Question about tub setup in rack

[Beto510]

Is 4" flexwatt enough to use for te short side of a 28 qt tub?
I'm new to flexwatt and I want to make sure it's ok.

[spankege]

It has to cover 1/3 of the tub, I'm almost positive you don't want it to be anymore than that. Maybe someone else can chime in?

[adamfritzsche]

i use 3" on all my tubs except my 41qt tubs I use 11". On the 28qt tubs I don't put the tape all the way to the back, I will place it where it will sit about 3 or 4 inches from the back and that has seemed to do well for me. So I would think that 4" would work just as good if not a tad better.

I should mention that my reptiles have their own heated room though. I originally started off in an unheated room in the basement that stayed 68°F all year round. I was using 11" and even that was not cutting it. I pulled out quite a bit of hair before I came to the realization that heat tape can not work miracles, nor does it heat the ambient air in the tub much.

So basically I would say it really comes down to what you are heating (closed rack/well insulated rack, open rack, etc.) and ambient room temps.

[PsychD_Student]

I'm currently using 4" flexwatt on my 32qt #1755 sterilite tubs, and that is working perfectly--even for my larger females. I also keep the room 82-84 degrees for ambient temps, and the basking side is held at 93.5 degrees.

I have the 4" flexwatt and use that aluminum tape to keep it down. Because the tape adds another inch to an inch and a half of heat, I usually push the center of the tape about 4 inches from the very back of the rack. That way, they get about 6 good inches of heating because the aluminum tape does conduct some heat. Also, if your thermostat breaks, the 4" heat tape isn't too big to prevent your snake from escaping the hot spot and it doesn't get hot enough to catch fire or melt anything.

Just make sure your ambient temps are good, and you have at least one thermostat (I have a proportional with an on/off one as a backup in case the herpstat 1 fails). ALSO... if you're new to flexwatt... make sure all your connections are properly conducting and taped well. If not, you'll be soldering/crimping on tape thats already taped down and that can drive you crazy!

[Beto510]

Thanks for the replies! I've got my two babies in the rack with 4" flexwatt and a herpstat 2!