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Heater in plastic?

647 views 3 replies 3 participants last post by  KarenKupferberg 
#1 ·
Hi
So I have 2 bettas in 2 gallon plastic tanks. They both have thermometers that say it's above 75 degrees, and I changed the water about 4 days ago. (will change again tomorrow)
I bought 2 heaters that can go under the gravel. they are a 2-5 gallon heater
I want to put a heater in. but it's a plastic tank, so I'm afraid to.
What if I put a ton of gravel on the bottom, then the heater, then more gravel on top of it?
Do you think that will prevent the plastic from melting? I'm really scared to put it in.

I am getting 2 new betas, who will have glass tanks. (too complicated to explain)

I will upgrade these 2 to glass tanks soon, but not that soon.

any ideas?
 
#2 ·
Those are the rubbery pad-type heaters? They are less likely to melt polycarbonate (the type of plastic tanks a made of) than to crack glass.

Spot-heating glass can cause stress to build up and crack the glass. Plastic merely expands.

The temperatures those heaters generate is nowhere near enough to melt plastic.

Sandwiching the pad between layers of gravel would be an efficient way to heat your tank.
 
#3 ·
I think I know the heater you have. Is it kind of oval shaped because I have one of those and I used it in a plastic 3 gallon KK before I upgraded Michael to his 5.5 glass. I had it under the gravel or as best I could get it under the gravel and it worked great nor caused an issue with the plastic.
 
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