Heat Mat Suitability.

[Breaking Myself]

Hey,

I'm new to the forums so hello!

I've got a quick(...ish) question about getting a heat mat for my P.Imperator.

At the moment I've got a small 5w 4" x 5" mat, on the back side of the tank and it gets the tank to just about 20c. It seems good enough for the scorp, as he hangs around by the mat when he's too cold.

I'm getting a bigger tank soon and will need another mat to compensate for this. I've seen a 7w mat thats around 6" x 11" which will pretty much cover the entire end of the new tank.

Will this be enough for him? He'll obviously be able to do the same thing if he's too cold but I'd prefer to get the tank up to the 25c mark, as has been reccomended.

Also, will putting the mat on the inside of the tank (which would increase the heat, obviously) harm the scorp at all?

The total size of the new tank is 18"W x 12"D x 7"H if that makes a difference!

Sorry for the epic post but its better to be clear than look like a fool

[KaneDragon]

My tank for my emp is 22x10x12 and i use a 15watt heat mat under the tank which keeps my temp steady at 25degrees. The mat is placed in the centre of the viv with his hide on top and 2 cool areas either side of it.

Hope this helps.

[Breaking Myself]

So I might be better getting a higher wattage mat? Or is it only higher because of the surface area?

I might get a couple of mats and try them, I'll probably use them for other scorps in the future anyways. I was looking at getting more scorps within days of getting my first!