Best heating and lighting setup for 30x30x30 tank

[Ryokanfan]

Im considering building a setup for my first frog - a "Pacman". Not so long ago I was looking for help with my first snake tank and thanks to help on forums it was mission accomplished ! My main question Im looking for help with is heating and lighting. Im not interested in daytime lighting just night light. I was wondering if a 100w infrared bulb alone would be sufficient to heat a 30x30x30cms tank ? Without a heat mat. I would be using a Zoo Med Deep Dome/ET Light Bracket/Zoo Med 100w infrared bulb.

Im not against using a heat mat, but having used them with Exo Terra terrariums before, I have found them insufficient to heat a glass tank. A CHE would also be an option, but the Infrared bulb would provide the heat and light I need for nighttime viewing.

I would be interested to know what you all think. All ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

[Bombina Bob]

Hello Ryokan fan welcome to the forum! the best heating device you can use for a pacman is a 50 watt bulb, 100 is way too much. You can monitor your temperature by getting a dimmer light for the bulb. You can use a heat mat but like you said they dont heat glass the best. If your frog is less than 2" i would suggest keeping him/her in a plastic critter keeper, You can talk to other members of the forum about pacmans, Grif and Carlos know pacmans much more than i do.

[Ryokanfan]

Hiya BB I was considering using a Habistat digital dimming thermostat to use with the infrared bulb, placing the probe just above the substrate. This thermostat allows easy setting of night and day temps too. What do you think ? There is always the issue of humidity dropping due to the light, but from what I understand you will always get this in almost any type of heating you could use.

[Mentat]

Hello and welcome to FF! The enclosure's heat source should be matched to the temperature difference between the room temp and the desired enclosure temp. 100W bulb in a square foot enclosure sounds like overkill to me. I would start with a 60W bulb at the most for a normal room temperature and use aluminum foil as a screen cover to reduce heat and water loss.

You can use a higher watts bulb or CHE with a dimmer type dome because it will reduce it's output. But a thermostat will turn it off and on at it's full rated power. When the bulb is too large for the enclosure it will then turn on and off very quickly bringing in sharp and constant temperature shifts and reducing the bulb's life with the increased on/off cycles. Also, the higher wattage might create humidity losses that would complicate the situation. Here is a good care article for Pacman frog needs: Frog Forum - Pacman and Horned Frogs - Ceratophrys - Care and Breeding. Good luck !

[Ryokanfan]

Cheers Carlos. I will try a 60w bulb to start with. In terms of maintaining humidity, I know moss is frowned upon, so what is the best way to keep humidity at 80% ? I am considering a fogger or mister as where I live the humidity this time of year is very low, as is the temps. I have a Ball Python tank and I struggle to keep it to 40% humidity.

[Mentat]

I cover the whole screen top with aluminum foil taped to edges. Then using a sharpie, draw outline of light fixture. Move light fixture out of the way and use scissor to cut outline out (leave a small gap for air circulation).

Mist both morning and night keeping the shredded coco slightly damp (clumps in fist but no dripping). If humidity gets above 80%, remove more aluminum foil, until it oscillates between 70-80% .