Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

Elaine T wrote:

Neat system.**For*the*non-electronically*inclined,*if*you*have*the
betta bowls in a tray of water anyway, could you use a normal aquarium
heater rather than heat tape to heat the water and transfer heat to
the bettas?

That's not a bad idea. The bowls should be up off the tray bottom on
some kind of "stilts" so the water could flow under them. The
temperature in the bowls would probably be a little lower than the
temperature in the tray.

Now make the tray a long low (3"?) aquarium and let a bunch of white
clouds chase each other around the bowls :-).

--
It's turtles, all the way down

Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

Flash Wilson wrote:

In the same way that the attic can also be called a loft and
traditionally lives in the roof above the top floor?

Seriously, do people outside of the UK use basement to mean
something else?

When I was growing up in the southeast US, a basement had a floor
(usually concrete) and windows, and often direct access to the outside,
usually the back yard, which you probably call the rear garden.

A cellar usually had a dirt floor, no windows, and the only access was
from inside. Sometimes a stair behind a door, sometimes a trapdoor
with stairs little better than a sloped ladder.

If you were on a farm, a cellar was actually better than a basement,
because fruits and vegetables would keep longer in it.

--
It's turtles, all the way down

Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

Koi-lo wrote,
How, since they don't usually turn on until it reaches something like 35 or 40F.

The heat tape's thermostat is *removed* from the heat tape, along with
it's plug. The two wires from the heat tape is then hooked to the
aquarium heater (where it's heating element used to be). The heat tape
becomes the aquarium heater's heat element - it's just no longer housed
within the heaters glass tube, but instead runs under what ever your
heating. Once the heating element is removed from the aquarium heater,
the aquarium heater becomes only a thermostat for the heat tape.

Do you have pics of this on a website?

Wish I did. The trouble is, I bred and raised fish and was into pet
stores long before computers and websites. A few years back there was a
couple of guys in this news group that used to buy their supplys from
our pet shops, and had photos of the first shop - that was over 35
years ago.

I'm going to mention this to my husband and see if we can come up with
something......

If he has any questions, tell him to e-mail me,
- remove spam.............. Frank

Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

Larry Blanchard wrote:
Elaine T wrote:


Neat system. For the non-electronically inclined, if you have the
betta bowls in a tray of water anyway, could you use a normal aquarium
heater rather than heat tape to heat the water and transfer heat to
the bettas?


That's not a bad idea. The bowls should be up off the tray bottom on
some kind of "stilts" so the water could flow under them. The
temperature in the bowls would probably be a little lower than the
temperature in the tray.

Now make the tray a long low (3"?) aquarium and let a bunch of white
clouds chase each other around the bowls :-).

Now that would be a neat setup! I wouldn't be able to resist putting
clumps of riccia or some java moss in there as well.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

Elaine T wrote,
Neat system. For the non-electronically inclined, if you have the betta
bowls in a tray of water anyway, could you use a normal aquarium heater
rather than heat tape to heat the water and transfer heat to the bettas?

Heat rises - much better to have an even heat across the whole bottom
than to *try* to force heat from a jar to the others through a half
inch of water that all the jars are sitting in............ Frank

Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

Bottom posted.
Elaine T wrote:
Frank wrote:
David Zopf wrote,

Hrrm. Don't want to totally rain on your idea, but I don't think
it will be realized. Heat tapes (like those used to prevent metal
pipes from freezing) are notoriously difficult to (affordably)
control accurately enough to prevent large temperature swings.
They're either on and pumping out the BTU's, or their off and
cooling rapidly. I don't think they'll ever make a good basis as
an affordable means of maintaining small volume water temperature
in a limited range.


I heated roll after roll of different size tanks and quart betta jars
in a few pet shops and in my basement with heat tape (like those used
to prevent metal pipes from freezing).


(convection currents are
notoriously slow to transfer heat in a fluid medium).


I disagree - it's just the other way around. It's hard to heat an
area of water within a tank, without heating the whole tank of water!


Your betta bowls will
behave similarly; without water flow/agitation, you'll have a
uninhabitable hot bottom (note: also where any settled decomp
matter will be residing), a tropical middle, and a vastly cooler
upper strata.


Hmmm - jars can be set in a tray of water. Heat tape on the bottom of
the tray heats the water within the tray, which heats the betta jars.


You thought temperature
swings are bad when they occur too quickly..? Three guesses as to
what happens when you have eight or more degrees of temperature
change _within the 2 gallon bowl itself_... :-)


Plug the heat tape into a thermostat - I used an aquarium heater for
the thermostat. Just removed the aquarium heaters heating element and
plug/thermostat from the heat tape and wired the heat tape in place
of the heaters heating element. This 'thermostat' is then placed into
eather the end tank of a roll of tanks, or end jar of a roll of betta
jars, of which the heat tape runs under. The temperature within all
the tanks or jars, will be the same as what ever temp. is set on the
aquarium/thermostat in the tank/jar at the start of the roll - cheap
and easy! ............... Frank

Neat system. For the non-electronically inclined, if you have the
betta bowls in a tray of water anyway, could you use a normal
aquarium heater rather than heat tape to heat the water and transfer
heat to the bettas?

Yes you can Elaine - just put the heater in a small glass jar filled with
water and in turn put that jar in the tray of water which in turn has the
betta jars in the tray's water. Simple system I read about in an old
aquarium magazine a long time ago. The actual betta bowl water will be a
little lower in temperature than the heater jar but you can easily always
increase the thermostat's temperature (i.e. turn the knob on the heater a
little higher to compensate). Good luck and later!

Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

"Frank" wrote in message
oups.com...
Koi-lo wrote,
How, since they don't usually turn on until it reaches something like
35 or 40F.

The heat tape's thermostat is *removed* from the heat tape, along with
it's plug. The two wires from the heat tape is then hooked to the
aquarium heater (where it's heating element used to be). The heat tape
becomes the aquarium heater's heat element - it's just no longer housed
within the heaters glass tube, but instead runs under what ever your
heating. Once the heating element is removed from the aquarium heater,
the aquarium heater becomes only a thermostat for the heat tape.

Do you have pics of this on a website?

Wish I did. The trouble is, I bred and raised fish and was into pet
stores long before computers and websites. A few years back there was a
couple of guys in this news group that used to buy their supplys from
our pet shops, and had photos of the first shop - that was over 35
years ago.

I'm going to mention this to my husband and see if we can come up with
something......

If he has any questions, tell him to e-mail me,
- remove spam.............. Frank


The aquarium heater is switching household AC voltage to that heating
tape, which was modified by removing the thermostat and will now be
submerged in water. I guess this is not for someone unfamiliar with
handling electricity then ;~).
--
www.NetMax.tk

Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

David Zopf wrote,
Howsabout this instead:
Convection currents are slow to achieve an _even_ distribution of heat in a
fluid medium.

I understand what your saying, but - since the heat source is from
below, and heat rises, it wouldn't be 'convection heat', would it not
be radiant heating? ............. Frank

Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

Daniel Morrow wrote,
Yes you can Elaine - just put the heater in a small glass jar filled with
water and in turn put that jar in the tray of water which in turn has the
betta jars in the tray's water. Simple system I read about in an old
aquarium magazine a long time ago. The actual betta bowl water will be a
little lower in temperature than the heater jar but you can easily always
increase the thermostat's temperature (i.e. turn the knob on the heater a
little higher to compensate). Good luck and later!

No, this would then be like David was trying to point out (convection
heat), which wouldn't work very well at all........... Frank

Future scenario for the home aquarium.
 

"Elaine T" wrote in message
om...
Larry Blanchard wrote:
Elaine T wrote:


Neat system. For the non-electronically inclined, if you have the
betta bowls in a tray of water anyway, could you use a normal aquarium
heater rather than heat tape to heat the water and transfer heat to
the bettas?


That's not a bad idea. The bowls should be up off the tray bottom on
some kind of "stilts" so the water could flow under them. The
temperature in the bowls would probably be a little lower than the
temperature in the tray.

Now make the tray a long low (3"?) aquarium and let a bunch of white
clouds chase each other around the bowls :-).

Now that would be a neat setup! I wouldn't be able to resist putting
clumps of riccia or some java moss in there as well.

--
Elaine T

That would look neat, but what would be the food source for the plants?
(another container to add ferts to).
--
www.NetMax.tk