Substrate Heating

[Boris]

Has anyone tried one of those reptile heating pads that you stick on the
bottom of the tank (outside bottom - not in the tank itself) with an
adhesive?

Do you think this may have possitive results?

Thank you in advance.
Boris

[coelacanth]

My two bits:.

I sure wouldn't try it--I had small tortoises for a while
in new 10 gallon tanks and both tanks ended up with
cracks on the bottom from the heat pads. One was a
DIY job, but the other was from ZooMed, a reputable
manufacturer (unlike me).

It's possible that gravel and water will serve to moderate
heating and cooling effects and thus prevent this kind
of damage, but do you want to be the one to find
that out?

-coelacanth

"Boris" > wrote in message
able.rogers.com...
> Has anyone tried one of those reptile heating pads that you stick on the
> bottom of the tank (outside bottom - not in the tank itself) with an
> adhesive?
>
> Do you think this may have possitive results?
>
> Thank you in advance.
> Boris
>
>

[Chuck Gadd]

On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 04:36:00 GMT, "Boris" > wrote:

>Has anyone tried one of those reptile heating pads that you stick on the
>bottom of the tank (outside bottom - not in the tank itself) with an
>adhesive?

It will not achieve the same result as substrate heating.

The concept behind substrate heating is localized temperature
differences which can create convection currents flowing from the hot
spots to the cool spots.

A heating pad would create an overall warming, but would not provide
any of the convection currents.

Note that I'm not totally sold on the concept of substrate heating.
I've heard enough to think that it might improve the long-term
stability a little bit, but not enough for me to spend the money on
it.


Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

[Boris]

Xref: 127.0.0.1 rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants:76149

Yes! I thought about that too! I have a 54 tank by All Glass Aquarium I was
"thinking" of doing this with.

Maybe I will pass on this idea. Thanks for the reply.
cheers,
Boris
"coelacanth" > wrote in message
m...
> My two bits:.
>
> I sure wouldn't try it--I had small tortoises for a while
> in new 10 gallon tanks and both tanks ended up with
> cracks on the bottom from the heat pads. One was a
> DIY job, but the other was from ZooMed, a reputable
> manufacturer (unlike me).
>
> It's possible that gravel and water will serve to moderate
> heating and cooling effects and thus prevent this kind
> of damage, but do you want to be the one to find
> that out?
>
> -coelacanth
>
> "Boris" > wrote in message
> able.rogers.com...
> > Has anyone tried one of those reptile heating pads that you stick on the
> > bottom of the tank (outside bottom - not in the tank itself) with an
> > adhesive?
> >
> > Do you think this may have possitive results?
> >
> > Thank you in advance.
> > Boris
> >
> >
>
>

[Boris]

Thank you, Chuck. You're answer is quite logical. I think I'll pass on the
heating pad.
cheers,
Boris
"Chuck Gadd" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 02 Oct 2003 04:36:00 GMT, "Boris" > wrote:
>
> >Has anyone tried one of those reptile heating pads that you stick on the
> >bottom of the tank (outside bottom - not in the tank itself) with an
> >adhesive?
>
> It will not achieve the same result as substrate heating.
>
> The concept behind substrate heating is localized temperature
> differences which can create convection currents flowing from the hot
> spots to the cool spots.
>
> A heating pad would create an overall warming, but would not provide
> any of the convection currents.
>
> Note that I'm not totally sold on the concept of substrate heating.
> I've heard enough to think that it might improve the long-term
> stability a little bit, but not enough for me to spend the money on
> it.
>
>
> Chuck Gadd
> http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua