# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Substrate heating Cable - Brainstorm



## Wayl (Mar 2, 2003)

Hello - I'm new to the forum, and have read a thread on Dupla's heating cable system... the downside being that if you tear down a tank, roots will entagle...etc.
Well, in my part of the country (U.S.) somethiing called "quarry tile" is avaialble. These are unglazed, and if you believe the manu.'r, toxic free. (great for kitchen ovens - to buffer the heat if your therm.'stat is inaccurate) so, why not sandwich the tiles between the substrate cables and the substrate? This would isolate the cables from most(?) of the root growth and act as a heat sink such that your on-off cycling might be reduced, and basically solve the polarized opinions (so I can justify the cost). Understand, I'm a risk taker, but I need to consider the following: 1.Will the tiles crush the cabling? Solution - install some sort of stand-off so that the cables are not stressed by the weight of tiles. 2. Probably, a degree of physical contact must be made so that heat is efficiently coupled to the tiles, can this be implemented? 
Downside: Real estate - the tilea are one quarter in. thick.
Any other input? 
Just a idea, Patent Pending. 
P.S. the idea of convective currents is tantalizing, I once installed a small reptile heat pad to the bottom of a 70 gal. (no more that 5 in. X 10 in.) and saw noticeable growth rates on a Sword located just above.


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## Wayl (Mar 2, 2003)

Hello - I'm new to the forum, and have read a thread on Dupla's heating cable system... the downside being that if you tear down a tank, roots will entagle...etc.
Well,  in my part of the country (U.S.) somethiing called "quarry tile" is avaialble. These are unglazed, and if you believe the manu.'r, toxic free. (great for kitchen ovens - to buffer the heat if your therm.'stat is inaccurate) so, why not sandwich the tiles between the substrate cables and the substrate? This would isolate the cables from most(?) of the root growth and act as a heat sink such that your on-off cycling might be reduced, and basically solve the polarized opinions (so I can justify the cost). Understand, I'm a risk taker, but I need to consider the following: 1.Will the tiles crush the cabling? Solution - install some sort of stand-off so that the cables are not stressed by the weight of tiles. 2. Probably, a degree of physical contact must be made so that heat is efficiently coupled to the tiles, can this be implemented? 
Downside: Real estate - the tilea are one quarter in. thick.
Any other input? 
Just a idea, Patent Pending. 
P.S. the idea of convective currents is tantalizing, I once installed a small reptile heat pad to the bottom of a 70 gal. (no more that 5 in. X 10 in.) and saw noticeable growth rates on a Sword located just above.


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## anonapersona (Mar 11, 2004)

I think that our ambient temperature here in TX is too high to justify the cost, though it probably makes perfect sense in cold places like England and Northern Europe. 

When the room temp is 80 (like april through october) and the lights are on, the tank is hotter than that, 81 typically. I can't see that the cables will even be on if the tank is already at 81 degrees. You don't want it much hotter than that for sure, hard to keep CO2 and O2 in the tank for one thing, and some of the fish will be unhappy.


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## Wayl (Mar 2, 2003)

My local aquarium shop introduced me to Duplas' system of substrate heating a while back. It seems to me that a Radio Shack timer is good enough for controlling the heating coils. The saleman indicated that, with the apporpriate wattage, then no other water heating would be necessary with the substrate coils supplying the convection. I was ready to buy, until I read the threads from this forum.
I'm still unclear on the experts seal of appproval on the chemistry of laterite in combo. w/ heating... apparently a iron thing. 
Anyway, what turned me off was discovering that roots would intertwine w/ the cabling.

Background on Quarry tile: A construction tile such as is used for household flooring, or perhaps walls.
Don't know the effects on tile if submerged for long periods, but is "fired" as is ceramics.
Seems tha one could mimmic a grouting process in the aquarium - lay down a thin layer of ordinary gravel (enough to enclose the cables),lay out the cables, install the tile above (and touching the cables), then mix the laterite and gravel above. Haven't considered whether the laterite might be applied w/ the thin layer which touches the cables.
My tank is now running at 82 F. And I don't worry about temp. for the tropicals living in their habitat.

where to put the laterite? Don't know.
But, clearly ther would be initial lag time until the tiles heat up - besides a barrier to roots, the model is simply a "heat sink" of thermal mass, if you will.-------------


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## b3dlam (Feb 1, 2003)

I think *most* people stay away from heating coils because the benefits cant really be appreciated/seen until much later. The costs are also prohibitive for most people. There is no doubt that they can get very expensive. If your budget is limited, you will get more 'return' from investing other equipment for the tank. BUT if you can afford the cables, go for it!

You mentioned the roots being tangled up with the cables.... In the relatively short time I have had the cables, even plants with root systems that were nearly 2ft long did not dislodge the cables. I really dont think this is a problem whatsoever....

hth


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## Rex Grigg (Jan 22, 2004)

I'm just wondering if you are going to also get a chiller so the cables can operate more than a couple of days a year?









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## b3dlam (Feb 1, 2003)

Rex,

Your stance against heating cables are well noted. There is little need for the sarcasm.

If the tank is located in a warm area, then the heating cables will not switch on hence it will not be useful. There u go....that wasn't so hard was it?


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## Rex Grigg (Jan 22, 2004)

It wasn't sarcasm. It was a legitimate question. In Austin Texas the cables would not switch on hardly at all unless you were keep your water temps too high for most plants or had a chiller to keep the water cool. I notice that substrate heating cables are most popular in cooler climates. If I lived in an area that had real winter for six months a year and did not want a big heater hanging in my tank then I would invest in a high quality substrate heater. I look at substrate heaters as tank heaters first and anything else second. It's all in where you live. You don't see a lot of homes with central heating in hot climates and you don't see a lot of homes with central air conditioning in cold climates. Just because the natives who live in Alaska wear seal skin coats and boots 9 months out of the year doesn't mean that people who live in Hawaii have to do the same.

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## JamesHoftiezer (Feb 2, 2003)

Well I think its a moot point anyways. 
The use of tiles would distribute the heat over a wider area nullifying the convection currents the cable would provide.

The point of heater cables is to create narrow bands of temperature differential.

*James Hoftiezer

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