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I'm trying to figure out how to heat a 44 gallon coffee table aquarium for my leopard geckos. It's an elongated hexagon with an acrylic base and a glass top. It does have a riser (for lack of a better word) that keeps the tank about 3 inches off the floor so there is plenty of ventilation. I've been told that a UTH could possibly melt the acrylic and there's really no place to put a heat lamp. So, I've been considering using a radient heat panel ( www.pro-products.com/proheat.html ) but they seem a little complicated. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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0.3.0 Dogs - Delaney, Darcie, Mali
2.1.0 Cats - Dante, Diesel, Dixie
2.0.0 Cockatiels - Toast, Waffles
2.0.0 White's Treefrogs - Splish, Splash
1.2.0 Leopard Geckos - Joey, Phoebe, Rachael
3.0.0 Crested Geckos - Stubbie Mike, Chandler, Ross
0.0.3 House Geckos - Emma, Jack, Ben
1.0.0 Chinchilla - Poncho
3.0.0 Guinea Pigs - Rodney, Reese, Ray

Not to mention the plethera of fish:
5.1.0 Bettas
0.0.1 Goldfish
55 Gallon Community
29 Gallon African Cichlid
20 Gallon Marine
1.1.0 Ocellaris Clown - Jack, Diane
0.0.1. Neon Blue Goby - Cecilia

1.0.0 Boyfriend - Michael

I'm guessing an UTH wouldn't melt the acrylic. It should be able to take a heat of 90-95F without melting. I could be wrong though.

>>I'm trying to figure out how to heat a 44 gallon coffee table aquarium for my leopard geckos. It's an elongated hexagon with an acrylic base and a glass top. It does have a riser (for lack of a better word) that keeps the tank about 3 inches off the floor so there is plenty of ventilation. I've been told that a UTH could possibly melt the acrylic and there's really no place to put a heat lamp. So, I've been considering using a radient heat panel ( www.pro-products.com/proheat.html ) but they seem a little complicated. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
>>-----
>>0.3.0 Dogs - Delaney, Darcie, Mali
>>2.1.0 Cats - Dante, Diesel, Dixie
>>2.0.0 Cockatiels - Toast, Waffles
>>2.0.0 White's Treefrogs - Splish, Splash
>>1.2.0 Leopard Geckos - Joey, Phoebe, Rachael
>>3.0.0 Crested Geckos - Stubbie Mike, Chandler, Ross
>>0.0.3 House Geckos - Emma, Jack, Ben
>>1.0.0 Chinchilla - Poncho
>>3.0.0 Guinea Pigs - Rodney, Reese, Ray
>>
>>Not to mention the plethera of fish:
>>5.1.0 Bettas
>>0.0.1 Goldfish
>>55 Gallon Community
>>29 Gallon African Cichlid
>>20 Gallon Marine
>> 1.1.0 Ocellaris Clown - Jack, Diane
>> 0.0.1. Neon Blue Goby - Cecilia
>>
>>1.0.0 Boyfriend - Michael
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Tim W.

as long as you put your UTH on a rheostat you should be fine. Acrylic doesnt melt until it gets in the mid 100's...but how tall is this? Also, a RHP is going to have to be mounted from the top...I don't know how you would do that. Double sided tape would eventually lose its stickyness and could fall and hurt your gecko... you'd have to get a carbie tip and drill a hole thru the glass, then run a nut and bolt through it.
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-Chris

The reason mainstream thought is thought of as a stream is because it's so shallow. -George Carlin

A fool doesn't learn. A smart man learns from his mistakes. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Which one are you?

My Website
Rat/Corn snake care sheet I wrote

Current snakes:
0.1 Licorice Stick Black Rat (Lola)
1.0 Black Rat (Frankie)
1.1 Texas Bairds (Jose and Rosa)
0.1 Blue Beauty (Brunhilde)
1.0 Green Tree Python (Claudius)... coming soon

Thanks! Onward with the planning...
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0.3.0 Dogs - Delaney, Darcie, Mali
2.1.0 Cats - Dante, Diesel, Dixie
2.0.0 Cockatiels - Toast, Waffles
2.0.0 White's Treefrogs - Splish, Splash
1.2.0 Leopard Geckos - Joey, Phoebe, Rachael
3.0.0 Crested Geckos - Stubbie Mike, Chandler, Ross
0.0.3 House Geckos - Emma, Jack, Ben
1.0.0 Chinchilla - Poncho
3.0.0 Guinea Pigs - Rodney, Reese, Ray

Not to mention the plethera of fish:
5.1.0 Bettas
0.0.1 Goldfish
55 Gallon Community
29 Gallon African Cichlid
20 Gallon Marine
1.1.0 Ocellaris Clown - Jack, Diane
0.0.1. Neon Blue Goby - Cecilia

1.0.0 Boyfriend - Michael

i would use a cobra heat mat .. they can be used directly inside the enclosure and do not get hotter than 100 which would prevent your acrylic from melting and you could also put it on a dimmer or rheostat to better control the heat output. that would be the way i would go as you most likely dont want to attach anythign to the top as this would sort of defeat the purpose.

No matter what the element is you HAVE to use a thermo or dimmer. Flexwatt can be safley used or any element for that matter. Since its for Leos you dont have to get about 90 so you woul d be fine with any UTH. Our skin is in the 90's and dosent melt the acrylic...
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