UTH not working properly.

I have a 20 gallon aquarium tank and a UTH. My problem is the UTH only heats up the sife of the tank its on. It does nothing for the cool side of the tank and that side gets very cold. I am currently using heat lights, but would like to get away from it. Any ideas on what I can do to make the UTH work?

I can guarentee that the UTH is actually getting too hot. I have the same setup and my temp gun read over 130* directly above the UTH....which is WAY too hot. How are you reading temps?

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Originally Posted by LGray23

I can guarentee that the UTH is actually getting too hot. I have the same setup and my temp gun read over 130* directly above the UTH....which is WAY too hot. How are you reading temps?

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I have a digital thermometer with probe that sits right on the surface of the tank. That reads 130 as well which I know is way to hot. I was going to by a thermostat, but then realized the other side wasn't heating up at all so I unplugged the UTH and pulled out my heat lamps I had packed up.

Definitely get a thermostat. It may have to do with your room temps. I keep my room at about 80degrees (uncomfortable for me but idc lol) this way my tank remains at 85 ambient + a uth on the warm side (one bp is in a tub, I'll be switching the other over after some weight gain). If you're room is cold maybe you should use two uth's and set the one on the cool side about ten degrees lower. Granted, it's more expensive, but may eliminate the need for lamps. I don't use a lamp on my tank.

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Originally Posted by Kymberli

Definitely get a thermostat. It may have to do with your room temps. I keep my room at about 80degrees (uncomfortable for me but idc lol) this way my tank remains at 85 ambient + a uth on the warm side (one bp is in a tub, I'll be switching the other over after some weight gain). If you're room is cold maybe you should use two uth's and set the one on the cool side about ten degrees lower. Granted, it's more expensive, but may eliminate the need for lamps. I don't use a lamp on my tank.

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My room is no where 80 degrees. My wife keeps the house around the high 60's in winter since we have oil heat so its expensive to heat. In the summer she will keep it around 75 degrees. Maybe I will get a second uth and 2 thermostats. Good thing I get paid in 2 days!!! If anybody has any other suggestions I am all ears!

Seeing as your house is fairly cool, I think 2 uth would help a ton! Or switch to tubs ;) So much easier to maintain heat and humidity! Good luck!

I was actually thinking about switching to tubs. I have some in the attic. What exactly should I do to set the tub up properly?

Would it be possible to maybe place the heat lamp way above the tank to warm the whole area up (so the tank is in an area around 80 degrees) and then use the UTH with a thermostat?

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:)

I suppose you can try that, with the lamp over your tank. But, with how cool the room is, Idk how much that would help. It would probably still give you humidity trouble since heat lamps evaporate the moisture in the air. I have one tub and one tank, trust me, you won't regret switching to tubs.

I use a plug in lamp dimmer to control my UTH in my tank (not my rack) and I have a temp gun to check my temps. (tempguns.com has a really good one for sale for $35.00). At the very least, if you don't get a thermostat you should get the dimmer and temp gun. You'll have to check it about 2-3 times a day though to make sure it doesn't rise or drop below where you want it. I only have to adjust mine a teeny bit if at all.