Betta tank water heater

[ricenoodle]

Hi guys,
quick question about getting a water heater for my betta tank. Here's my setup i have a 1.7 gal tank with a whisper 3i filter and is thinking about getting a Hydor Mini 7.5 Watt Aquarium Heater for my tank. Right now my tank is at 72 degrees which i know is a bit low, i'd like it to be around 80 degrees. Anyway i know bettas don't like sudden change of temperature so how would i go about doing this. would i take my betta out and raise the temp to 80 then float the bag for an hour? but that raises another thought. If the temp is at 80 and the bag the betta is in is at 72 and i float the bag, wouldn't it be a drastic temp change for the betta inside the bag anyway? Therefore i can just raise the temp with the betta inside the tank because there's more water there which would make the temp change less traumatic for him right? Please shed some light on me anyone. Thanks

[kevinoh33]

my betta fish does fine in a tank thats 74 degrees

[herefishy]

No need to move the fish. Just raise the temperature a degree or two daily. Remember, heaters use a bi-metal thermostat that expands and contracts with temperature. A little movement with the temp adjust on the heater goes a long way. I would recommend a temp of 78-82 degrees.

[Falina]

76 - 80 is a good temp for a betta.

Just put the heater in straightaway but set it to 74 for a day, then the next day 76 then the next day 78 so that it only goes up a little at a time.

Before you buy the heater however, have you thought about getting him a larger tank/ A 5g minimum would be a better sizze for him, and you could then get a 25W heater (no more expensive than a smaller heater) for his new home. Anything less than 5g is really too small IMHO.

[ricenoodle]

well today has been a betta-riffic day for me. I went to Petco today and got the heater and a few things for my betta. First off i got the hydor 7.5 watts aquarium heater for tanks3 gallons and below. i decided to isolate the fish in a jar and put the heater underneath the gravel since that's one of the installation options and it doesn't look unsightly that way. 1 hour later seeing that there is no immediate temperature change i decided to put my betta back in because i don't want too much of a temp shock if he has to go from his jar water (72 deg) to 80 degrees ( where i want it to be). now it's been 4 hours later and the temp is at 76. i that's about 1 degree/hour so i can deal with that. my betta is very happy and is swimming around and being active, flaring, blowing bubbles, etc. this heater doesn't have a temp setting but it's only suppose to raise the temp a few degrees which is what i need. I would get a different tank but that's for a different time and place when the budget is more available. Also my whisper 3i filter was putting out alot of turbulance inside my tank and my fish was on the opposite side hiding beside a plant the whole time. I decided to get a 2 way air control valve also at petco ($2) and reduced the airflow of the pump down to half which still filters but my betta is very happy now and he swims instead of hiding from the filter, which in turns makes me a very proud daddy. I also decided to get a 1.5 in. gold chinese algea eater and it's been 4 hours and they both get along fine. the betta checked him out a few times but no gill nflaring or fighting so that's good. Just an update for me so thought i'd fill the forum in.