Ok I took some cinder blocks and put them on the corners/sides of a tank of mine and used it so I could put a 6'x2'x1" wood board on it and attached 2 4" flexwatt strips for some extra cages useing IRIS MCBL tubs. I need some advise on adjusting thermostat.



Normaly on my cages I use tile as substrate. I cant have loose substrate and I like it better than paper towels. I tried useing tile with the tubs and had to set the thermostat so high and it would not reach target temp of 89 degrees. Only got to 85 so I decided I needed to use paper towels. The tubs have little legs so they sit a little bit above the flexwatt and only the legs touch it. I changed to paper towels so the tubs have 2 or 3 layers of towels depending on where they were layed out. I put my thermostat probe directly on the flexwatt and a thermometer probe inside the tub underneath the papertowels and ontop the plastic of the tub.



Now I set the thermostat to 89 and the thermometers read 94 . I have to turn the thermostat way below target temp. On my regular tanks & cages I always have to set the thermostat at the temp I want or a degree or two above my target temp but never had to set it below.



Is this normal? Should I place the thermometer probe ontop the towels?I was thinking of cutting off the legs so it sat directly on the flexwatt. Would that change the way its acting?



Help and advise would be appreciated.

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