I ordered a cable heater for my 135 gallon tank from (what was at the time)
Pet Warehouse, and is now Drs Foster and Smith's Pet Warehouse. I installed
the cables as recommended, being careful not to overlap the coils, and even
verified that they were working before I put the substrate in.

The cable heater may have worked for a week, since in that time I had
difficulty keeping the tank temperature below 81 degrees F. However, shortly
after, the cable heater stopped working. I think I paid around $150.00 for the
cable I bought. I spoke to the manufacturer regarding the cable, and was
chagrined to learn that I would have to break down the tank and send them the
cable if I were to get any kind of refund. Not too unreasonable I guess--
though at the time I was really irritated. I mean really, who is going to
completely break down a large tank just after setting it up to take out the
heating cable. I guess I should have, but I didn't. I was hoping the
manufacturer would offer some kind of proxy for when I did break the tank down,
but they would not. I guess I can admit that this would be difficult for a
small business to implement; however if they did, I would be buying cable
heater's from them!

At any rate, for those who may be considering heating cables, I say beware of
the ones sold at Drs Foster and Smith's Pet Warehouse. Even though they come
with a 1 year waranty, unless you are REALLY willing to break down your tank
and strip out the non-working cables, that waranty is worthless. Get some
cables that wont go wrong.

To the person who started this thread, be SURE to test your cables for a good
couple of days before installing the rest of the tank.

I would be interested in anyone's perspective on a good brand. How about the
dubla cables? I hear the 12 volt cables are better than the ones that plug
directly into ac current. They sound safer too..

I have to say also that my tank has been pretty successful for the past two
years even without a working cable heater. I question the value of cable
heaters, though I know many contributers to this newsgroup swear by them..