HCA: Hermit Crab Association

Hi guys, I have some questions about where i should put my heat mat. If I put it under the tank it doesn't warm up too much and it dries out the sand. If I put it on the back of the tank the heat escapes through the little gaps in the glass lid and therefore does nothing. Where do I put it?


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Madi.crab wrote:Hi guys, I have some questions about where i should put my heat mat. If I put it under the tank it doesn't warm up too much and it dries out the sand. If I put it on the back of the tank the heat escapes through the little gaps in the glass lid and therefore does nothing. Where do I put it?


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Hmm, let’s see.
Is there any way you can cover up the gaps, or insulate them?

Madi.crab wrote:Hi guys, I have some questions about where i should put my heat mat. If I put it under the tank it doesn't warm up too much and it dries out the sand. If I put it on the back of the tank the heat escapes through the little gaps in the glass lid and therefore does nothing. Where do I put it?


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I have 2 on the side of my tank . One large, one small.one higher one lower I also have glass top 70 gal aquarium I put a folded towel on top to keep heat and humidity leveled also my at any time one of my 3 cats will sleep on top.of my tank on the towel . I.live in Florida so temp and humidity in my tank.stays pretty consistent with little effort

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Always on the back, never underneath! UTH are designed to work only with very thin layers of substrate, around a cm. Anything more traps the heat between the substrate and whatever surface it is on, which is a fire hazard. And as you learned, even with a stand that allows an open bottom, not enough heat makes it through the substrate and into the tank, creating a dangerous hot pocket at the bottom that can harm molters and leaving the air too cold.

I was also having troubles keeping heat in. At first I used a piece of cardboard and tinfoil in two layers, and when I got my new one I just went to Home Depot and got some insulation.

What brand of heater do you have?

It's URS 30x50cm heat mat. (I have never heard of URS) I will move my heat mat to the side, it might be a struggle because of the weight of the tank, I will also put a towel on top. Where I live there is a lot of changes in temperature for example tomorrow will be 4 degrees Celsius and on Saturday and Sunday it will be back to 25 degrees.


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Ok so I have taken my heat mat out and I'm trying to stick it to the back of the tank with tape but it won't work, the heat just makes the sticky stop working. What do you guys use to keep you heat mat stuck to the back?


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Madi.crab wrote:Ok so I have taken my heat mat out and I'm trying to stick it to the back of the tank with tape but it won't work, the heat just makes the sticky stop working. What do you guys use to keep you heat mat stuck to the back?


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Many members here use duct tape, insulating tape, or packing tape.
I personally use and recommend T-Rex duct tape, it works very well

When I used packing and duct tape the glue just melted. I bought that shiny silver tape for insulation and made sure it said it held up in temps over 100.