undergravel heaters...what length

[houndour]

Hello,

I have approx 100 litre i think, and I've been looking into the under gravel heater cables to help my plants...

from my LFS, an 11ft one said to be for 100litre is £30.23

however on here:
http/www.aquatics-online.co.uk/listsecti...etp=39&rets=128 a 14 ft one is £19.99

Or is it the wattage that counts?

I know my LFS is more expensive, but I hate buying electrical things online cos I generally have bad luck and often have to send things back and its more convenient to go to LFS. And plus I want the cable tomorrow so I can make a start on my new aquascape.

Sam

 

[George Farmer]

I use a Rena-Cor 25W cable in my 125 litre and can recommend it - it's over 2 years old and still runs perfectly well. You need to buy additional suckers though - probably 6. I used airline suckers which are cheap.

 

[houndour]

oh, is the cable stuck to the base of the tank then? (am I going to have to completely remove my substrate?)

 

[ecto1]

Yep, it goes underneath the substrate - hence the name "undergravel"

 

[houndour]

Yep, it goes underneath the substrate - hence the name "unergravel"

I'm not stupid. What I meant was I thought it went in the gravel (so it weighed down by the gravel. I didn't realise it went _right_ at the based and stuck onto the glass. Wondering if it's more hassle than its worth. What do you think? Would you highly recommend an undergravel heater?

What are the benefits?

 

[zig]

Hi Houndour

Yes the cable is stuck to the floor of the tank with suckers, the reason being that it allows you to plant without moving the cable all the time, and as you will probably change you layout occeasionally you can do so without the cable moving. You place your gravel or substrate on top of the cable.

Undergravel heated cables are a contentious issue in the planted tank world, some people swear by them others think they are useless and dont work, and are at worst a bogus science designed to relieve you of your cash, but like i say others swear by them, so really the choice is yours.

Personally i decided not to use a cable as i am in the process of setting up a planted tank as well.

 

[houndour]

Hmmmm, Thanks Zig. Well I thought the benefit was to help prevent compacting/poisonous gases and to help push a flow of water around the roots.

As for the compacting, I just prod the sand every now and then. I'm not sure I want the hassle of removing my substrate. It's worse because I have sand mixed with laterite with the laterite on the bottom half...

I'll probably sleep on it and decide when I get to the LFS. Thanks for your help.