Habitat - Indoor :: 300w Gantry Heater for 5ft x 18" x 20" Yeigh or Neigh

[blulite]

hi guys, i need to heat my ATBA/Vivarium to a decent temperature, however because of the size and the fact im gong to be having a waterfall in it does anyone have any views on me using a gantry heater to heat it?? i have fans which i need to install to circulate airflow also. im thinking this heat lamp will be ideal for my needs.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/300-WATT-240-VOLT ... 20b02a7528

now correct me if im wrong, but with a constant flow of new air being circulated and a constant flow of cold water in the area i really dont think a 100w spotlamp is going to do the trick. i really dont want to use spotlamps in the first place as they will look ugly in the top of the tank.

if your where the cold water is from, its from the tank, ive had a lot of problems with my turtles not basking so i decided to opt out of a heater. the water is never cold cold, it stays warm due to the radiator right next to the tank and the fact that my house is always so warm that we dont use duvets on a night, not even in winter. we all tend to sleep on the beds rather than in them.

anyway back to the point, whats your views on using it?

i also have a lot of problems with condensation when i use a water heater and the ATBA/Vivarium gets a lot of moisture trapped inside which cant be good for,

A: the woodwork
B: the electrics
c: the visual effect of the setup.

[steve]

I'm not sure since I have no idea how long these last. I think regular replacements will be expensive. Would a regular lamp be that visible in your ATBA?

[blulite]

yeah the trim at the top is 3" deep. a regular lamp would sit at around 6" so i would have a really good amount of over hang. the other probem i have, is due to my basking spot being 2ft long and having a 24" 10uvb striplight aacross the full area, i naad something that can either be hidden behind the UVB or placed at the other end of the ATBA/Vivarium. either way, its gonna have to heat the entire ATBA/Vivarium.

(10uvb is set at 20" distance, the 5uvb by reptiglow only had a reange of effect up to 12" and would not do the job intended at the distance it was placed)

[steve]

That's a pretty tight fit. You might have to rely on a small halogen or make some adjustments to what's above the canopy.

[blulite]

the other lamps i have, althought they are spotlamps, and in the previous build had them mounted directly through the top panel,they were placed to each end of the ATBA. although the original plan for this setup was goning to be the same layout, i then decided to have a waterfall made for this one. thus the placemet of a heat lamp at the right hand side was no longer feasable due to how near to the waterfall it would have to be.

due to the placement of a lamp on the right hand side was couterprouctive. i meant ihad to re think the lighting arrangements. which led me to install a strip UVB and the decistion to use a strip as a heater too.

it has crossed my mind to use a larger heat mat that covers the entire floor area, and heats from the bottom, but im not sure if it will be of use, up to now the turtles dont seem to like sitting on the warm spot but ill give them some time to see it they change their minds.

[steve]

Definitely don't use a heat mat, I don't think anyone has tried using that for basking heat.

[blulite]

hi steve, im already using a heat mat, its underneath the slate floor. i wouldnt risk using one for the turtles to sit on directly. in week or 2 when i can afford it im going to buy the gantry heater and go from there. in the meantime im gonna work on the ventilaiton and air circulation.

[blulite]

just an update, ive found a very usefull piece of equipment.

today i realised i have an external floodlight that was not in use and has not been since before i moved in due to the wire being cut. so i took it off the wall and put a plug on the end, low and behold, it worked.

so ive temporarily mounted it inside the ATBA and plan to monitor the temperature.

the floodlight is a 500w flouresent lamp and have a spare 400w bulb. the lamp can take a minimum of 300w bulb, so i plan to buy one of those too and work out which is bast to use and how much ventilation is needed etc. i also plan to strip the light down completely and build a custom mount for it to keep it hidden from view as best as possible.

[steve]

Does that produce a lot of heat?

[blulite]

yeah, quite a lot, i cant tell you exactly how much till i get a thermometer in there, but the turtles absolutley love it. all four of them bask for hours . 2 of them even bask when im in the room and really close to the tank they love it so much.