UTH heating for 10 gal

[xbreeboo]

Hello! We are just starting out with two PP this afternoon and we are struggling to get our 10 gal tank to retain the proper temperature. We have a 12 X 8 UTH on the back of the tank but even with that it seems to be hovering around 69.8 degrees F. This may be a silly question but our tank has a screen top, could this be the issue? Do we need to change out to a glass top to essentially have a way to trap more of the heat inside the tank?

[emayers]

Glass or plexi glass to keep in both temperature and humidity. You want temperatures to be between 70-80 with humidity at that level too. Some people make due with plastic wrap over their screen lids. Works about the same but can be a pain to adjust it when accessing the tank.

[wodesorel]

My old 10 gallon bedroom tank, which was upgraded a couple years ago to a 29 using the smell basic setup, is kept in a room that is in the 50s and 60s. I used a 11x11 flukers UTH that can safely be insulated overtop (not all brands can be!) and then also insulated the screen lid using plastic and foil wrapped cardboard. The back insulation was just foil and cardboard. You can go fancier with reflectix insulation, or foam board or whatever, I just like the cardboard and foil because I always have some around the house and it's free. The tank never dipped below 80!