New here, and need help!

new here, looking for advice. i set up a 20gal long with 2uth, 2 thermostats, 2 thermometers, 2 hides, water bowl. i put all the probs under the substrate(reptibark) on top of the glass. i got it to 92f on hot side and 82f on cold side according to the thermometer. well after a day of letting it cycle i checked the temp of the top of the substrate with a ir temp gun and it was only at 68f. the ambient is also at the same temp, what am i doing wrong. i have not gotten the bp yet. i wanted to make sure everything is working and temps are good, so i dont hurt the little one. also i have the top screen 80% covered. i think i put too much substrate. i used almost a whole bag, the medium one. please help

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Originally Posted by MUSTANGGTANDGSXR

new here, looking for advice. i set up a 20gal long with 2uth, 2 thermostats, 2 thermometers, 2 hides, water bowl. i put all the probs under the substrate(reptibark) on top of the glass. i got it to 92f on hot side and 82f on cold side according to the thermometer. well after a day of letting it cycle i checked the temp of the top of the substrate with a ir temp gun and it was only at 68f. the ambient is also at the same temp, what am i doing wrong. i have not gotten the bp yet. i wanted to make sure everything is working and temps are good, so i dont hurt the little one. also i have the top screen 80% covered. i think i put too much substrate. i used almost a whole bag, the medium one. please help

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it does sound like you used too much substrate

Kudos on going about things the right way...most newbies get the snake first, lol. It sounds like you are definately headed in the right direction. Less substrate and bump up the tstat. My tstat in my VP rack is set at 110 to keep the tub floor at 90. Keep tinkering, you'll get it.

That's awesome that you're testing out your set-up first! It'll save you a lot of worry in the long run. It might help if you post pics of your set-up (so we can get an idea of just how much substrate there is, etc).

I think it sounds like too much substrate and you could bump up your t-stat a little. Be careful of bumping your t-stat up too much, there have been a few sad posts recently of BPs with burns from burrowing through the substrate to the glass and it being too hot. Hopefully some more experienced folk can tell you how hot is too hot!

i took alot of the substrate out and left just under 1/2 inch of substrate. under the hides it was getting hotter but not hot enough. what im gonna do is take both uth back and get 2 larger ones and see if that will help.

Hi,

I take it the thermostats are set as high as they can go?

I know on mine I had to set the thermostat a wee bit higher to get the temps right inside the tubs.

What kind of UTH and thermostats are you using at the moment?


dr del

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Originally Posted by dr del

Hi,

I take it the thermostats are set as high as they can go?

I know on mine I had to set the thermostat a wee bit higher to get the temps right inside the tubs.

What kind of UTH and thermostats are you using at the moment?


dr del

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yeah they are as high as they can be.
zoomed uth and a zilla thermostat.

i just went out and exchanged both 10-20gal uth and got 2 30-40gal uth. so we'll see what happens. i probably gonna have to buy a che to get the ambient up so that the rest of the substrate gets hotter. what do you think?

are you using a rheostat?

im using the zilla stat

I had to get a CHE. I put it up there and I was regulated in a few hours ...
HUGE difference! Good Luck with your set up!