# Aquarium substrate heater



## Yellow Fellow (3 Jul 2009)

Hey guys,

             Planning on setting up a new  35l nano. I was searching the internet for a small heater to put in it and spotted a cable heater that goes underneath the substrate. I assume this will warm the entire tank via convection currents. Anyone have any experience with this, is it going to be suitable enough to heat the tank effectivly? If not any recommendations for a small heater that wont be too unsightly?

Thanks for any help


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## Steve Smith (3 Jul 2009)

Substrate heaters are mocked around here, but that's because they are sold on the basis of "aiding root growth" which is complete tosh.

They're also expensive!  If you want to get the heater out completely, go with a Hydor ETH200 external heater!  I have one on my little opti-white, as well as the 300w model on 2 other tanks 

Other than this, the Newatino range of mini heaters might be suitable.


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## Yellow Fellow (3 Jul 2009)

Apologies for the planted tank faux pas!

I found 1 on zooplus for just above Â£40, which is onyl about Â£10 more than the Hydor. I noticed aswell that with the hydor i would have to buy an external filter which i cant really afford at the moment. I was planning on using the filter that my arcadia tank came with to keep costs down.

Does the undergravel heater damage the plants in any way or inhibit growth? or is it the fact that the heater is sold based on a lie that is gets mocked? 

Will i be mocked if i buy 1??


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## ceg4048 (4 Jul 2009)

Hi,
    No, you won't be mocked for buying one to heat your tank. This will be fine. Mocking only happens when the user thinks he/she is optimizing plant health by using them. They don't harm the plants but for years vendors sold the illusion that they did something more beneficial than simple heating. It took years for the hobby to recover from that propaganda...  

Cheers,


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## plantbrain (4 Jul 2009)

They are 10-20x cheaper than they once where....hence the investigation into whether they worked.............
But for 20-30$, they run about the same as many stick heaters.........which is about all they ever do.

Heat water.

Tom Barr


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