Here are a few pics of the cage that I made.







Its the center portion of my Glass TV stand. All the glass is bonded except for the lid, Its held on by suction cups. Around the frame of the top, on the interior I have installed a waterproof RGB LED strip around the entire perimeter. The Lights dont warm up, and are bonded to the frame its self. The dimentions of the cage are 48"L x 16"W x 10"H. On oneside, i have a 12" x 24" section of THG heat tape controlled by an "On/Off" thermostat, Inkbird Brand. The probe is between the heat tape and the bottom glass. At this point I have the thermostat set to allow the hotest spot to be ~85of.

The problem Im having, and had with the previous enclosure is ambiant air temps. Iv left this over night, and the temp is stable at 77of on the hot side, and 73of on the cool side. I need to raise these both by 6o-8o. The frame is about 1.25" deep, I have thought about RHP, But Im afraid of burning the animal. as that would only be ~9" from the surface. Am I too worried? They would be controlled as the UTH is now, is a lamp dimmer sufficiant? Im not 100% sold on ANY tank heating technology yet. Even this THG heat tape seems to have hot spots... especialy where the temp probe is bending it... speaking of wich.. whould I put the probe in the tank, or under the heat tape to keep the heat tape as close to the bottom glass as possible?

Thanks for any suggestions!