Successful Humidity levels in a glass tank!

I too have a glass tank and thanks to everyone here my humidity levels are pretty stable around 55-60% with perfect heating as well. I have a 40 gallon enclosure that I custom cut a piece of plexiglass to cover most of the screen top. I cut it so that the rear of the tank has about 1.5" of ventilation and I cut a corner out for the 100W heat lamp. The tank was hovering around 30% so I put in a waterfall with a reptiflo250 pump and bumped my humidity to around 55%. With shedding I spray a few times a day and it can easily hit 80% but I never go that high. It is doable so long as you watch the levels in the tank.

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Originally Posted by iceman25

This is what I managed to find on the subject.

"Soda-lime glass:
This is the most common commercial glass (90% of total production), and also the least expensive. The chemical and physical properties of soda-lime glass are the basis for its widespread use. Soda-lime glass is primarily used for bottles, jars, everyday drinking glasses, and window glass. It usually contains 60-75% silica, 12-18% soda, and 5-12% lime. Soda-lime glass is resistant neither to high temperatures nor sudden thermal changes, nor to corrosive chemicals.

Lead glass:
As the name already indicates, lead glass has a high percentage of lead oxide (at least 20% of the batch). Lead glass has a relatively soft surface, making it especially suited for decorating using grinding, cutting, and engraving processes. This glass will not withstand high temperatures or sudden changes in temperature.

Borosilicate glass:
The third major group, borosilicate glass, is any silicate glass having at least 5% of boric oxide in its composition. It demonstrates greater resistance to thermal changes and chemical corrosion. Thanks to its properties, borosilicate glass is suitable for use in industrial chemical process plants, in laboratories, for ampoules and vials in the pharmaceutical industry, in bulbs for high-powered lamps, etc. Borosilicate glass is also used in the home for cooking plates and other heat-resistant products."

Source: www.glassonweb.com

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OK, that's some interesting info, but completely fails to address the issue of which has better insulating properties, glass or plastic?

Saying "Soda-lime glass is resistant neither to high temperatures nor sudden thermal changes, nor to corrosive chemicals." Is in no way saying that plastic is more resistant, or at all resistant.

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Originally Posted by monkeywrench133

You guys are silly. Tanks hard to clean?? Take out snake, take out furniture, roll in shop-vac, suck out substrata, spray down with chlorehexidine, let dry, replace substrata, furniture, snakes, Done! Takes me about 10 minutes of work, plus chlorehexidine drying time.

And they're heavy?? hmmmmmmmmmmm.................. I don't carry them around much, tends to stress out the snakes, so I'm not sure what the problem is.

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Erin chlorehexidine does not have to be washed out? Just spray down and let dry? That's awesome. You mean I don't have to drag the tank to the tub and rinse it all down as long as I thogoughly clean with the chlorehexidine? This definitely saves huge amounts of time.

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Originally Posted by Damian7

Erin chlorehexidine does not have to be washed out? Just spray down and let dry? That's awesome. You mean I don't have to drag the tank to the tub and rinse it all down as long as I thogoughly clean with the chlorehexidine? This definitely saves huge amounts of time.

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I don't rinse out the tank, just wipe it down. I DO rinse the water bowls after spraying them with ChlorHex, but I probably don't NEED to.

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Originally Posted by monkeywrench133

Good post, I'd really like to see the data on insulating properties of glass vs. plastic though

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I've searched the net high and low and could not find anything. Maybe someone else would have better results.

[/QUOTE]because I don't agree that plastic is better than glass. I have one brother in law who is an A/C specialist, and another who is a glazier. Their opinion is that glass is the better insulator. As my A/C brother in law put it "If plastic is that much better, why don't houses come with plastic windows?"[/QUOTE]

There are plenty of vendors out there offering PVC windows and Doors. My own apartments windows are PVC(pvc is plastic if anyone is wondering). So I hope you would forgive me if I don't side with an AC repairman and a grazier.

[/QUOTE]And how is glass "weak" in resisting high temps? I spent all yesterday melting holes in tubs for my rats with a soldering iron, try doing that to an aquarium.[/QUOTE]

While the fact remains that silica has a 3600F melting point, which incidentally happens to be a lot higher than that of a polymer, it really is of no consequence in the matter of tubs, because we are talking about the relative thermal index of plastic vs glass. I will see what research I can dig up on the issue.

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Originally Posted by monkeywrench133

OK, that's some interesting info, but completely fails to address the issue of which has better insulating properties, glass or plastic?

Saying "Soda-lime glass is resistant neither to high temperatures nor sudden thermal changes, nor to corrosive chemicals." Is in no way saying that plastic is more resistant, or at all resistant.

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I have heard yourself say to wrap flexwatt around the whole tank. Why don't tub owners have to do the same?

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Originally Posted by iceman25

I have heard yourself say to wrap flexwatt around the whole tank. Why don't tub owners have to do the same?

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Flexwatt really? You sure he didn't say Reflectix?

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Originally Posted by iceman25

I have heard yourself say to wrap flexwatt around the whole tank. Why don't tub owners have to do the same?

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A very good question, and to be honest, one I was just asking myself. Wrapping the tank with Reflectix is something I was told to do when I first got back in the hobby. And I took it at face value without questioning it. In light of this thread, I probably won't do it in the future, for temperature reasons. I will continue to use it on the lid. I may still wrap the tank to reduce visibility. I don't want to stress the snakes by having visible activity all around them, but I could use anything for that, not necessarily Reflectix.

****Edit**** I just remembered (new born baby duty has me a little slow right now), The Reflectix was suggested because the ambient temp in my house is 65, and raising temps in the house was impractical. So wrapping the tanks with reflectix was suggested. I have seen people with tubs do the same thing if the ambient room temps were too low. Sorry for the confusion, but thanks for the question, now I remember why I did it.

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Originally Posted by Damian7

Flexwatt really? You sure he didn't say Reflectix?

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My bad, please accept apologies for misquoting :D

Well, you could wrap the whole thing with Flexwatt, then the question of plastic vs glass would be moot! LOL!! Try getting a thermal gradient though!