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