Thinking about getting an emp??

Hey so some of you guys may remember me slightly a few months back I was setting up an asian forest scorp tank and it all went balls up to be honest, I ended up getting a bearded dragon, he is a great lil guy, I have now been given another tank as the other broke as I left it in the snow =/ anyway this new tank is about 2 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot, I plan to get an emp scorpion and just need a bit of guidence, I purchased some peat dirt this morning and some bark to mix in with it, I have various heat mats 2 6x11inch mats would one of these be ok under the glass tank, also I spoke to local reptile shop and they said I should use a red bulb for extra heat and light is this ok to do?

Also when setting up my tank last time it got attack by mold lots of it! I put it down to the mushroom looking bark, however does there need to be air flow as the tank is just and aquairium with aquirium hood.

Any other tips guys? Thanks

The tank needs some ventilation.

Heat mat on the back side - Not underneath. Scorpions instinctively burrow to get away from the heat so placing the heat source underneath would be going against their natural instincts and would have detrimental effects, likely causing death from overheating or stress.

You probably won't need the heat bulb, but if you do use it then ensure it is a red bulb as scorpions are negatively phototactic meaning they don't like any light whatsoever. They cannot however see red light as it is not on their spectrum.

Do not use bark chips for substrate. Use 100% coco fibre and forget about the peat. Coco fibre is the best substrate for this species and is relatively inexpensive and regularly available. For the substrate ensure you have between 4-6 inches of it and pour water onto it once a week for perfect humidity at around 80%-90%. Do not spray as it is ineffective and won't last very long.

As for the mold thing, ensure that if you put things into the tank from outside that you either boil or bake them to eliminate the risks of parasites or other complications.
Mold won't harm your scorps at all. Some just like to spot clean to keep their tank more attractive in appearance.

The reptile centre was using this dirt, pretty sure it was called peat, they said put it in and dampen it to make it into shape and add some bark too, this is how theres where? why is this wrong? Is coco fibre that stuff in blocks?

Yes it is in blocks, you submerge a block in water for 30 mins and it expands and becomes soft, you then break it up and put it in the tank.

Don't listen to pet shops, they often get it wrong. At my shop when I first started in the hobby kept his emperors under a UV light and on bark chips which are both big no no's.

Emperors must be allowed to burrow (they are known as pet holes). They cannot do this with bark chips as substrate.
As for the peat, it doesn't work as well as coco fibre in retaining humidity and allowing the scorps to burrow.

I used that brick stuff last time and it was horrilbe stuff though, they didnt use much bark at all just mixed together with the peat

What do you mean horrible?

went all funny, felt weird, funny colour, will the peat be ok? says it is on the caresheet on here?

The peat should be ok, it's just that coco fiber is regarded as the best substrate for this species.

so what is coco fibre? is the bark no good at all? seeing as I have now got a big bag and 7 quid out of pocket

Coco fiber is a husky, soil-like substrate (maybe someone else can give you a better description)

It is often known as "eco-earth" or "coir". It retains moisture well and enables burrowing, also keeping them stable.

As for the bark, no I'm afraid. I know how you feel though as the shop just recommendedyou buy something that you shouldn't use.

When I got my first hadogenes, my shop told me to buy some sand to use in addition with the coco fiber which cost me around 5 or 6 quid, which I later found out was detrimental to the scorp's health and shouldn't be used.

So from now on I'd recommend you ask on this forum about anything you are unsure of rather than talking to the people who just want you buy as much as possible and will do anything to sound knowledgable as long as you buy their stock.

ah lol, well thats just annoying, what about if I had it around a piece of bark for aesthetics?

Yeh, I guess that's ok. Just as long as it isn't used as the actual substrate or covering the whole surface preventing them from burrowing.