[Tihsho]

In the process of setting up a 36x18x18 ExoTerra for a group of Auratus. I generally keep my house cool (68/69 F) and toying with if I need to heat the enclosure. I'm about to pick up some glass this weekend to seal the lid so the enclosure will only have venting through the front vents. Right now I have an LED strip on top of the enclosure, so there will not be a lot of external heat.

Should I run a heat strip/pad on the base of the enclosure and tie it to a thermostat? Or will the enclosure be fine without heat?

 

[fishingguy12345]

My LED lights put out about as much heat as a fluorescent tube does. I've spot checked the temperatures and have found that the temperatures coming out the bottom of the lights aren't much different for my Sunblaster T5HO versus the same size Sunblaster LED. Have you measured the temperatures inside the tank?

 

[Tihsho]

I've note measured the internal temps yet since they would be skewed as there is no lid on the enclosure yet. Once I get glass, I do plan to put a thermometer in there to see what temps are at.

 

[minorhero]

I've note measured the internal temps yet since they would be skewed as there is no lid on the enclosure yet. Once I get glass, I do plan to put a thermometer in there to see what temps are at.

High 60s is not bad at all for temperatures. I would be shocked if you didn't get at least 2 degrees increase from your lights and maybe as much as 3 or 4 degrees depending on the light and where you put it. I think you are going to be fine with just room temperature.

 

[Tihsho]

That's great news! One item that might change a few things are that this enclosure will have a water feature.

 

[dwllama]

Are you sure you want to completely enclose it with no top vent? Have you looked into why ventilation is important? There are a lot of really great threads if you search ventilation. Generally people are recommending at least some ventilation on top to create an air current through the enclosure. Better for both the frogs and the plants.

 

[Tihsho]

I was basing the lid design off of a few builds that I've seen that ran without vents.

 

[gonzalez]

You definitely want some vents. No vents is an old method and not good for frogs. Have atleast some on the lid, even if only a bit, you can always cover it up if need be, but you don’t want to be left without the option.


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[Tihsho]

Would there be an ideal size vent to drill? I figure I need to drill the MistKing nozzle holes so I might as well knock them out at the same time. I'm planning on putting the MistKing nozzles on the front two panes and probably add vents in the rear to allow a cross flow.

 

[fishingguy12345]

Would there be an ideal size vent to drill? I figure I need to drill the MistKing nozzle holes so I might as well knock them out at the same time. I'm planning on putting the MistKing nozzles on the front two panes and probably add vents in the rear to allow a cross flow.

You can use the same size hole as for the mist King (5/8"), just do multiple holes. Cover the holes with screen (silicone it on the outside of the glass),

 

[aapuzzo]

I did a recent post on how I converted an exo terra lid to glass and left a few inch screen section. It's been working out really well for me. Right now I am covering up the screen with plastic wrap because I sprinkled baby's tears seeds on the leaf litter and waiting for it to get started. The smell in the cage is definitely getting musty after a few days so I definitely see the value in ventilation.

 

[Tihsho]

Can you post a link I searched your posts and didn't see anything.