Vent size and basking light fixture location

I am looking to put a couple round vents in a 4’x2’18’ melamine cage. What size of round vents (round vents would be easiest) would I need for this size of enclosure? I plan on putting one or two lower on the cool size of the tank on the side wall, and then one or two up high on the cool side. What size and how many would work? And with my UVB bulb mount location (will be shown in the pictures), , , where would be the best place to install the light fixture for the basking bulb, so he is getting both UVB and heat? Thanks.

I think you'll get away with maybe 6 high on the warm zone end , and 6 long on the cool zone side.

These are what I've used in previous DIYS tank builds : https://www.furnwaregroup.com.au/General-Hardware/Snap-In-Round-Plastic-Vent_4

Thank you for the reply. One thing I forgot to put in the original post was the size of the round vent.The size I was thinking of putting in, since I have the holesaw for it, as a 4 inch soffit vent. This is what I was thinking of going with, as my local home depot has them (For three times the price unfortunately but I have to get this done LOL).
https://ventmastersstore.com/collections/small-round-vents/products/4-round-vent-with-no-screen-white?variant=5130132036

Hi there,

Since they are kind of small, what was suggested might work.

Remember, you can always add more ventilation after the fact if you need to. It's harder to "remove" ventilation.
Get your lights up and running and see how the temps are, and then go from there.
I'd probably start out with 3 or 4 per side, and work your way up from there

-Brandon

Sounds good. I will try two on each side (not trying to ignore advice just trying to be budget friendly lol) for now. As far as the light setup. I was thinking of putting the fixture for the basking spot right next to the UVB lamp, with a 1 inch gap between, so it can get the UVB as well as bask, as he currently Virtually sits on the basking spot in the 20 gallon cage will see what he does in this one. Would this work or should the fixture be on the opposite side of the enclosure away from the UVB light? Thanks.

No, you want the basking bulb and the uvb bulb to be on the same side, that way the highest heat and the highest UV exposure is at the basking site.

FWIW, I'm using about double the amount of vents (1 long 3x12 vent per side) and i'm still having trouble with it being too hot in there. But like I said, you can always add more later if you need to

The soffit covers I bought were only like 2 bucks, so you might want to look into switching from those round ones to rectangular ones and use a jigsaw to cut the enclosure.

-Brandon

Sorry double post.

Awesome. I will probably go that route then. What size and type of basking bulb do you use for yours? My cage is 18” high and by the time I mount the fixture and the bulb in the cage it will probably be close to the 12” height of the 20 gallon. I have been using a reptisun 50 watt for my 20 gallon to get decent temps as anything bigger was heating the basking surface way too hot (as checked with a digital temp gun). If anything I can always use a dimmer to drop the brightness. One issue I have is where to mount the basking fixture, as the guy who built the cage used some kind adhesive or something (orPerhaps the zoom at hoods come with an adhesive top from the factory) to mount the hood so it’s pretty unmovable as far as I can tell, So what I have is maybe a 6 to 7 inch space behind the UV bulb fixture in the Back wall, Or around 11 inches between the front of the UV fixture and the front of the cage. I can go obviously on the left side of the fixture but that still leaves around 18 inches further left that is kind of wasted space and I’m not sure that having a 26 inch total heat gradient from left to right would be sufficient. I will try and post pictures of the said areas soon.

6-7 inch space (Guesstimation):
11” space (Guesstimation):
Wasted space:

Repti44":2ey8gutr said:

Thank you for the reply. One thing I forgot to put in the original post was the size of the round vent.The size I was thinking of putting in, since I have the holesaw for it, as a 4 inch soffit vent. This is what I was thinking of going with, as my local home depot has them (For three times the price unfortunately but I have to get this done LOL).
https://ventmastersstore.com/collections/small-round-vents/products/4-round-vent-with-no-screen-white?variant=5130132036

Click to expand...

I'd be wary of any vent that's not got a built-in screen.

Think intrusion by spiders, wild (poisoned roaches who have eaten baits, been in contact with surface spray ( not necessarily while in your home , they do wonder from house to house ) , toxic insects ( fireflies , etc in prone areas ) .

And likelihood of life feeders escaping the tank ( roaches in particular ).

Yeah I decided to go with the rectangular vents. The ones I bought are 4 inches wide by 16 inches long, so hopefully the extra inch in wide and 4 inch length will give me proper airflow. The other issue that I have, is the cage came with a radiant heat panel. We are planning on putting vinyl tile down so I can’t have it on the floor otherwise it would make all the tile uneven. However I was thinking of possibly keeping it, and mounting it to the Inside wall of the cool side of the tank. I will have to measure but I think I will have enough room to do that and the vent near the bottom. With a proper thermostat or rheostat, I would be able to maintain temperature is and it might be advantageous during the night.Otherwise I’m going to have to cut the wires and pull it out, which honestly would be a shame since it seems like a nice one. I will post pictures of it soon. Thanks again for all the replies. Once the cage is all set up With all the modifications I will post some pictures of that as well.

This is the radiant heat pad I mentioned (I’m holding it up against the cool side where I am tempted to keep it and mount it):