Im using cypress mulch at the moment and its become a problem for me because its dried up so much that its literally like wood chips that you would find at a park where the kids play..

My current set up is a 30x12x12 (20Gal) I have 2 UTH (cold 83 & hot 93), and one ceramic heat emitter(equipped with a dimmer). I insulated 3 sides with cardboard and foil tape and i have the tank lid wrapped with foil. I use the CHE to keep my ambient temperature of the tank up, and i think thats my problem.. the CHE is hot enough to the point it dries out all the mulch.

- Is there another way i can keep my ambient temperature up besides using my CHE?
- What substrate should i switch to that wont give me this problem?

Thanks for reading. Any suggestions is much appreciated. I know i wouldn't want to be slithering around this hard substrate if i were a BP..