A Few Questions For My New Tank!

[slevytam]

Hi,

1. I am looking to create a discus biotope. So, I will be using sand and plants in my tank. Should I use a heater coil in the substrate? My house maintains a high temperature. ie in summer tank gets over 80 with no heating. I heard this can render the heating coil useless. Note: Currently, my tanks are at about 86 degrees.

2. I have already posted this but I thought I'd mention it again. I am looking for sand similar in color to what would be found in the amazon. ie yellow(silver) sand. Does anyone know where I could find this?

3. I would like to use a bunch of spotlights instead of flood lighting my tank. Is this possible? I still need enough light for the plants to survive. If yes, where can I find these spot lights?

I'd really appreciate any help,

Thanks,

Shalom

[Don_Lee]

There are differing opinions on the worth of the substrate heaters, personally I would not buy one as I do not believe they are worth the $. I would check the larger pet catalogs like Pet Solutions and Dr's Foster and Smith and see what they have for sand available. I am not sure what you mean by "spotlights" but there are some metal halide pendant lights that are suspended over the aquarium that would do a nice job in lighting the tank........pretty big $ though....


HTH,

Don