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Reptile heat mat vs Nano heater

Simon Cole

Simon Cole

Member
Joined
25 Dec 2018
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840
Location
Snowdonia
I've got one of these shallow Hiro tanks. It's probably about 2 litres volume.
1691292144754.png

What I am wondering about is heating. It's going on the windowsill of a cold unheated room. Probably with a cloche.
If I got a reptile heating mat, do I need a variable thermostatic controller?

Alternatively, would one of these be okay? It has some sort of thermostatic control set to 25 degrees C, around 10cm length, possibly a bit chunky.
1691292322875.png

All thoughts, suggestions, and opinions most welcome :)
 
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Hi @Simon Cole what are you thinking of keeping in there that would require heat? Is it just to reduce temp swings/prevent freezing? If it's just to reduce temp swings, would something like this work. I've not tried it and a usb heater makes me a little nervous but it seems to have good reviews. There are also preset reptile heat mats. I've got the small, which looks like it would be the same dimensions as your tank. I don't know what temp it's set to, certainly not very warm but would provide a bit more stability.
 
Hi :) Yes. I have been looking seriously at those USB heaters. I'll put the image here, for others to see:
1691295375559.png

ScareCrow said:
what are you thinking of keeping in there that would require heat? Is it just to reduce temp swings/prevent freezing?
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Utricularia graminifolia and Cryptocoryne parva. It's to prevent freezing. Typical ambient temperature in the winter would be 8 to 10 degrees Celsius, but we do get cold snaps.
The pre-set on many reptile heat mats appears to be 50 degrees Celsius, the assumption being that a variable controller could also be plugged in.
 
Simon Cole said:
The pre-set on many reptile heat mats appears to be 50 degrees Celsius
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The exo terra 'jungle' heat mat that I have is either faulty and has been from new or is set to around 18c I'd estimate. I tried to find what it is set to before replying but couldn't see anything on the website. If I could find my heat mat, I would test it but it's 'safely' stored somewhere.
Simon Cole said:
Do you mean the small tank, or the small mat please @ScareCrow?
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Small mat.
 
I use heat mats under my immersed set ups, I find they really struggle to get past 20c.
As it happens that suits me for my use but I doubt if the ones I have would heat a tank full of water In an unheated room.
Perhaps if the tank is really shallow then I would expect they would be fine.
One thing I discovered, if you place polystyrene under the mat, the heat will go up but the mats wont last very long!
 
foxfish said:
I use heat mats under my immersed set ups, I find they really struggle to get past 20c.
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Great advice. Thank you. Please may I ask for a bit more info? My tank about 6 cm deep, and the cloche would be 20 cm tall. I'm guessing it might stand a better chance at reaching the mid 20s, but I'm not sure.
 
Well I have quite a few pictures of my immersed set ups on the forum if you can find them!
However I am just taking down this large 90x 90cm x 10cm tray, it has been running for a couple of years with two 90 x 30cm heat mats.
In the winter the surface temp was never more than 18c and the base temp around 20c.
You can see one mat, the other is on the other side near the front edge.
 

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foxfish said:
I use heat mats under my immersed set ups, I find they really struggle to get past 20c.
As it happens that suits me for my use but I doubt if the ones I have would heat a tank full of water In an unheated room.
Perhaps if the tank is really shallow then I would expect they would be fine.
One thing I discovered, if you place polystyrene under the mat, the heat will go up but the mats wont last very long!
Click to expand...
I use the Habistat high power mats on my 60L and 37L Nano’s. They manage ok in our lounge with the Elitech’s set to 25°C. In a cold room I suspect even these high power ones would struggle.
In the 1980’s I used an under tank mat on a 50 gallon aquarium and that worked ok. For some reason they stopped making aquarium specific versions or maybe they weren’t actually any different?
 
I loved the old stye mats that came with a thermostat and seemed more powerful, they were made from rubber with an almost visible wire running up and down the mat.
However they also seem to be sort lived, maybe one or two years max and there was no way to get them out from a fully stocked tank.
 
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