can i put my tank on a towel?

im setting up my tank and i want to put the heater on the bottom but i finally read the back of the case it came in and it says dont put in on wood. well im putting it on wood and i dont want to hurt the wood. can i just put a towel underneath it? or maybe news paper? ive got those plasic things holding up the bottom of the tank but i dont want anything catching on fire.. thanks.

I use to put my tanks on bricks/stone pavers... I wouldn't put it on anything paper based. A towel might be ok

First Question are you using a T-stat? All my tanks with UTH's are on apeice of Plywood cut to fit the bottom of the tanks the I use square rubber feet purchased from the hardware store to allow space for a little areflow underneath and havent had a problem yet. When we got our first snake I used a blanket to protect the wood and it did discolor the blanket a bit so I would say wood is ok if regulated and spaced properly towel no Hope this helped

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Originally Posted by brittney123

im setting up my tank and i want to put the heater on the bottom but i finally read the back of the case it came in and it says dont put in on wood. well im putting it on wood and i dont want to hurt the wood. can i just put a towel underneath it? or maybe news paper? ive got those plasic things holding up the bottom of the tank but i dont want anything catching on fire.. thanks.

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If you're putting the plastic spacers under the tank, then you aren't putting the UTH on the wood - it will be suspended, which is the point of the spacers. A towel would be unnecessary, and potentially a fire hazard because it would restrict air flow under the UTH. Also, make sure you are using a thermostat or dimmer to regulate the UTH temperature.

thanks guys :)