Glass dividers and heat conduction

[fishish]

Hi guys, Just wondering, if I put a thin piece of glass as a divider in a tank, is it possible to only need a single heater? Does anyone know? I googled heat conduction through glass and looks like it should be doable. Metal is of course the best conductor (something to do with free electrons and thus able to zip around molecules fast) but glass does conduct heat a lot, the issue is its a lot slower than metal but I don't see that this should be a problem for a permanent set up?

Cheers :D

[flipper]

I was just thinking the same thing.

I have a 1800 long tank and i was thinking about deviding it in to 5 sections for breeding.

I was going to leave a small gap between the bottom of the tank and the devider then put some sort of mesh over the gap to let the water run through.

Has any one tried this be for and if so will it work?

[Yanagi]

My barracks are divided with glass, there's a small gap in the front.. Due to some issues with the sump it's not fully set up yet, just one tank running. I have a heater in each end, a (very) large sponge filter in the 2nd chambers from the ends, the heat is fairly even.

It's 30inch long, 6 chambers.

[paul]

@fishish: it depends... In a heated tank with no water movement there will naturally be a temperature gradient even without a divider, such that the further from the heater, the colder the water. Circulation of water with filter or other device will minimize or remove this gradient. Putting any sort of divider will increase the gradient but will depend alot on the movement of water and/or size of tank and heater.

@flipper: be mindful that a divided tank with gaps for water circulation will probably mean that tiny betta fry will escape into neighboring barracks. Might end up with mixed spawns or worse - cannibalized fry (even with mesh... They really are tiny!)

[fishbites]

I have a 30" tank divided by glass with a heater in one compartment near the divider.... good water flow via a fast bubbling sponge filter seems to heat the both sides quite well.... bearing in mind this is only the equivalent of having 2 x 15" cubes....

doing this in a 4' or 6' tank will result in temp gradients as Paul said.... I'd have a smaller heater in each side of the tank rather than just one large heater.... and still make sure you have adequate water circulation....

[volvodriver]

I actually found something kind of strange when I set up mine, the side without the heater actually was consistently half a degree warmer, I thought it was the thermometer, swapped them and same result. I've only got it in a 1er with holes drilled in the glass though so not much volume to heat and a very small sponge filter makes sure it's all consistent.

[fishbites]

if you put a small powerhead in the compartment with the heater and put a hose or spray bar on the outlet so it pumped into the other side of the tank... you would get good circulation and let the water flow back under/around/over the divider and thereby getting the whole tank heated fully.... depends what your divider is like though... if its just sitting above the gravel then the water will return to the powerhead/heated side via the gravel....