Help - My new viv is an oven.....

[luvthydragon]

Hey there-

OK so I read like a mad woman :study: BEFORE building my 4 x 2 x 2 crossfire viv and buying my MVB . Thought it would be perfect BUT I am cooking my little darling :shock: .
I have :

100 watt T-rex active UV flood MVB (It is inside a deep dome fixture that has the top part out of the enclosure to let heat escape but 3/4 of the dome is inside the enclosure) (not a screen top-actually securely fixed to the hard top)

(Mega-Ray was on back order but I do have one ordered when they become available)

also a 1 36 inch fluorescent strip light (NON-UVB) (brightest rating)

no other heat source

At the basking spot (at 14-15 inches away from the MVB) I'm getting a reading of 120 - 123 F (probe thermometer)

Where have I gone wrong?? If I raise the lamp or lower the platform then he is away from the recommended distance for the UVB ???

HELP :shock:


Any thoughts appreciated.

 

[NegativeCreep]

Did you build your crossfire to specs? Really, did you put in as many vents? It may just need more ventilation..

 

[midnight_962002]

The venting is key.

However if the ambient temperature of the room is on the warmer side, like say a reptle room, you will not be able to lower that temperature. I went with the EB kit because I had the same problem with my enclousres. It just got way to hot in them. My temperatures shot to 135, with no dragon in the enclosure, before I checked it.

Ernie

 

[npedersen]

I run my MVB without the dome fixture. It would tend to focus too much. Also, I use the flood version versus the spot version. How are the temps in the rest of the viv?

 

[luvthydragon]

Did you build your crossfire to specs? Really, did you put in as many vents? It may just need more ventilation..

Hey there-
thanks for getting back to me......no actually I put two long vents (2 inch by 14 inch) on the back wall rather than the 5 circular vents as suggested. I would think that that would be more air flow than the 5 small circulars but I could be wrong.

I run my MVB without the dome fixture. It would tend to focus too much. Also, I use the flood version versus the spot version. How are the temps in the rest of the viv?

hmmm.....didn't think about it that way.....but it is a flood not a spot....and since it is directed straight down I didn't see the difference....the opening of the deep dome is approx 8 inches...do you still think that may be the problem??

The venting is key.

However if the ambient temperature of the room is on the warmer side, like say a reptle room, you will not be able to lower that temperature. I went with the EB kit because I had the same problem with my enclousres. It just got way to hot in them. My temperatures shot to 135, with no dragon in the enclosure, before I checked it.

Ernie

The ambient temp of the room runs about 75 degrees.....The basking platform I originally put in there was 18 inches from the bulb and running 108-110 F ....raising the platform to 14-15 inches brought it up to the 120-123 F .....should I try to add vents now or change to a 60 watt????


Thanks to all for your replys and any further replies appreciated

 

[npedersen]

The 60W from Megaray is an EB and will put out less heat. Maybe lower the basking spot down to were it was. The other thing is what substrate are you using, more specifically what color. Out of curiousity I checked my tortoise "cage" which is open in the front, so venting issues there, and it is farther from the bulb and the substrate is just dirt, I got 120 directly under the bulb. In the beardies home, it is mostly light colored sandstone and sand, I get 108-115. All I can account for it is the density and color for the heat absorbtion. I also have a 50W halagen directed toward the far corner to light the back.

I don't know. The EB might be the answer if you can't lower the temps.

Nick

 

[luvthydragon]

The 60W from Megaray is an EB and will put out less heat. Maybe lower the basking spot down to were it was. The other thing is what substrate are you using, more specifically what color. Out of curiousity I checked my tortoise "cage" which is open in the front, so venting issues there, and it is farther from the bulb and the substrate is just dirt, I got 120 directly under the bulb. In the beardies home, it is mostly light colored sandstone and sand, I get 108-115. All I can account for it is the density and color for the heat absorbtion. I also have a 50W halagen directed toward the far corner to light the back.

I don't know. The EB might be the answer if you can't lower the temps.

Nick

as for sub strate I have white paper towels over shelf-liner. Sorry If I mis-read your reply but do you know of another quality 60 watt MVB (EB or SB) out there ??? Thanks again

 

[npedersen]

No I don't. The SB's I have seen are 100W and 160W or I think the Powersun is available in 150W. Megaray is the only one I have seen in the EB, which is 60W.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

thats weird you get such high temps. . . i run the same bulb in a 40gal breeder with the basking spot 12inches from the light which hovers about 1/2 inch from the top of the screen and i get basking temps of around 100-110, ambient temps in my room are around 70-80+. . . stupid so cal and its "seasons"

 

[NegativeCreep]

thats weird you get such high temps. . . i run the same bulb in a 40gal breeder with the basking spot 12inches from the light which hovers about 1/2 inch from the top of the screen and i get basking temps of around 100-110, ambient temps in my room are around 70-80+. . . stupid so cal and its "seasons"

npedersen's cage is a wooden, fully enclosed cage. We have 40 gallon breeders with the lights on top. His/her's is on the inside, which means most of the heat is fully contained! I just got my MegaRay 100 set up yesterday, and my temps are spot-on, perfect.

MegaRay's have more options than most other MVBs on the market. Read around, there are several people who use the EB's and like them better. The SB works the best for my needs, obviously..

Oh.. and by seasons, do you mean the hot one and the cold one? That's all we have here! At least when I lived in Texas the cold one didn't last so long!

 

[jscott]

hey, i checked a little into it and may have found something: CPU fans, or the little fans found in the back of computers, are quiet and dont blow too hard.

if you google "computer fan reptile" you will find alot of info from people who use this meathod. i even found some reptile-supply sites selling these fans for this specific purpose.

not having done this myself i cant really say how quiet or efficient they are but it make sense; if your cage has only two holes(one on each end of the back) and one of them has a fan in it, the air will flow across the tank sucking the heat out with it.

this might be more of a confusion/setback but i just thought since nobody mentioned it i should bring it up.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

Well that makes sense too, wood would be a better insulator then glass would be. As for the computer fans, i would think about it quite a bit, good computer fans run almost 20 bucks and they run off of 12v's, not 120 like the wall sockets. Look for fans with dual ball bearings, or ceramic bearings, those are gonna be your best bet. Also with computer fans you get what you pay for, if you cheap out on them your gonna hear about it all the time. . . literally

by seasons i mean cali sucks, its either hot or cold or a combination of both within the same week. . . its really strange sometimes and its hard to keep the temps running right but i make due.

 

[npedersen]

I plan to add one before the hot weather sets back in because of how warm the house can get sometimes. I will make mine "suck" the air out of the enclosure, that will draw cooler air in throught the openings in the front and from the vents in the back. If I put them to "blow" air in, it will most likely create like a convection oven type effect where the entire enclosure will be one temp. When I went took an electronics course we learned how to make a thermostat at what ever voltage we needed, maybe I will play around with it and see how cheap I can make it.

Nick

 

[luvthydragon]

hey, i checked a little into it and may have found something: CPU fans, or the little fans found in the back of computers, are quiet and dont blow too hard.

if you google "computer fan reptile" you will find alot of info from people who use this meathod. i even found some reptile-supply sites selling these fans for this specific purpose.

not having done this myself i cant really say how quiet or efficient they are but it make sense; if your cage has only two holes(one on each end of the back) and one of them has a fan in it, the air will flow across the tank sucking the heat out with it.

this might be more of a confusion/setback but i just thought since nobody mentioned it i should bring it up.

Hey Jscott,

I like the fan idea but I have 8 x 16 inch vents on both side walls and the two long vents on the back wall and plexiglass sliding doors in the front...do you still think it will work to "suck"the heat out??

Thanks for the reply