Ok everyone! thank you so much for all the helpful advice! I spent all day today obtaining all the goodies I needed. The only thing I couldn't find was the accu-rite thermometer with the probe which I'm really pissed about because both Lowes AND Home Depot said they both have it and when I went to each store neither of them had it. I even went to Target (although i didn't hold my breath on that one) and they didn't have it either. I think I'm just going to have to order it online which is annoying because I want it now. However, the positives of the day, I purchased a ceramic heat emitter which should start raising the temps in my tank AND i will be attaching a timer to it so that it is on for 12 hours a day and off for 12 hours at night. Thanks again everyone for the wonderful help.