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dimming thermostat

275 views 2 replies 2 participants last post by  ulsterboy 
#1 ·
hi guys..jus new2the site..guna buy a new beardie in afew wks..im pretty handy at carpentry,so plan on building the viv myself..i know bout the uvb,heat lamp,substrate..anyways its the dimming thermostat im not sure of..were there positioned,and how exactly they control the lamps,can you control the heat of the lamp or what??:blush:
 
#2 · (Edited)
Hi and welcome to RFUK!

The thermostat will control how much heat is generated from your basking bulb by dimming or brightening it to control the temperature in the viv. It is an essential piece of kit. When you actually get one and examine it I think you will find it a lot easier. Basically it consists of a box containing the electrical gubbins (sorry I am not a tech freak). This is placed on the outside of the viv. It has a temperature detection probe which is placed inside the viv. It has a plug socket which your basking bulb plugs into and a plug which goes into your mains socket.
So when you are building your viv you will need to have an entrance hole for the probe. I would place this half way down the viv near to the floor. You will probably need to play around for a while to achieve the correct temps (which need to be measured with thermometers - the numbers on the stat dial mean jack sh*t) moving the probe, adjusting the stat, possibly adjusting the wattage of the bulb, adjusting the angle of the bulb and adjusting the height of the basking spot. For this reason it is essential that the viv is set up before the new arrival appears.
As a starting point, in a 4x2x2 viv I would use a 75W or 100W reflector spot, depending on how warm your room is (household bulb is fine), have the stat probe half way along and set the stat to 90F. Get the ambient temps right (mid 80s cool side, mid 90s warm side). Once those are ok raise the basking spot (rock? branch?) under the lamp so that a temp of 105-115F is reached. Once your temps are right you have made possibly the biggest contribution to keeping your beardie healthy.
I hope this helps.
 
#3 ·
hi jools..so say i place the basking spot on the right side of the viv..drill a hole on the right side panel for the detection probe..is that ok,or does it need to be directly under the heat lamp to get a reading?and a normal house bulb is fine??sorry for all the questions-but as you know yourself want everything perfect for me knew bud:2thumb:always wanted a beardie,keepn angelfish,rummy nose tetra,shrimp for about 3yr now and soo addicted..love when a sat morn comes around,day to do me water change,trim my plants,and treat them all to bloodworm,brineshrimp...:no1:
 
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