Side Heater Really Necessary?

Mikau132 · Post by **Mikau132** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 4:36 am

I've never had one on my crabitat, however the room it's in never dips below 78 degrees Fahrenheit. Should I save up for one or just leave it as is?

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 4:52 am

I would save up for one as an emergency item you don't even need to have it on the tank until you really need it then just mount and plug it in.What size is your tank if I might ask?

Mikau132 · Post by **Mikau132** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 5:05 am

It's a 20 gallon, however I will be buying a 75 gallon later this month.

Crabber85 · Post by **Crabber85** » Wed Jul 23, 2014 7:50 am

What I would do is try the insulation first its relatively cheap and just wait till you get the new tank because your going to definitely need some overhead heat on that.I've learned the hard way that larger tanks are impossible to heat with just uth pads alone and for whatever reason larger tanks tend to get colder faster than smaller ones.I'm guessing it has something to do with a larger area of air space..You'll be needing a heat lamp and a bulb around the 70watt mark in combination with two uth pads rated for 60gallons each to get the right temp increase and to keep the air temperature in the tank stable.If you position the pads so that they meat on a corner and then place the heat lamp over that area it will create a hot area or hot spot and the heat will radiate out from there gradually decreasing as it crosses the tank so you should have at least two temperature zones a hot end and cooler end and if you do this correctly the middle of the tank will be about three degrees cooler than the hot end and the cooler end will be on average five degrees cooler this something we strive for in larger tanks where this multi climate control is possible.If you can do it your hermitcrabs will thank you but if not, if you find yourself struggling with it no worries we can help you to either make the necessary adjustments or you can just try for two temp zones which is much easier.lol

Mikau132 · Post by **Mikau132** » Thu Jul 24, 2014 8:38 am

Ok thanks! I will look into pricing.