Substrate heater

[drradcliffe]

Is a substrate heater a requirement for a planted tank? In Setting up a Tropical Aquarium: week-by-week the author recommends using one, however, I have not seen this mentioned anywhere else. Thanks!

[Somefishguy]

a regular heater will do. Good thing about substrate heater is you dont see it hanging.

[drradcliffe]

Would a substrate heater be sufficent for all heating needs in the tank or would I still need one inside the tank?

[Somefishguy]

Ive never used one. but I am pretty sure it would be more than enough. You are talking about the coil type one that goes under the substrate(like baseboard heating in a house)?

[drradcliffe]

Yes, it coils along the bottom of the tank and the substrate goes over the top. At $50 for the system, I wanted to determine if it was "nice to have" or necessity.

[Mzungu]

I've also read a few books that claim a substrate heater is a "must" for planted tanks, but I don't think I've ever met anyone with a successful planted aquarium who is using/has used one. And these people I have met are VERY good at planted tanks! :)

So, I would say it's definitely not necessary. Not even sure if I would place it in the "nice to have" category.

[Roujin]

I don't think its a must here in Houston. If you have a large planted tank in a cold climate or fluctuating climate then sure.

[wesleydnunder]

Save your money. A substrate heater is completely unnecessary for a planted tank. I messed around with them about a decade ago and found there there is no substantial benefit. The idea behind them is to create convection currents in the substrate to help transport oxygen and nutrients to plant roots... meh. Like I said, save your money. Take a look at some of the local tanks by Bhushan and some others that don't have substrate heaters and you'll see what I mean.

Mark

[kwc1974]

+1

These are fine for up north, but even in the colder areas most people do not use them. Save your money and put in an inline heater to your canister filter (if you have one) Or, like me run without a heater altogeather. I find that I do not need one as the increased lighting (300W MH) and my house temps are enough to keep the tanks at a nice temp. If you need elevated temps for something like discus then I would get some heaters.

[drradcliffe]

Thanks everyone for the information. Very helpful as usual! I think I'll do without the substrate heater and invest those $$'s in something else. Dawn