Re: under gravel heating cables

[Jeff Coart <rapdfire at pacbell_net>]

>I have just ordered a tank 80x50x40
>
>Now im thinking of adding an undergravelheater, only my aquaruim store
said
>I shoudnt use it because if it broke I had to tear down my whole tank
and he
>never noticed any growth improvement

I can't tell you if the cables improve plant growth or not since my tank
has always had them. I can tell you that people like Tom Barr would
suggest you put the money into your CO2 setup instead which is probably
good advice. Lots of healthy plants with strong roots probably do more
for your substrate than heating cables and based on what I've read on
the APD there are a lot of people out there who don't have them and
still grow beautiful, healthy plants.

What I like about the cables is that they are virtually invisible
(except for where the cable enters the tank) and since they are buried
you can't bump into them when cleaning your tank. There is no need to
remove them like you have to do with a rod type heater.

Unfortunately,  unless you build them yourself, the low voltage "Dupla"
type are very expensive.