rena cor heaters

[munkybutter]

does anyone have any information or opinions on the rena cor undergravel heater cables?

do they work as well as a regular tank heater or would you steer clear of them?

 

[The-Wolf]

I've seen them in my lfs and personally I wouldn't have one.
no particular reason, just not my cup of tea

 

[KarlosFandango]

Don't mean to hijack but have you considered a Hydor inline heater?? I have one running my tank and it is a smart bit of kit. You run water through it from your filter so it can stay out of site Personally I have issues with seeing heaters and cables in tanks, just looks a bit clumsy. They cost a bit more, a 300W is about £40 online and should comfortably heat your tank. My 80 gallon is easily heated by one

 

[Fat Boy]

I thought it was just to keep the substrate warm helping the roots of plants, or am I thinking of some thing else...?

 

[Ob1]

munkybutter

I have a Rena 60inchX19inchX24inch (Rena 150) tank and purchased a Rena heating cable to match, I think it was 100watts. Very long

Firstly Rena do not provide enough sucker (cable holders) they are very important - they will help you place the cable in the tank correctly. I had to purchase some suckers to hold the cable in the correct position

I have a picture of the tank with just the cable; you will see what I by the number of suckers required to lay the cable

I also found that if left on all the time the tank temp would raise out of control. So I installed a 24hour timer – this basically switch the cable on or off throughout the day so helping to keep the temp down.

I do think the cable help with plants, it help to circulate nutrient through the sub straight. Also it keeps the route warm

From what I understand it is better to switch the cable on at night, this replecate the natural environment.


Good purchase but quite expensive.


Cya Jason

 

[George Farmer]

I use one (in addition to my normal heater) mainly for my plants, it's on a timer with the lights so not to overheat the water. I wouldn't use it as the only method of heating as it would be hard to maintain a stable temp. as it has no thermostat.

One major advantage of undergravel heating is that it prevents the substrate from going anaerobic and producing foul gases (poisonous to fish). The only other method to prevent this is to syphon your substrate regularly (impossible if you plant heavily).

The heater cable produces convection currents around the substrate and effectively turns the substrate into a giant biological filter.

I'd definitely recommend them.

Karlosfandango - Can you see my heater cable in my signature?

Ob1 - How does switching the cable on at night replicate nature? I'd of thought the substrate would of become warmer through the day. Please correct me if I'm wrong as I would gladly change my light/heat cable timing.

 

[Ob1]

Hi gf225

My understanding is that water will lose heat faster then the substraight so hence the substraight will continue to give off heat at night.

In nature once the sun goes down, it is the heat retained in the earth which creates the currents moving upwards towards the water (which is now slightly cooler)

Thats my understanding, gf225 but am note an expert so before you change anthing - get confirmation from another source.

hope it help


ob1

 

[George Farmer]

Thanks Ob1, that makes perfect sense. I'll do a bit of research to confirm, who knows my plants may grow even better now!