1st Time RHP User - Need Some Help

[dakski]

Ckuhn003,

I have a RHP on the hot side of my Boaphile tanks. I also have heat tape underneath (redundancy and heat tape heats the ground while the RHP heats the air too).

I run them both off the same thermostat.

I have the probe directly between the two devices (12 inch high tank with 9 inches of clearance give or take below RHP to ground where heat tape is and the probe is placed at about the 5 inch high from ground mark).

If you only have the RHP, that's fine, and I would do the same thing. Put the probe directly between the ground and the RHP, if not even closer to the RHP (depending on what you have in there - bigger animals with more waste means closer to RHP is better so they don't pee or poop on the probe). You will have to play with it a little. It may read 86F on the probe and be 90F on the ground, or the other way around.

I have two tanks, with identical heat requirements, running off the same thermostat with the probe in one tank. I have the probe in Shayna's tank because she's only 1600G and would have trouble messing on it. That probe/thermostat also runs Behira's tank (1 tank above Shayna's), but since she will be rather large, I have no probes in her tank. Keep in mind, both tanks have identical heating elements.

So, to be clear.

1. Probe should placed below heating element (RHP), but not super close to the ground where it can be fouled up easily. It should NOT be on the cool side if the RHP is on the hot side.

2. Check all temps at the ground with a temp gun. Do not rely on the thermostat probe. Even if accurate, temps can very different at the ground, on the cool side ground, etc.

For what it's worth, I check the ground all over the tanks to see ambient temps, but I also hit the sides and walls in back to get ambient air temps. That's probably overkill, but I worry a lot about these things .

Good luck and let us know if you have any other questions.