Safe temperature to set my heat mat to if I don't have an infrared thermometer?

Hello,

I'm currently set up in a sealed top 20 gallon long tank, my herpstat probe is sandwiched between the heat mat and the underside of my enclosure.
I'm using a CHE as a secondary heat source, to provide ambient temperatures of 84F-86F on the hot side, and 73F-75F on the hot side.


I originally experimented by setting my herpstat to 95F; however, my $30 infrared thermometer from ebay, was highly inaccurate, I received readings ranging from 87F-100+F, the majority of those ranging in the 88F-92F range.
So I decided to set my herpstat to 94.1 degrees.



Does this sound about right?
What temperature do y'all personally set to achieve the correct temperature when using a heat mat in a glass aquarium?

Thank You.

Can’t advise without having a calibrated means of measuring temps. Stir up a glass of ice water and let rest for a min or two. Use your temp gun to measure the temp of the water. Should be ~32° if calibrated.

Can advise depending on the outcome of your calibration test.


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How do you know your IR thermometer was inaccurate? That sounds like a reasonable range of temperatures to me. Did you test it against another thermometer? With the laser dot kind, the surface you are pointing it at can make a difference. If it is reflective(like glass), the temperature will generally read a little higher, as some of the heat from the laser dot is bounced back to the sensor. Have you tried taking temps with the laser sight turned off?

Personally I have only used plastic and pvc, but with my plastic bin, if I got any reading over 93* I'd turn the tstat down a couple degrees. I had mine set at 97* to maintain floor temps of 88-90* on the warm side. you may want to err on the low side as glass is quite a bit more conductive than plastic.

No one is going to tell ya "just set it at blank temp". You will need/use an IR gun to dial in your temp

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Originally Posted by Bodie

No one is going to tell ya "just set it at blank temp". You will need/use an IR gun to dial in your temp

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I did use an IR gun... most of the readings came out between 88-92 degrees, so brought my "blank temp" down by 1 degree.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jmcrook

Can’t advise without having a calibrated means of measuring temps. Stir up a glass of ice water and let rest for a min or two. Use your temp gun to measure the temp of the water. Should be ~32° if calibrated.

Can advise depending on the outcome of your calibration test.


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I previously did this and received readings all over the place, some of he readings were exactly 32f, but most were higher or lower by a couple or so degrees.

I ended up sending the temp gun back, it'll be a week or two until my next temp gun arrives.

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Originally Posted by Southpaw91

How do you know your IR thermometer was inaccurate? That sounds like a reasonable range of temperatures to me. Did you test it against another thermometer? With the laser dot kind, the surface you are pointing it at can make a difference. If it is reflective(like glass), the temperature will generally read a little higher, as some of the heat from the laser dot is bounced back to the sensor. Have you tried taking temps with the laser sight turned off?

Personally I have only used plastic and pvc, but with my plastic bin, if I got any reading over 93* I'd turn the tstat down a couple degrees. I had mine set at 97* to maintain floor temps of 88-90* on the warm side. you may want to err on the low side as glass is quite a bit more conductive than plastic.

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You make a vaild point, perhaps my temp gun was generally accurate, but inaccurate by my personal standards?


And I'm using a double substrate.
The floor is lined with a brown paper shopping bag, then I have coco-husk on top. The warm hide sits directly on paper without coco-husk, while the rest of the enclosure is layered with coco-husk.

Yeah I would definitely err on the low side then.

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Originally Posted by PartySnake13

I did use an IR gun... most of the readings came out between 88-92 degrees, so brought my "blank temp" down by 1 degree.

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I hear ya my man. If you are concerned about the accuracy of your IR gun, what jmcrook said earlier about using a glass of ice water to check to see if your IR gun is accurate is spot on. Make a glass, give it a few minutes to settle in and shoot it with your IR. It should read close to freezing. If it is way off, then I would get a new IR pistol. :gj:

On those readings you had were you aiming the temp gun at the substrate or the actuall glass of the floor. You should get the glass surface to the desired temps and then put the substrate on that. They will dig down to the glass if they want to be warmer. If you get the substrate surface to 90 degrees it is likely your glass is way to hot and they can get burnt. It would also not be at all uncommon if you are shooting the substrate for the temps to be varying like you described. My glass surface varies a couple degrees if I aim at different spots of the UTH. I just make sure the warmest reading I get is 89-90,then put the substrate back over it.