# Ideas to heat 12x12x18 Exo in basement



## whiteblaze11 (May 23, 2010)

So recently i have moved to a new house and living in the basement room where it probably only gets up to around 65 during the day and probably a little cooler at night. Im worried that it is a little too chilly for my pair of imitators (but my neurergus kaiseri sure are digging the cooler temps!) and was curious on some ways to raise the temps up about 5 degrees. Im currently running a Jungle Dawn Led bulb so there isnt much to any heat being given off to help heat the tank a little.
I have heard of people putting aquarium heaters in the false bottom but i have a hydroballs bottom and dont want to have to rip up the bottom and plants in the substrate to place a heater in the bottom. I have heard people using heating mats placed on the bottom or back of the tank and was curious what size or a way to control the temperature of the heating pad.


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## yeloowtang (May 1, 2014)

I'm new to frogs but lots of experience with heating 

I would think that using one of the exo terras heat mat ( the tropical one)
might do the job, they don't heat verry much and may just be enough for your needs.. if you need hoter ( desert model) gets a little hoter but not that much.
however, you should monitor it to make sure..
the other option would be using a strip of 4" heat tape, but this method !! you will absolutely need a controler because heat tape gets hot compared to the exo mats..
mind you, you could use a controler on both of them, but in general, the exo tropical mats don't get hot.
so maybe placing it on one side would be perfect, also don't remove the plastic to stick it to the vivarium, use electrical tape on the sides of if, this way if you need to remove it, you won't damage it, same for unde the tank, you can also just add a face cloth under the tank so the mat touches the bottom..

hope this helps

steph


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## TheCoon (Feb 8, 2011)

How about replacing the LED bulb with a compact fluorescent? You could easily get a 5-10 degree swing.


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## whiteblaze11 (May 23, 2010)

Ok thanks for the help guys was just trying to get a few opinions on the matter but i will probably just get the compact fluorescent bulb then!


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## LLLReptile (Jan 6, 2010)

15 to 20 watt heat lights work well.

I prefer to use a heat mat against the back of the cage, especially with hides butted up against the back - it's a nice, gentle heat that won't dry out the air and won't cook the roots of your plants, either. You could put one against the side instead as well, and put small cork or half log hides up against it. Creates a little pocket of warm, moist air, perfect for letting your frogs warm up when they want to. 

-Jen


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## Tazman (May 26, 2013)

I use aquarium heaters mounted inside a sealed metal pipe.
You can just hide it under a plant.


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## edaxflamma (Jan 18, 2014)

When I was growing lowland Nepenthes I used a seedling heat mat under my tanks. The mat came with a probe and variable control. Just toss the probe in the tank, set to your ideal temp and you're good to go.


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## mkeBob (May 22, 2008)

The heat from lights will only work during the day when they are turned on but won't help when off, at night when you say it gets cooler.


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## TheCoon (Feb 8, 2011)

mkeBob said:


> The heat from lights will only work during the day when they are turned on but won't help when off, at night when you say it gets cooler.


60-65 degrees is fine for night temperature.


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## Mrbeans (Mar 11, 2007)

I had the same problem. My house has horrible insulation so it is always super cold. 60 or 65 is the norm so for my Darts (5 exo terra 18x18x24) I use the medium exo terra light hood with 19w CFL's. This brings the heat in the tank to about 72-75 which has worked out great for my frogs. Your tank is shorter so it would be perfect for you aswell.


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