Personally I use the heater settings as a guide only, and then set low and adjust from there to what my thermometer says. My heaters are all at least 4 degrees off from what the temp settings are, regardless of the brand. (I use a couple rena models and visitherm, horrible luck w/ ebo jaeger) Try using an old fashioned aquarium thremometer, as some externals are low quality. If the room has ambient light, try leaving the compact flourescent off for a day or two and see how this affects the temp. Try the reverse also, light and no heater. If you find the light keeps your tank near 80 without the heater, put it on a 12-14 hr timer. The water will cool slowly over night, especially if you insulate the non-viewing sides with 1/4" styro painted black, dark green, or dark blue w/ acrylic paint. I would do this anyway as it helps keep the water from changing temp quickly (cutting down on electric bills) and the dark color makes the fish more secure than having clear viewing areas all around it. If you find having the light off w/ the heater is the right thing, find a way to put space between the light and the tank. Having air space (even 1") between the tank and the light will help keep the light cooler. This is much better than evaporating the water to cool it. (which can wreak havoc on your house!) Heaters that malfunction and are always on are a common problem with lower quality and old heaters. There is no question that a 25w heater can cook 4 gal of water, as I've gotten 5 gal up to 95 with one. (without fish in the tank) Also keep in mind that the heater will over-heat the tank by about 2 degrees (in my experience) before shutting itself off. (It will turn on at 2-3 degrees lower than it's set) I would try setting the heater a little lower yet (bettas are comfy at 78) and see what happens. If it still ranges widly up to 85-ish, take it back and get a different one. Nick

Yes, just looks like a little frost damage to the tips, probably happened while they were still just eyes poking out of the ground.

Ejr, when I first got the publication "Hosta Diseases and Pests" I took a look at all the horrible photos in it and imediately ran outside and looked at my hostas and diagnosed a Gold Standard with HVX. To this day, that hosta is healthy and showing no symptoms of HVX. So, becoming paranoid is something that a lot of us do (or at least I hope I am not alone in this :-) ). I think you are doing the right thing by purchasing the test strips. I plant to buy some. PLEASE let us know the result of your test. I saw a problem with my Antioch like your first photo and underneath the leaf was a bug of some sort, I think the second is a maybe for HVX, and have never seen a problem like what is in the third picture.

Hi guys! Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Joe, I think you're spot-on (if you'll pardon the pun!); I did some research on early blight and it looks exactly like what I have on my leaves. I'm concerned about cutting off the entire leaves though- that'll be half of them!! Do you suppose I could just cut off the spotted parts first? I guess it's worth a shot, at least. No, I don't top water, but my topsy-turvy strawberry planter (which, I might add, is crap!) is directly above it, which I suppose amounts to the same thing. I'll see if I can find another spot for it, though that may be tricky with the space I'm working with! Damon & Colo. Springs: I think you may be right. My mix does seem to be very water-retentive. I think I'll try watering a little less; the plants have quadrupled in size since I've put them in so I'm sure they must have pretty well-established root systems by now, so as you pointed out, I may simply have to live with it. I had no idea I should use so much bark in my mix- I'd never have thought of that! Well, at least it's better than my first try at container growing tomatoes-- I had a Big Boy in an 8 inch by 8 inch container with nothing but topsoil... so I'm improving! :p