View Full Version : under gravel heaters
cbster
12-18-2003, 6:43 AM
is it really necessary to have an under gravel heater? i have forty plants coming and if i would really benefit from it i will put it in. i have a 55 gal. tank with 4- 40 watts 48 in. bulbs, gravel, and laterite mix, and a diy co2 reactor is there anything else i need. thanks
forgot i guess i would have to get rid of my ugf? thanks
Heating cables were pushed by Dupla in their heyday, but are not widely used today. They are quite expensive and of dubious benefit. They also require starting with a bare tank.
Planted tanks can be successfully grown with RFUG at least, but it is a somewhat different technique (no substrate enrichment at all, only water column supplements). For an initial planted tank, I'd suggest more conventional substrates, either gravel plus laterite, or Seachem's Flourite or Onyx.
cbster
12-18-2003, 8:09 PM
i haven't planted the plants yet and i have a h.o.t. magnum 250 and an emperor 400 bio-wheel in the tank for filtration and the power heads i have can't reverse so should i just get rid of the ugf and not worry about the heating cable. is there anything else you think i need for a planted tank. thank you cbster
If you supplement CO2, the biowheel is likely to be a problem.
I'd not be concerned about the heating cables myself, and I'd pull the UG out.
cbster
12-19-2003, 6:34 AM
is there a particular reason why the bio-wheel is going to be a problem? and should i pull the plates out of the ugf are can i leave them in? thanks
Pull the plates.
Biowheels agitate the surface of the water, which blows off supplemented CO2. Why add something just to off-gas it to room air?
cbster
12-19-2003, 8:59 AM
well that makes sense. so the hot magnum is really bad for the co2 because it really agitates the water do you think i should turn the hot magnum off or just position it so it doesn't agitate the water so bad? thanks
DIYMatt
12-19-2003, 2:05 PM
I would keep the output of the filter below the surface of the water so that it doesn't disturb the surface so much. You can have current below, but when the surface gets stirred up is when you loose a lot of CO2.
Agree w/DIYMatt. Current is not your enemy, current is needed. Surface disruption causes equilibration of gases between the air and the water - we don't want equilibration, we want well above equilibration CO2 levels in our planted tanks.
plantbrain
12-19-2003, 3:23 PM
I'd buy a CO(2 gas system long before considering a heating cable.
Especially for a 55 gal tank.
That will be useful, unlike the cables.
Regards,
Tom Barr
cbster
12-19-2003, 4:12 PM
is there anyway to use my two powerheads that i took out of the ugf for current or anything in the tank or would that just be a waste of electric? thanks
125gJoe
12-19-2003, 4:56 PM
I agree with PlantBrain!
Go for pressurized CO2 ! :)
plantbrain
12-19-2003, 7:32 PM
I am a minimalist.
I have two plugs on a tank, no more.
One for the filter, the other for the lighting.
I use canisters on 150 gal and down.
In line CO2 reactors.
PC's or MH's with electronic ballast, 250 w or HQI's.
Gas CO2,
Flourite or it's equivalents(Eco complete/Flora base/Onyx etc).
I use for fertilizers:
KNO3
K2SO4
KH2PO4
Trace(SeaChem flourish mostly)
50% weekly water change and that's about it.
I suppose you can sell the powerheads, ebay/aquabid, set up a different tank with them etc.
Regards,
Tom Barr