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The undergravel setup I currently have is the one from AZOO - I bought them
James P wrote:
"The undergravel setup I currently have is the one from AZOO - I bought
them from Edward of Monolith Marine Monsters (m3). I've got the 200W
(42') cable plugged into the Aqualogic Temperature Controller. Its in a
130 gallon tank (72"x18" footprint). With that length of cable,
coverage is pretty complete, with spacing generally around 2" between
cables. "
I have the same setup except that my tank is presumably taller at 150
gal.s. And my controller is a relatively inexpensive Otto HC-500.
which has proven reliable.
I have back-up glass tube heaters connected to an Ultralife 'Accu Max',
but they have never come-even in the dead of winter (ambient 68
degreesF). The cable alone maintains 78-79 degrees.
The cable is constantly off during summer when the tank climbs to 82-83
degrees F when the lights are one (ambient 78 degrees).
If your manifold heater was equivalent to low wattage and the substrate
maintained temp differentials--then I guess my guess about threshold
levels was just wrong. And I was so hoping that wouldn't happen again
for an hour or so.
James also wrote:
"Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that heating cables don't work - I
just don't how they work and I find it odd that a group which is so
skeptical about fertilizer manufacturer's claims (which can be verified
by a few simple tests) can jump up and down so energetically when
reading the mantra of a few companies who _may_ have done some
experiments but who have never shared their data with anyone else to
have the tests duplicated and verified independently. But maybe, just
maybe....since their fertilizers work so well, and I like a lot of
their other equipment, maybe they are bang on the money. At least they
work for George....<g>."
I haven't seen anyone jump up and down--of course, suggest any
electrical product and you'll probably stir my interest--and cables
don't seem to be widely used--at least, they aren't anywhere near as
widely available as, say, filters, fertilizers, what have you.
As far as any manufacturer's sales pitch, Dupla or others', I always
keep a box of salt on hand--don't most folk? The available info
sources for hobbyists to rely on in the aquaria hobbies, in relative
quantities, are:
advertising (some hip-some hype?)
anecdotal data
scientific data
And, imho, conventional wisdom and dogma fits in, over, or around there
somewhere with many if not most books fitting in with the anecdotal and
conventional wisdom.
So when someone like George says, without trying to overstate his view,
that they have worked for him--that encourages me to give it a try. I
only have two planted tanks set up right now--and only one with cable.
But I have set up the tanks so differently that I can't tell you what
difference the cable makes. I can say that the plants seem just as
vigorous in the cabled tank in the summer as in the winter--but a lot
of things could account for that.
Scott H
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