# Ok to put heater in sand?



## trrturne (Jan 17, 2009)

I have a fully submergable heater in my tank. My water temp is usually a 68F. The sand however is usually much cooler, cooling my roots. Would this cause my plants to grow slower, and would it help if i stuck my heater down into the sand?


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## SueM (Jan 23, 2004)

Unless it is a metal heater, I would not recommend it, even then it would more then likely over heat, and only heat one area of the substraight, burning your plants. There are special heaters for under gravel.
http://www.homeaquariumsupplies.com/undergravel-heaters.cfm
There is also heaters that you can get for reptile tanks that stick to the underside of the glass, I have used these for warming the substraight. The only down fall with these is there needs to be some airflow around them, so if you have a closed top tank stand, they will not work.
http://www.heatersplus.com/products/uth.htm


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## trrturne (Jan 17, 2009)

Ok, i'll check it out. Thanks for the links!


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