I have a really stupid question.

[jsvand5]

I have Mandarins hatching today, and I set up a small fish tank as a brooder. My question is, how do you keep your brooder warm at night. I currently have one ceramic heat emitter and one light bulb that is keeping the heat at little over 90 degrees. My problem is at night. When I turn off the light it gets way too cold. Is it ok to leave the light on 24 hrs a day or do they need a light cycle?

 

[esthermgr]

You need to leave it on 24/7, especially for the first few weeks. Make sure it's safely secured to prevent fire hazards.

 

[rebecky1305]

Use a red bulb and leave it on all night.
Oh and there is no such thing as a stupid question here. If you don't ask, you can't learn.

 

[elmo]

First of all, there are no stupid questions, other than the ones we don't ask.

You don't have to have a light cycle, although it's better (more natural) to have one. You could replace your light bulb with another ceramic one, or even a red bulb of the same wattage as the regular bulb. I've read that chicks tend to peck at each other less under a red bulb.

Is your tank somewhere that gets light during the day? That should be enough of a light cycle if you get the heat issue squared away.

 

[WV_Hillbilly70]

I used a 125 gallon tank as my brooder. For the first 2-3 weeks I used the actual glass covers for the aquarium to keep the temp up with a heat lamp on one end and a thermometer as to not cook the little ladies. As time went on I repoved a few glass panels and moved the lamp farther away. Now that they are fully feathered, I use chicken wire over the top and use the heat lamp only at night.

Hope this helps. Here are some pics of my set-up.

 

[jsvand5]

That one light keeps it warm enough in that big tank? Are you using just a regular bulb or a spot light type. I have a 60 wat bulb and a 60 watt heat emitter on a little 20 gal tank and it is still just barely keeping it warm enough. The bulb and emitter is about 12" from the bottom of the tank and the top is covered with window sceen and the screen is partially covered with tin foil to hold in a little extra heat.

 

[SkyWarrior]

Quote:
I can't answer for WV_Hillbilly70, but I can answer for how I use the brooder lamp. My brooder lamp is 250W bulbs and it's a heat bulb, so it is plenty warm. If WV_Hillbilly70 is using a similar set up, it will be plenty warm.

 

[WV_Hillbilly70]

Quote:
I can't answer for WV_Hillbilly70, but I can answer for how I use the brooder lamp. My brooder lamp is 250W bulbs and it's a heat bulb, so it is plenty warm. If WV_Hillbilly70 is using a similar set up, it will be plenty warm.

You hit it right!! I too use a 250 watt heat lamp, and by moving it around farther away you can regulate the heat. A thermometer is the best way to track the heat inside the brooder. I think next time I will use an inline dimmer switch so I wont have to change bulbs to lower wattages as they get older, and I wont have to move it as much.

 

[drunkdog]

I LOVE stupid questions as they are normally MY questions asked by someone else

....every thread I open here I learn more its great