# Heater Mat



## dunnm (26 Sep 2013)

Hi,
Thinking of starting a new emmersed set up but worried my house will be too cold at night. Google searches just come up with reptile heater mats which I guess is what I want (?) anybody recommend brand/type I should be buying?
Cheers


----------



## foxfish (26 Sep 2013)

If it just for an empty tank (not filled with water) then just get a basic cheap one.


----------



## RichardJW (4 Nov 2013)

Heater mats used to be quite the thing for heating Aquariums - the theory being that the convection helped water flow through the substrate !! Big problem was that when they failed you either stripped everything down and replaced or reverted back to a traditional heater stat !


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Nathaniel Whiteside (4 Nov 2013)

Make sure the reptile mat is a decent quality and waterproof one. Check on waterproof!
My mate owns a Local pet shop, and has water dragons. He was spraying them with water (which they love!) and left them. He came back to the habitat smoking like hell, filling the room with smoke too, and lost one of the dragons. Could have been a lot worse as there were about 5-6.

He was told by the rep they were the right ones for inside wet habitats, but they weren't. 

Obviously if your gonna run a tank on it, then it may get wet lol.


----------



## Brian Murphy (6 Nov 2013)

And be careful that the heat matt doesnt crack the underside of the glass .... i.e. make sure its good toughened glass


----------



## foxfish (7 Nov 2013)

I have never had a tank crack, these type of mats are very low wattage & only produce a gentle warmth, they work extremely well at producing a high humidity environment inside an emmersed tank set up.
However some mats have a relatively short life of only a few years & are not really designed to be used under a filled tank but I have also used them like this with an additional polystyrene tile.
Even a really small mat will raise the humidity but try to get one a similar size to the tank & you should get about 75-80f in the substrate, if that is warmer than the surrounding room temp the tanks humidity will soar up & even produces artificial rain as drops of water fall from the sealed lid.
From my experience the very best results for a dry start tank come from using a low wattage reptile heat mat placed under the tank, bright light for 12-14 hours a day & a sealed top.


----------



## Nathaniel Whiteside (7 Nov 2013)

I'm looking at possibly getting a humidifier aimed at the vivarium market.

http://bit.ly/1cVpaVy

Do you think it's overkill? Anyone used one before? Has anyone got a DIY version? 

Cheers,
N


----------



## foxfish (7 Nov 2013)

They are great for Halloween effects, no idea really about the benefits to plants though.


----------



## SO19Firearms (7 Nov 2013)

I used to use a fogger in mine - Worked well, except the salts in the nutrient solution meant the transducer only lasted a month or so.
I think the heater mat is a good idea, warm roots are happy roots and you don't have the water to do that like in a tank.


----------



## Nathaniel Whiteside (7 Nov 2013)

SO19Firearms said:


> I used to use a fogger in mine - Worked well, except the salts in the nutrient solution meant the transducer only lasted a month or so.
> I think the heater mat is a good idea, warm roots are happy roots and you don't have the water to do that like in a tank.




Hello FA,

I intend mine to be used with RO water, as the nutrients will come from A substrate and possibly a mist with a sprayer with very weak dose of fertilisers in.

Thanks for the reply,
N


----------



## foxfish (7 Nov 2013)

I know we love our hobby & doing things that are not really necessary, is just part of the hobby but, I must say that you can get 3-4 times the growth rate from a sealed heat mat set up with absolutely no spraying of misting or anything else apart from light & ferts in the substrate, that is compared to a tank filled with water!
I have several misters I might well try one out just for the fun of it...


----------



## Nathaniel Whiteside (7 Nov 2013)

foxfish said:


> I know we love our hobby & doing things that are not really necessary, is just part of the hobby but, I must say that you can get 3-4 times the growth rate from a sealed heat mat set up with absolutely no spraying of misting or anything else apart from light & ferts in the substrate, that is compared to a tank filled with water!
> I have several misters I might well try one out just for the fun of it...



Yeah mate, definitely with you on that. 
The only thing I would really like to mist would be the branches of manzanita with moss attached. More just to see how prolific the growth would be. Yet totally unnecessary I know. 

My tanks a 90x45x45, do they do decent sized mats? Or am I more likely to need two? And my tank is so bloody heavy, without substrate, that the thought of lifting it with substrate, to remove a heat mat makes my eyes water


----------



## foxfish (7 Nov 2013)

I am not sure how big you can get them but if you just want a one off attempt I would get two or three of the cheapest ones you can find!
I bought one of these a few weeks ago & it seems to be very good so far....  Reptile Vivarium Propagator Heat Mat Moisture Proof IPX7 Triple Layered | eBay


----------

