I put in a heating cable when I initially set up my 135 gallon. It was
nothing but trouble. It worked for about the first three weeks, then it
failed. I should have broken my tank down right then and gotten my money
back (the thing was not cheap), but I did not want to break down the tank
after putting so much effort into set up. In those first few weeks that the
cables worked, I found that the combination of lighting and heating cables
was going to necessitate some sort of additional cooling (and I live in
Michigan..). So, in a way I am glad the darn things failed. Since initially
setting up my tank several years ago, I have found that a planted tank can
do very well with good lighting, CO2, Fluorite substrate and weekly
maintenance and monitoring of nutrients. In fact, I have been slowly
removing the cable by cutting it up the heating cable with scissors.
Portions of it tend to surface during plant moving and trimming sessions,
and once up, they are very difficult to place back in their proper position.

My message: don't use heating cables. I doubt they help your plants, and
they are very inconvenient to use.

-Bruce

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~brucegeist


wrote in message
...
Hi. I've started buying all the needed supplies for setting up a 70g
planted aquarium. The only item I have not yet decided on is heating
cables for the substrate. Do I really need these? I've bought
flourite for a substrate, live in central FL, the house temperature
hovers around 78-81 in the summer but in the winter we open the
windows a lot so the temperature might be more in the low-mid
seventies. Will the cables be effective at these temperatures?

If you think they are needed, do you recommend any in particular?

Thanks in advance.