Elevating a glass tank with a UTH underneath

Hello everyone,

I'm setting up my glass tank in preparation of bringing home my first snake on Saturday (hognose that I am picking up at repticon). I have everything that I need, but had one question about my setup.

I have read that you need to elevate a glass aquarium if you are using a UTH attached to the underside of the tank. The UTH I purchased is very flat and flimsy (easy to attach with foil tape), but did not come with small pegs to attach to the tank corners to elevate it.

What can I use to elevate the tank (i.e. cardboard, bottlecaps, etc?) if elevating the tank is necessary.

Thanks for your help!
Artgecko

When regulated by a thermostat (which is not optional with UTH's) there is no need to elevate the tank. Simply place the thermostat's probe sandwiched between the bottom of the tank and the UTH itself.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Serpent Merchant

When regulated by a thermostat (which is not optional with UTH's) there is no need to elevate the tank. Simply place the thermostat's probe sandwiched between the bottom of the tank and the UTH itself.

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I actually do elevate..... tank sits on 2- 1x1x12 pieces of wood. I thought this would be better for airflow and avoid pinching any cords?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MsMissy

I actually do elevate..... tank sits on 2- 1x1x12 pieces of wood. I thought this would be better for airflow and avoid pinching any cords?

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Avoiding pinching cords maybe, but there isn't any need for airflow.

The reason zoo-med/exoterra and the like say that you need air flow is because their packaging says that they don't need to be regulated. (Which is a blatant lie to sell product) When unregulated a UTH would overheat much faster without any airflow, but when regulate by a thermostat it is impossible to this to happen in the first place. Think about it this way:

If the UTH started to overheat the thermostat will simply reduct/cut power going to the UTH thereby preventing the the UTH from overheating in the first place. When properly regulated a UTH shouldn't get much hotter than 100 degrees F (105 tops) compare that to an unregulated UTH which will hit 130+ F easily

I have one tank up on two pieces of scrap slate that were leftover from other enclosures.

Thanks for the help!
I do have a thermostat to hook the UTH to and a thermometer and temp gun to check temps inside the tank.

I may still put some scrap cardboard below the tank corners to help with cord pinching, but I won't worry about it too much if elevating isn't necessary temp-wise.

Thanks again for your help!
Artgecko