Temp & humidity HELP

[Lanaisaacs]

I am having trouble keeping my temp and humidity up. Right now it’s saying my temp and humidity are both at 70. I had one zoomed UTH on the side of my tank and it was keeping the tank at 70 so I added another one on the opposite side and it hasn’t done anything but dropped my humidity down 5 degrees!! How is this possible? I tried to mist down the tank and it didn’t do anything and now I have some condensation on the front of the tank... I have one crab under the sub and the other one I can’t find so I guess he’s either hiding really well or he has went down too... I don’t know what to do...

[Motörcrab]

Hi, I have a few questions before I try to answer.

What size tank do you have?
What size heaters do you have, how much of the back of the tank do they cover?
What type of lid do you have?

[Lanaisaacs]

My tank is 10 gallon. And the UTH are not on the back of the tank, they are on each side. And my lid is a glass lid.

[Motörcrab]

How much substrate is in the 10 gallon?
....and is it mixed to sandcastle consistency?

What are the dimensions of each UTH?
Zoo Meds UTH's CAN NOT be covered with insulation, but since they are on each side you should be able to safely insulate the back of the tank. That should help boost the temperature, but won't help with humidity.

[Lanaisaacs]

4-5 inches of sub. Play sand mixed with coco fiber and yes it is sandcastle consistency as far as I know. The dimensions of UTH are 8in by 6in. How can I insulate the back of the tank?? And how can I help the humidity? It’s still at 70/70.

[Lanaisaacs]

I have the two uth mounted above the sub on either side of the tank.

[Motörcrab]

It sounds like you got the small (RH-4) UTH from Zoo Med. It's listed for use for a 10-20 gallon tank. Zoo Med markets their UTH's for reptiles. They need a warm spot and will move off that spot to regulate their temperature. Hermit crabs need the warm temperature all the time so larger heaters are needed.

On my 10 gallon I used a Large (RH-6) on the back of mine. Your two are similar in size but the combined wattage of yours is 16 compared to 24 on mine. That may be part of the issue.

Try to insulate first. A cheap way to insulate is it cut a piece of cardboard the size of the back of your tank. Then wrap the cardboard with aluminum foil, then use a heavy duty tape to attach. Another option is to get a cheap windshield sun cover from the Dollar Tree. The kind that looks like bubble wrap wrapped in foil. You can cut that down to the size you need, and even insulate the top.

You may also have a uncalibrated humidity gauge. Here is a link to check if yours is working correctly. Dial gauges are known to be way off. Digital ones can also be off.
http://hermitcrabassociation.com/phpBB/ ... 26&t=92540

[Lanaisaacs]

My gauge isn’t a digital one, but it’s one of those that has the temp and humidity in one. Can I still calibrate even if it’s together? And ok so I use cardboard and wrap the whole thing in foil or just one side?

[Lanaisaacs]

I am in the process of calibrating my gauge. And I did what you said about cardboard wrapped in foil. I didn’t have heavy duty tape but I had regular so I taped it to the back of the tank. I have a coco fiber climbing background on the back of my tank too, that won’t interfere with the foil lined cardboard will it?? I am so hoping this works!!!!!

[Motörcrab]

You should be able to calibrate your gauge that way. I will usually set my thermometer near one in my house to see how close the two are.

As long as one side of the cardboard has the aluminum foil it should help insulate the tank. Decorations shouldn't matter with insulating. Just be sure you have the insulation on the outside of the tank!

[Lanaisaacs]

I have the whole piece of cardboard wrapped in foil. It’s on the back of the tank... is that ok. And it hasn’t moved my gauge at all. I am wondering if my gauge is just off. I ordered a new digital flukers one. It should be coming in soon. Hopefully I can get this straightened out. I’ve seemed to have so much trouble starting out

[Motörcrab]

We never had any luck with the dial type gauges or the digital ones with probes that go into the tank.

Perhaps adding plastic wrap over the top and a towel folded over on top may boost the temperature some.

Can you feel warmth on the heating pads?

[Lanaisaacs]

Yes I can feel a little warmth when I put my hands on the pads. So put plastic wrap on the lip and a folded towel on top of that?