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Re: Aquatic Plants Digest V2 #834
Hi folks...
First I'd like to thank everyone on the list - I've been lurking for
months and have learned an enormous amount! It's really enhanced my
enjoyment the hobby.
My two cents on the substrate heating issue: As I remember physics 101,
one of the defining properties of metal is excellent thermal
contuctivity and that one of the properties usually associated with
plastics is poor conductivity. I think that the coils from the inside of
an old freezer would serve very nicely at both ends of a heat transfer
system. These coils are actually two aluminum plates with channels
pressed into them and joined together. The ballasts could be bolted to
one coil and a second (or more) coils could be laid in the bottom of the
tank. Aluminum is inert in aquarium conditions and some bleach in the
water would prevent any biological activity in the closed system
without affecting the Aluminum. Control of the amount of heat transfer
can be determined by experiment - change the tightness of the coupling
(tighten or loosen the bolts; put in washers) between the coil and the
ballasts. The point sonmeone made about GFI is valid but if you want to
have redundant protection plastic bolts and washers could be used for
coupling and the coils could be grounded.
I'm planning to build a big tank in the fall/winter and will try the
coil idea then. If anyone tries it out before then I'd love to hear the
results.
Cheers,
Paul
(in hot smoggy soggy Toronto)