Baby its cold outside. 10g, cold room,Heating problems.

[IamSam]

My tank is 20x10x12" and is in a room that does get cold in the winter. Currently I am able to keep the temp inside the tank in an acceptable range but that will get more difficult as it gets colder. I can move them but I'd prefer to keep them where they are if possable.
The current uth that I have is a stick on, 8 watt 5.9inx7.8in. It says it's for terrariums up to 20 gallons and since mine is a 10 I thought it should be good.
However I'm not sure if the mat is working as well as it should. The room they are in is at about 70F and the mat only seems to bump it up a few degrees, 3-5 at most. Which is okay-ish when the room is 70 degrees but won't cut it when things get colder. The mat says temp range 98.6-116.6F but I'm not really sure what that means.
I have a eco terra type a or cfl lamp(don't really know what that means) which dosent give off a lot of heat but does help warm it up a bit during the day. I don't think I'm supposed to insulate the type of uth that I have so it's just that stuck to the tank. Or mostly, the side is unpeeling a bit and I push it back down a couple times a day. I really don't want to get a second stick on mat for these reasons.

My question is how much of a difference can I reasonably expect my size uth to make and is it doing what it should or not? Is their a way to bump up the temp with what I have or do I need a different uth? I've heard good things about Ultratherm uth' s but I've also heard they can be expensive. Also I know they have uth' s with a thermostat. Has anyone had muck luck with those?

[curlysister]

It sounds like the UTH you have is simply not enough - for crabs we go by the dimension of the UTH, not by how many gallons it says it is for (that's for reptiles).
You are correct that you can not insulate over top of a stick-on mat. You can insulate around it and the sides where there is no mat, as well as the top of the tank. But if your room is cold, there is a good chance that the little mat you have won't cut it.
You are correct that Ultratherms are expensive, but they are worth it. There are other brands that are good as well. Personally, i have two cheap stick-on mats, and two of the more expensive ones that can be insulated over top. The room fluctuates greatly in temp between the seasons - so I can plug/ unplug as needed. It works for me, but may not for everyone.

[IamSam]

Do you have any recommendations for how to insulate a tank? Or different good brands of uth?
And for Ultratherms, does it have to lay flat or can it wrap around an edge?
Thank you, this has been a big help.

[curlysister]

Ultratherm and Flukers are good and can be insulated over top. Also the ones that Bean Farm sells.
No UTH can go around a corner, they must lay flat against the back or side of the tank.
You can buy something like Reflectix for insulating, or if you are a thrifty crabber (like me) you can wrap tinfoil around cardboard. Just use packing or duct tape to tape the insulation onto the tank. I don't insulate the top, but I do have a folded up wool blanket on the top (and the cats like to lay on there too LOL).

[wodesorel]

I used to run my 10 gallon in a room that regularly got into the 50s (Fahrenheit) in the winter. Stayed toasty with an 11x11 Flukers UTH, insulated with foil wrapped cardboard over the pad and on the lid. An Ultratherm pad would do the same!

[IamSam]

Thank you this is very helpful.

Alright I have a stupid question. Foil side towards or away from the glass. I think I can guess but I figured I'd ask.

And wodesorel where on your ten gallon did you put that uth? Are your tank dimensions different then mine or is a little hangoff or going past the substrate okay? Because I feel like I was told not to do that.

[curlysister]

The UTH shouldn't hang past the tank, but if it goes below the substrate level, that is absolutely fine. The sub will dry out more in that area, so you may need to add a bit of water there (turn off the UTH and allow to cool so you don't put water against the tank when warm).

[wodesorel]

Yes, it reaches top to bottom. In most situations a shorter UTH is enough heat, but when you're needing a lot of heat, 20 degrees or more, it almost has to cover as much of the back as possible including the substrate. This also allows for a temperature gradient while molting and warm areas to settle into aside from just the top few inches, as 50 or 60 degree sand will end up causing deaths the same as a cold tank and the sand will be room temp at the bottom of the tank otherwise.

Foil against the glass and pad, to reflect heat back inside!

[IamSam]

Thank you very much.

[IamSam]

Alright, another question.
uth with thermostat. Anyone have any experience with those? Any recommended brands or things I should know? Do they only work with the uth they are bought with or do they sell just the thermostat and do they work with any mat?

[CleverCrabCallsign]

The thermostats will generally have just a standard outlet that you can plug whatever brand mat into. I've been using a BN Link one designed for seedlings I think for my 20 gal with topper and it's been working fine for a year and a half now. I have a newer one with two temp probes in my almost done new build which seems to be doing great so far but I can't speak to long term reliability. That one is made by Pymeter. Bought both off of Amazon.

[wodesorel]

I use Herpstat thermostats for my reptiles, but I wanted bells and whistles. (Literally, really, that brand comes with a customizable high/low audible alarm which was something that was important to me.) It has a lot of extras like day/night differences, remembers settings when unplugged, etc. Overkill for hermit crabs but a really nice unit if it's in the budget.

I would suggest not buying a UTH that has an attached thermostat built into the cord, as heating failures can be from the UTH or from the thermostat. There's no way to troubleshoot if they're a single unit and then you're stuck. You can buy thermostats on their own, and those will work with any heating source. Inkbird seems to be a decent price and I see a lot of crabbers who are happy with the brand.

Remember that a thermostat only helps with preventing overheating from a UTH that is too powerful or when the room gets warmer. It can't force more heat out of a UTH that runs too cold when plugged directly into the wall.

[IamSam]

Why can you insulate over some uth's like Flukers and Ultratherm but not others like stick ons?

[curlysister]

Why can you insulate over some uth's like Flukers and Ultratherm but not others like stick ons?

Insulating over top of something that is not meant to be insulated is a fire hazard!

[wodesorel]

The construction of the pads are completely different. The stick ons are sort of rubbery and have looser wires inside that need to vent heat on one side to prevent overheating. When they get too warm the plastic coating melts which means the wires inside touch and that causes shorts and fires. Totally not a joke, using them improperly and letting them overheat has caused property damage. They're based on human heating pad design which are also a known fire danger.

Ultratherm and flukers use a different design that is made for underfloor heating. It's built to be encased between layers and won't get hot enough to cause melting. It's also a bit safer as it's made specifically for use in houses. Ultratherm is actually a floor heating company that created a reptile department once they realized how many pet people were using their product!