Quote Originally Posted by Frank Maxwell View Post
i just purchased pacman a 20 gallon tropical startup kit and three bricks of eco coconut fiber it has a heat lamp and 50 watt day blue light , a zilla heat mat, and a thermometer / barometer. i am having issues with the setup . the humidity will only go as high as 50 and the temp stays around 80 i have tried covering the screen with plastic wrap to bring up the humidity without any results. as a noob i used all three bricks so there is around 8 inches of soil could this be my problem ?
Hi Frank! Nice to meet you. I am from PA also.

The moist soil can help increase the humidity. What will you be housing in the new tank? It's actually easy to fix the issues knowing the goal you'd like to reach. Depending on what you'll be housing...such as, dart frogs need tropical plants and its best to close off almost all air vents to help with humidity, whereas with pacman frogs an extra misting is better.

Using a dimmer switch on your dome lamp can allow you the ability to adjust your heat output. So if you want darts, temps in the 70's and humidity >80% - 100% can be achieved by turning down the heat, covering the screen 98% and adding live plants, plus misting. Pacs like 80'F and 80% humidity...keep the heat up, nice amount of moist substrate, cover 3/4 of screen and mist. Most tanks just need a bit of tweaking to get things right.