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I recently made an ATBA. I made it out of egg crate. But I can't seem to be able to retain the basking spot at 90 degrees, it keeps fluctuating between 80 and 90 degrees. I have a 60 watt bulb for the area. is it the fact that the egg crate has too many holes to retain the heat. any suggestions? And my water heater retains the water at 78 degrees and I don't know how to bring it down a little. the heater doesn't have settings.

PS she finally went up in the ATBA today, i was so happy, it's been 4 days since she basked.

Jersey in the house!lol
I was in your town last night coming back from the shore.Took the side roads cause the parkway was packed....Anyway....
I actually have the water heaters off right now cause the temps stay at around 75-76 without it for the summer.
As per the basking area, try to put the bulb a tad closer and see if that helps, but between 80 and 90 shouldn't be of concern.
later

I sleep in the basement and that is where her tank is. and it gets pretty cool down here, so i'm afraid if I turn the heater off, the water temp will drop to fast.

Where is Whippany? north or south of me, I've heard of it but never been there. Yeah, coming back from the shore in summer is hell, I hate it.

Does it go up and down through the day, or is it just cooler when you first turn it on, then warm up to 90?
Are there any breezes/drafts around the basking area?

What's your room temp? I take my heaters out in the summer, since they tend to overheat the tank, but then my room temp probably climbs to about 80F. It may be worth it to invest in a water heater that is adjustable. They're usually not too expensive, sometimes on sale for under $20.

when I turn the lamp off at night the temp drops to about 70 deg. by the time it warms up it reads about 84-85, then for the rest of the day it fluctuates between 85-90 deg. I'm afraid to take the heater out are there any suggestions on how to twwek the water temp?

It's perfectly all right for the temperature to drop down to 70 during the night. Lower temperatures encourage them to sleep, and it's more natural. Especially during the summer, if you live in a place that gets around 80 to 90 degrees during this season, there is little reason to live the lamp on at night.

I have the most ridiculous system right now, because where I live, the temperatures are different every day. My tank is way to small for a water heater right now. So, at night, if the room temperature is too warm, I shut the lamp off. If the room temp drops between 65 and 70, I leave the lamp on. If it just gets way too warm that it raises the normal temp too high (Normal temp is 75 to 76) I will take out a few cups of water, and replace it with a few cups of straight cold water. That effects the temperature dramatically, then all the planets align and somehow the room temp plus the lamp keeps the water back at 75 to 76. Basically, the amount of warm or cold water you add, can effect the temperature between 5 and 10 degrees, depending on the size of your tank.

kmaldona1 wrote:
Where is Whippany? north or south of me, I've heard of it but never been there. Yeah, coming back from the shore in summer is hell, I hate it.

I actually moved to West Orange about a year ago, but never changed the location.Both towns are north anyway (morris and essex county).
I always took the parkway back and sat in crazy traffic, but i found a new way and i'm really happy about that