermometer nose dives in the middle of winter. For my critter room, I actually planned out and zoned enclosures based off those temp differences, with the tropicals on interior walls and natives on exterior withe the coldest species in front of windows because they can handle the lower temps.

wodesorel wrote:Even the difference between an outside and inside wall can make a huge difference in the temperature of a tank. I love my temperature gun because I can get reading of any surface, and it is really surprising just how much of a temperature gradient there is around windows, chimneys and outside walls compared to the rest of the room. I've seen 20 degrees in my own old house, and more than that when the thermometer nose dives in the middle of winter. For my critter room, I actually planned out and zoned enclosures based off those temp differences, with the tropicals on interior walls and natives on exterior withe the coldest species in front of windows because they can handle the lower temps.

Good points! I want them in my dining room against an inside wall that has my stove on the other side and a large radiator in the room, but my husband and his band practice in there 3Xs a month so that wont work out till we create an actual rehearsal space. My house is very old, and the rooms were just created so strangely in regards to wall space, i cant even demo appropriately to renovate because everything's so weird and odd in here. I wish i had thought of that ahead of time.

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I have one of those temp guns too. They are awesome! Hubby got it really cheap on eBay for another purpose and I stole it from him lol. I use it to double check my temp gauge and check both ends to get a hot side read and a cool side read.

I have my tank near a slider door and I covered that side of the slider with a big blackout curtain and it made a big difference. Though I'm in cali so it doesn't get that cold here but still if u can't move them right away I would suggest covering the window with something thick and just lighting the tank with something else. Oh and I also throw a snuggie over my tank when the room gets a bit chilly and that helps too.

Happyhermiehome wrote:I have one of those temp guns too. They are awesome! Hubby got it really cheap on eBay for another purpose and I stole it from him lol. I use it to double check my temp gauge and check both ends to get a hot side read and a cool side read.

I have my tank near a slider door and I covered that side of the slider with a big blackout curtain and it made a big difference. Though I'm in cali so it doesn't get that cold here but still if u can't move them right away I would suggest covering the window with something thick and just lighting the tank with something else. Oh and I also throw a snuggie over my tank when the room gets a bit chilly and that helps too.

The curtain isnt a bad idea i guess. Its the only natural light source upstairs aside from our bedrooms (my room is probably where theyll end up but i have no heat source in there because i like it cold in my room at all times) i suppose i could sacrifice the window but i dont have an aquarium light yet just a lamp and the window light for day time. Itll have to do. Ill give it a shot tho

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All I ever hear is people having problems with their ultratherm. Frankly it's the reason why I haven't bought one, even though they are recommended everywhere.

All I see is posts like "my ultratherm isn't warm", "i have used reflectix tape and it still isn't working", "I bought the biggest ultratherm I could find and it still isn't heating my medium size tank, even though it's insulated everywhere and I have a glass top"

To be honest I feel like they are crap. Just my $.02

Heating in general is a hard thing to get set up. Every tank and every home is different. The heating method a person in South Carolina uses in a new home isn't going to work the same for a person in a century home in Connecticut, nor for someone living in an old home 5 miles away.

I have noticed a trend of recommending heaters smaller than what we used to suggest. The whole "above the substrate" screams members from warmer climates who don't need a huge boost. For over a decade it was always "largest pad that fits the entire back", but that was when most of our members were around the Great Lakes and dealing with wicked winters. The pads could be reeled in with an inexpensive rheostat if need be and there was no worry about having to insulate in winter or buying more pads if it wasn't enough.

Ultratherms do make the largest UTHs available, which I think is why they are so recommended. I haven't noticed a huge difference between brands when it comes to the smaller ones (aside from the ability to be insulated if need be), but that size can really be helpful.

And a lot of people still undersize the pad thinking it is all they need, when they should have bought a bigger one. Or forget to figure in drafts in a house, or they keep their home at 62 instead of someone else's 78, or etc etc. Too many factors to just send someone out and tell them to buy X Product and expect it to work the way they want it out of the box.