Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My new pacman should be here any day now and I'm trying to get my tank setup just right. I bought bed-a-beast substrate and have it in there about two inches thick. I have a water bowl with some flat river rocks in it so he can get in and out. A big fake bush to provide some cover and security, and one small round rock in the corner just for a little added flare. I have a full screen top with a UV light fixture on top, which is positioned on one side (over the water bowl) to provide one lighter side and one darker side. I'm using dechlorinated water for misting and in the water bowl, and the only concern I have now is the temperature.

Everyone that I've seen that has a successfull growing pacman has their tank anywhere from 81-85 degrees. I bought a under the tank heater (UTH) and placed it on the side of the tank opposite the water bowl. I have a 10 gallon tank so I bought the 10-20 gallon UTH (Reptitherm brand). It says it takes a minimum of 6 hours being active to be able to get an accurate temperature reading. It's warm to the touch and the inside glass is warm, but the cage temperature is only 75 degrees. I could get it to 75 degrees with the minimal heat my UV light emitted.

I'm about to claw out my eyeballs trying to get this tank setup right so I don't let another frog die, but of course everyone I ask tells me something different. As a matter of fact today I asked about it at a pet store here and the guy told me to put it underneath the tank, going against everything I've been told about heaters for pacmans!

Should I buy a 30-40 gallon size UTH or is this thing gonna take longer to heat up or what? I just cannot buy a new light or heatlamp because I've already spent all the money I can afford trying to get this thing setup, I've changed I don't know how many times...

Is there anyone that can offer any suggestions or tell me what's wrong?

Heyas, well it must be cold where your from... I have a 10-20 gallon heater underneath my tank. I have 2 lights in my tank, one 15 watt, and one 25 watt. They are both on. The 25 watt is warmer and is on the right side of the tank. The heater is on the right side of the tank as well. I have the lights on during the day, when the lights get turned off, I turn on the heater. Its about 82 degrees during the day, and says about 80 during the night. Maybe its your thermometer? I'm not sure what else could be happening.... is it by any windows? Drafts? I'm surprised your temperatures are so low with a lamp and a heater...

I've never seen or read anything about the heater being bad to put under the tank...

Is the themometer a press on? Like the aquarium ones? Or is it a round one? If its a press on, it could be used for aquariums, and not reading the temperature properly...

Wish I could help more... I'm a new frog owner, so I've been visiting the forums alot more then I'm sure any senior frog owner would =) Hopefully they can help out a bit more....

Another thing, I just re-read your message. You say you have a screen top? Well you could try putting saran wrap over one half of the tank, leaving the other half for air, and the lamp you have. It would help keeping the moisture in and heat in....

Most of the info I have gotten have come from this website below.... hope this helps... its frustrating as anything to get different info from different people...
Horned Frog Haven

I use a small 12 watt heater taped to the outside end wall of my tank and if I place the thermometre next to that wall, on the inside of the tank the temp can sometimes get up to 85deg. What you have to remember is to create a thermal gradient in the tank. You don't want the whole tank to be 85deg. At the other end of my pacmans tank it's probably about 77deg. So that way he can move to which ever temperature he prefers. I have just a plastic grill type lid on my tank. To trap a bit more of the heat in I've wrapped cling-film around a third of the lid where the heat mat is. I've also stuck a layer of polystyrene to the outside facing side of the heatmat. What this does is encourage heat, that would normally be lost in the open air, to be directed inward and consequently into the pacmans tank. Trust me, I didn't get a very high temp with my mat until I did this and it works very well at getting the temps higher.
I leave my mat on all the time and my pacman seems to stay pretty much at the warmer end of the tank all the time.
Hope this helps.

Your setup is great, and will work awesome when you get your frog. I use a cover over my entire top to keep heat and humidity in, and my frog has plenty of air. Leave your side heater on all the time and get a cover over to help trap heat, but other than temp your setup is great good luck. Also, you could have put your heater on the bottom, that's what I did and it seemed to be just fine, it's only bad if you let it cook your frog instead of just keeping it warm, I only leave mine run in the day at the bottom and my temp is 80 all day and 77 all night.