A few questions.

[Munizfire]

Hey folks!

I just 'ordered' a new BP since the guy who bought Volvagia didn't want to give her up (I understand him, she's great ), and I'm waiting until I move to my new apartment to bring my new 'toy' in (forumite Dracovolans, who bought him for me in Tinley, will be taking great care of him in the meanwhile; thanks bro! ).

Anyways, since this apartment is going to be fancier, I thought a fancier tank is in order and I was wondering what's the consensus on 'waterfalls' inside BP tanks? My plan so far is to set up a tank with probably aspen shavings or Sani-chips (have tried both before with great humidity results), a soft blue/red LED strip for 'night-light', a pair of hides, a bit of decor and a 'waterfall' that serves as a water dish and as nice décor at the same time.

My plan on the waterfall is to design it so that I can completely remove it from the tank to do throughout cleaning when I have to, and I'm thinking of placing it in the center back of the tank, to avoid 'condensation' in the side walls of said tank, yet creating a 'pool' with higher edges to avoid too much water from getting to the substrate. Oh, and not a big jump of water to prevent splashes and stuff.

Another question is about the LEDs. In another thread it seemed clear that blue and/or red LEDs would be safe to use as a Night-light to be left on 24/7 or at least all night long. Now, what would a 'safe' Candela rating be, so that the light coming of the LED strip won't stress this bad boy out? Would 3k mcd be too much?

About UTHs, I used a Zoo-Med Repti-therm UTH controlled by a Hydrofarm tstat with great results, but I keep hearing that those are kinda crappy. So now I'm debating between getting another of those (due to good experience), an Ultratherm or a Flexwatt (both from Reptile Basics). Suggestions?

Thanks

[CuddleMunkie]

Looks-wise, I think a waterfall would be gorgeous. I don't think it would cause a problem with the snake myself, but then again, I'm new at being a snake owner, so that's just my opinion.

[BHReptiles]

I don't see why it would be a problem. it would definitely help with humidity. My only worry would be the ball python tipping it over and flooding the enclosure.

[Munizfire]

I'm certain that tipping it won't be a problem because of the dimensions of the base.






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[kitedemon]

I would be concerned about the water feature growing unpleasant bacteria and introducing it to the air during evaporation. I don't like or trust hydrofarm T-stats they perform ok under a very narrow set of conditions (I have 7 used for fail safes and photo related water baths) generally they are no accurate and have a large hysteresis and swing. I would no suggest one simply as they are not a flexible product there are too many occasions where they do not operate well at all. I would recommend a herpstat intro it is a fully proportional unit and has no hysteresis and little to no swing under any conditions. The HS1 is a great unit if it was in the budget more safety features than any other unit on the market other than another herpstat. I would also recommend a ultratherm under most conditions they only get to 100ºF typically so a burn is very unlikely the downside is with heavy bottom enclosure and cool room it may not get hot enough to deliver 90º in the enclosure.

[Munizfire]

Thanks Kite.

See, you brought another perspective to the waterfall situation.

About the T-stat, I doubt I would get another Hydrofarm, (tho keeping one as backup seems like a great idea), I was mainly debating between a herpstat and a VE. Changing to the UTH topic, I'm a die hard tank fan, and since I only have 1 snake for now (well soon), and I don't plan on adding many more, so the tanks make for prettier displays and it's what I shall be using until/unless I have at least 5 snakes, sooo will the Ultratherm work for me if my room temp stays around the mid 80s (tropical weather), if not, I'ma guess that the Flexwatt is still a better choice than the Zoomed one?

[Munizfire]

bump??

[fishdip]

Hey folks!

I just 'ordered' a new BP since the guy who bought Volvagia didn't want to give her up (I understand him, she's great ), and I'm waiting until I move to my new apartment to bring my new 'toy' in (forumite Dracovolans, who bought him for me in Tinley, will be taking great care of him in the meanwhile; thanks bro! ).

Anyways, since this apartment is going to be fancier, I thought a fancier tank is in order and I was wondering what's the consensus on 'waterfalls' inside BP tanks? My plan so far is to set up a tank with probably aspen shavings or Sani-chips (have tried both before with great humidity results), a soft blue/red LED strip for 'night-light', a pair of hides, a bit of decor and a 'waterfall' that serves as a water dish and as nice décor at the same time.

My plan on the waterfall is to design it so that I can completely remove it from the tank to do throughout cleaning when I have to, and I'm thinking of placing it in the center back of the tank, to avoid 'condensation' in the side walls of said tank, yet creating a 'pool' with higher edges to avoid too much water from getting to the substrate. Oh, and not a big jump of water to prevent splashes and stuff.

Another question is about the LEDs. In another thread it seemed clear that blue and/or red LEDs would be safe to use as a Night-light to be left on 24/7 or at least all night long. Now, what would a 'safe' Candela rating be, so that the light coming of the LED strip won't stress this bad boy out? Would 3k mcd be too much?

About UTHs, I used a Zoo-Med Repti-therm UTH controlled by a Hydrofarm tstat with great results, but I keep hearing that those are kinda crappy. So now I'm debating between getting another of those (due to good experience), an Ultratherm or a Flexwatt (both from Reptile Basics). Suggestions?

Thanks

Id put the leds on a dimmer so you can set the level so if the snake dose not like it you can lower the light with out replacing the leds. As far as the water fall moving water evaps quicker and may give you a lot of humidity but the water moving keeps it fresher. In my garter snakes tank I had a water river flowing down the center I used 1" pvc pipe and cut it half had it go down to a bowl I had put in the bedding and was pumped back up to the top of the pvc under the bed.

[Munizfire]

Ya, I forgot to add that I'm adding a control box to the LED strip with a switch to change the color of the LEDs, and to turn them off, and a linear potentiometer to control the intensity of said LEDs.

That's an interesting mechanism you did there. I shall read it again tomorrow, when my eyes aren't closing on me. Got any pics?

Thanks




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[fishdip]

Ya, I forgot to add that I'm adding a control box to the LED strip with a switch to change the color of the LEDs, and to turn them off, and a linear potentiometer to control the intensity of said LEDs.

That's an interesting mechanism you did there. I shall read it again tomorrow, when my eyes aren't closing on me. Got any pics?

Thanks




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Nope this was back when every one had a aol acc to get online. Its simple tho any shape you want to make like a "s" just use 90* elbow top and bottom to make it. The hard part is building it I used normal pvc cement but you need to make it slope just a little at each part you glue on. For the end you want to put a cap on it with a hole drilled for your hose to slide in so it stays in place and stops the water back flowing. Let me know how the water fall works out for you as I may do one with the river in my bp cage. I also used gerbil tunnel's going under the beding to a hide I coverd over. I put a sheet of black construction paper on the bottom so i was able to just take it off to look in on her.