Making the most of heat mats

[lorisarvendu]

Does anyone have any good tips for maximising the effect of heat mats on snail tanks?

Putting them on the side of the tank is preferable to underneath, since the heat from an underside mat would tend to be retained by the substrate, and you'd end up with snails being cooked as they burrowed down.

However, in a vertical position heat is lost by convection upwards, and radiation outwards (away from the tank) leaving precious little getting in through the (well insulating) perspex wall.

Does anyone have any little tips and tricks to ensure most of the heat goes in the tank? Silver foil? Polystyrene tile? Liquid Nitrogen heat exchange system?

[Val]

What I do is stick the heatmat at one end of the back of the tank, I stick it on with sellotape around the edge, then I cover the back of the tank with polystyrene tiles and stick them on also with sellotape and join them together with strips of parcel tape, the heat doesn't go through polystyrene very much so most of it will be directed into the tank.

I then put the tank against a wall so that the wall is pushing on the polystyrene tiles and 'forcing' the heat one-way. Make sure the ventilation holes aren't too large and heat is escaping there.

Val

[Tigs]

Great Advice Val

I also sandwich a mat between two identical tanks - But you are obviously sharing the heat between them.

Tigs ;D