Question about heating lights

wheatangel_maianqi · Post by **wheatangel_maianqi** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 8:33 am

So, I am a first time owner of hermit crabs, and so far my crabs have been too cold. Finally yesterday things got better when I purchased a heating light, and now they are active and happy. Then, of course, I woke up this morning and found a big problem. The lid of my tank is basically two pieces of glass connected by a piece of plastic, and the heat lamp had partially melted the plastic. Now I know I can't put the light directly on the lid. I am wondering if there are any experienced owners out there who have had this same problem and know a good DIY way to get around this problem. My dad keeps the house pretty cold, so buying a different lamp online is my last resort. My hermit crab tank is underneath a shelf, so there is a possibility that I could hang it. I hope you all have some good ideas for me!

MuseCrazy · Post by **MuseCrazy** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:05 am

You can hang it, or mount it from the side, or just put It on the glass part. I have a mesh lid covered in Plastic Wrap and my lights sit directly on the mesh part.

CallaLily · Post by **CallaLily** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 9:23 am

There's also a risk of the glass cracking too. I would try hanging it some way. Did the lamp come with a clamp?

wheatangel_maianqi · Post by **wheatangel_maianqi** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 11:23 am

Unfortunately it didn't come with a clamp. My mom said we might have a clamp somewhere around the house, but I am thinking about hanging it from that shelf somehow until we can find it.

~Either way I have to do something! One of my first crabs was killed because it was too cold, so I am in no more funny business mode.

Post by **wodesorel** » Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:24 pm

There are some photos here of ways to mount them: http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 26&t=92543

Ideally you want to keep a few inches between whatever surface you're heating and the bulb to prevent anything cracking or melting.

YYWW · Post by **YYWW** » Sun Aug 24, 2014 11:41 pm

I went thru a glass lid, DIY plexiglass lids, 3 light fixtures, a lamp stand, and 5 light bulbs before breaking down and ordering an Ultratherm UTH from Bean Farm

they aren't too costly and work SO GREAT! SOSO GREAT!
Now to pawn my lamp stuff off to some lizard people

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CrabbySquirrel · Post by **CrabbySquirrel** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 4:14 pm

YYWW, can you post a pic of what your Ultratherm looks like mounted on the glass? That would be so helpful - I'm thinking about getting one of those soon, and would like to mount it on the side, I'm assuming that's easy, but what about insulating it? I've heard of people using insulating foam-board or something like that from Lowes or Home Depot, do you do something like that? A pic would be great!

YYWW · Post by **YYWW** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 7:33 pm

Hiya! I havent needed to insulate yet as temps are steady 80F-86F. I will try to post pix later tonight

The ultratherm is like a super thin heated film, and i stuck it on using cheap double sided tape, which might not be visible in my pix to come. I did already purchase a mylar blanket to assist in insulating for the winter months to come!

To be continued! (Pix)

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YYWW · Post by **YYWW** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:31 pm

OK! First time posting pix, hope this goes well!

This is what the Ultratherm looks like stuck to the back of my tank:

This is the lamp & housing that I no longer use and will be trying to rid of:

And this is a couple pcs of the double sided tape used to hold the UTH to the tank, taken from inside the tank:

This is a pic of the span of the tank:

Fingers crossed that pix work!

Edited until pix showed up!

YYWW · Post by **YYWW** » Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:40 pm

O YEA! And, to insulate it I would just cut a pc of Mylar blanket to fit over the entire back and maybe part of the side of the tank, and tape it in place using scotch tape or the tape that looks like aluminum foil (I'm not sure what it is but I call it space tape, my husband gave it to me). You can alternatively tape a cut pc of foam/cardboard to the back/side of your tank. I think the point is to prevent heat from escaping backwards from the Ultratherm so that it may be redirected forwards, into the tank.

CrabbySquirrel · Post by **CrabbySquirrel** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:08 pm

Wow, thanks YYWW - that really helps! I am a visual learner, so it really is awesome when I can *see* stuff. So from what I can see, Ultratherms don't have sticky stuff on them already? That would make moving them easy, that's for sure! Or perhaps you just chose not to use it? In any case, thanks for posting those pics!

YYWW · Post by **YYWW** » Wed Aug 27, 2014 2:45 pm

That's correct, no sticky stuff, which IS awesome! And its [plastic]paper thin and light, so very easy to use and position. My large Zoomed UTH was always bubbling and being a pain, but the Ultratherm is a suuuper awesome product. I also love the assortment in size, so u can order one that is JUST RIGHT

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rednerite · Post by **rednerite** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:02 pm

This is fantastic and answered my question to a new post I just created! So if you are ditching your bulbs and lamp housing, what kind of lighting are you now using in conjunction with the ultratherm? Just hood with fluorescent for aesthetics? Or some sort of uva/uvb?

YYWW · Post by **YYWW** » Tue Oct 14, 2014 12:35 pm

LED tape lights, you can see em peeking out from the top of the back of the tank. I might add a moonglow in the future for nightviewing, because the LEDs on a dimmer can't fool my crabs!

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HCA: Hermit Crab Association