substrate heater

[keith]

read in the dennerle handbook that it is good to have a substrate heater. is it neccessary? how abt the duomat thermostats? thanks

btw , went to a lfs and saw a planted tank that uses 2 external filter. asked the owner and was told that is good to have 2. is it true???

[setiardi]

Substrate heater usually use in colder climate country bcoz too cold(winter) for the tropical planted tank setup.

2 filters not necessary as long as it is design for the tank water volume but for large planted tank, 5ft and above, is recommended bcoz a single filter design for such tank size will rip apart plants from substrate so 2 slightly smaller size filter with the same filter medium volume will be better, outlet flow not too strong yet provide sufficient filtration and water flow to the whole tank if each placed at opposite corner.My 2 cents worth.

[David]

hi keith

the substrate heater's purpose according to the dennerle book are:

1. To prevents the base fert and substrate layers from becoming anaerobic(blacken of sand) Sand going anaerobic is due to the lack of oxygen supply to bacterial colony in the substrate layer and speeded up with rotting material as well. No doubt plants do release O2 in the substrate level, however it may not be sufficient to support the colony. however, with the aid of the substrate heater, the water exchange between substrate level from the water column will carry enought dissolved O2 to them.

2. Oxygen is an enemy to trace element and it readily bonds and oxides needed elements that aquatic plants needs. However with the water exchange created by the substrate heater, the bacterial absorbing the O2 from oxidised elements and returning usable elements back to the water column again. This exchange is only needed once a day and not 24hrs.

The duomat 1200 system basically is an advanced extension to the substrate heater by monitoring and turn the substrate heater on and off between +/- 0.5 degree from the preset temperature. However if you are going to get one, consider the Solo 400 system which is a better controller to the 1200....this is because it has a step interval timer that turns the heater on and off every 10mins with a 5 mins step up....this is to extend the activity time frame of the substrate heater.....

All been said and done, this equipment is a good to have and not a must...however the bigger your tank gets, the more one should consider this equipment...as in the event of the substrate going anaerobic, the teardown of the tank would out weight the cost of the substrate heater.

the purpose of the double filteration system can be seen in two different angles....

1. In large tanks 5ft and above..this is to keep the tank well filtered without any 'blind spot' where the water and dirt are not properly filtered.

2. Pushing fish to water ratio...this is to increase the surface area where beneficial baterial can colonise on

3. Incease of a filter failure, there is still another filter working while the one that has gone down can be serviced or repaired.

[keith]

thanks guys, really appreciate the help

[DEA]

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On 2/1/2002 12:13:39 AM

Substrate heater usually use in colder climate country bcoz too cold(winter) for the tropical planted tank setup.

2 filters not necessary as long as it is design for the tank water volume but for large planted tank, 5ft and above, is recommended bcoz a single filter design for such tank size will rip apart plants from substrate so 2 slightly smaller size filter with the same filter medium volume will be better, outlet flow not too strong yet provide sufficient filtration and water flow to the whole tank if each placed at opposite corner.My 2 cents worth.
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one thing to point out
eheim filters are designed for big tanks, but the flow rate can be reduced
alternatively, you can use spray bars to reduce the ouput strength
either way, i'd still go for the filter with a bigger media capacity

[David]

anytime keith