HCA: Hermit Crab Association

I have not seen a review for this product on here, only a mention of it on another thread where an ambitious crabber was building a similar controller from scratch So here goes.

I have had the Zoo Med Hygrotherm for about a week. I use it in conjunction with the Zoo Med Repti-Fogger and a large Ultratherm heat pad. I have a 55g tank, and the Hygrotherm was $69 with free shipping from Petco.

Photo of it set up with my tat:




First pic the controller up on the wall (little green screen) and the main unit on the window ledge, second pic shows the main unit which the heat element and humidity element plug into, which plugs into the wall and that the sensor and controller come off of. Third pic is my tat with the controller up on the wall where you program all the settings.

So you plug it into the wall. Then you have one plug for your heater and one for your humidifier, and it will turn these on and off as needed to keep your conditions just right. Then you run the little sensor into the tank. And then you program your settings (not necessarily in that order!). My tank is set to 84 degrees and 80% RH since it is on the warm side of the tat. It has been keeping the conditions pretty much perfect since I started using it. The sensor is very accurate when put beside a calibrated hygrometer/thermometer unit that I already had, within 1 degree temperature and 2% on the humidity side.

It has some nice features such as an alarm which will flash if your conditions go far enough out of spec. and also a night temp. drop feature where you can program the temperature to go down to simulate nighttime conditions in the wild.

So the only thing I can't speak to at this point is it's longevity since I've only had it a short time, but I am very, very happy with the performance thus far. It really takes the guesswork out of maintaining the right heat/humidity balance in the crabitat and for me, makes me feel much better especially with exotics like Straws who are sensitive to drastic changes in conditions.

I'll be happy to answer any questions, please pardon me if I don't get back here immediately because we're going though a family illness situation right now and I'm a little run off my feet between a sick husband and two little kiddos

WooHoo! Ive been curious as to how this has been working for you. Once I get my fogger back from ZooMed I will be getting one.

A few questions:

Does it have space for two heating elements? It doesnt look like it but thought I would ask as Ive got a hood that I have an alternating night and day lamp on. If not oh well...Im mainly interested in it for the humidity factor...winter weather out here is killing my humidity

Does it suck power more than just plugging things into the wall?

Unfortunately it has only one spot for a heating element and one spot for a humidifier I do wish it had two or ideally three plugs for heaters because I'd like to have one for my Ultratherm, one for my day lamp and one for my night lamp. But I just use a timer for the lamps and the Hygrotherm adjusts the heat by turning off/on the Ultratherm. But I guess when I think about it, I want the day lamp on for the UV (just in case crabs need it) so the best thing for it to be turning on and off is the Ultratherm and that's what is plugged into it. I really don't need the night lamp at all, it's just there for my son to be able to see the crabs because they are really fun to watch at night when they're wreaking havoc

It will control up to 1000w combined for the heater and humidifier, I don't think it uses a lot more electricity than just having the heater and humidifier plugged directly into the wall, just a minimal amount more to run the controller and act on your settings. We have an old house so if it were pulling down lots of extra power I probably would have had to reset a breaker by now

Alrighty my next questions for you

Did your control come with the giant heater/fogger plug-in box there or did you have to get that separately?

So the Hygrotherm was only $69 from PetCo....gah, the Pet Mountain place is selling them for $105! Which is why I ask the first question.... heh... I can work my way up the shelling out $70, but not so sure about $105+shipping! EEEP!

Why is it so hard to get onto these boards lately

The central unit that the heater and fogger plug into in picture 2 come with it. It's actually all one unit and the extensions for those two plugs come off it, along with another cord that the sensor attaches to and yet another cord that the control unit is attached to (the thing that's up on the wall), are all part of the same apparatus.

Just plug your existing heater and fogger in and go Petco.com is where I got this one and $69 plus tax is what I paid... It doesn't ship from petco but from a 3rd party so it takes a little longer than usual if you have ordered from them before. I think my total was about $74 because I got free shipping

This is great hygrotherm and heating advise..

I'm so glad this topic came up again, my BF and I were just discussing these today!

Hygrotherm! its on my list of things to get today i hope! anyone else using it?

I just ordered one today on amazon! Along with the reptifogger AND the magnaturals; those magnetic ledges that I think a couple people have on here and like. I'm really excited and hope they come in by the weekend so I can set them all up!!!

usually petco has the best price for the fogger..http://www.petco.com/product/109982/Zoo ... d_Products

Amazon had same price right now!

Edit: Actually it was less! $42.77

Right now the hygrotherm is $67 on Amazon and it's elidgable for free super saver shipping (5-8 days)

Here's the link: http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-HygroTher ... 815&sr=8-1

47.99 petco with free shipping..for the fogger so if you are buying all three you got a good deal, unless super saver shipping isnt free? i already have the fogger..

Super saver shipping is free so the fogger had no extra charges beyond the $42.77.

The hygrotherm wasn't eligible for the free shipping because it's actually sold by another company on the amazon site so it ended up $72.65 (same with the magna rocks).

However I also got two more of the Fluker's Digital Thermometer / Hygrometer which are my fave; $14.13 and free shipping, as well as another CHE 100W for $19.85 and free shipping.

I bought a lot of stuff... DDD:

and that package comes with Zoo Med Dual Thermometer and Humidity Gage that was 7.99 reg 24.99 how many therm/ hum gages do you need? the hygrotherm only can hook up to two things unfortunately.. like one fogger and one heater.. and it is a therm/hygrometer. sounds like you might have a few more gages then you need? how many tanks are you setting up? lol. oh you are in it for the long term..