Betta Fish Forum banner

Trouble getting betta into heated tank..

2K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  Lion Mom 
#1 ·
I have a new betta and I had him in a 1.5 unheated for a few days because I needed to buy a heater.. Well I bought the heater so I took him out and put him in a .5 until the water warmed up.. It is now 78*. I floated him in the tank in a cup adding some water from the heated tank every 5ish minutes so he could adjust to the temp.. He hates it. He use to be so lively now he's sitting at the bottom of the tank all clamped.. I don't want him to go without a heater.

I put him back in the .5 (again, floating in the cup adding room temperature water every 5 mins) and now he's swimming around fine and not clamped. Obviously it's not the tank or the deco cause he was in the tank for a few days fine so it must be the heater. :\

Any advice?
 
#3 ·
Agree with Trono.

What's the temperature in your unheated tank? why not set the heater to just 2degree F above that and try the betta in it? then slowly -- once a day -- increase the temperature to about 78F.

By the way, you need a thermometer. Aquarium heaters have very unreliable thermostats - yours may be several degrees higher than you set it for!

GB
 
#4 ·
That's a strange situation b/c just today I was thinking about replacing my preset heater with one I can set (and raise the temp). I have a thermometer and the present only raises the temp to 74 - 76, which I know is lower than the recommended temp for bettas. But Brooke is very active, responsive and has been living in this tank for three months with the preset heater with no problem.

So, is it really necessary to raise the temp to 78 or 80? My sense is that if your betta is doing just fine, why change anything? Thoughts?
 
#5 ·
I agree! I have two pre-set Marina heaters and I LOVE these things. They keep the tanks at an even 81 in each and boy...Maka's personality came out being in a heated tank. Aki...Well he's become quite the little charmer.
 
#6 ·
I have a thermometer actually, and it says the water is 78*.
 
#8 · (Edited)
What is the temperature of the water without the heater? I don't want to start a fight, I'm just curious as to whether some betta's just like it cooler, similar to humans... I understand we're more adaptable and have clothing but we still have our preferences. For example my "favourite" temperature is somewhere 25C+... meanwhile my brother thinks 16C is the best. 77F and 60F respectively...both of us think the other is crazy for enjoying that type of temperature, regardless of how many clothes we wear (you should see me bundle up in the winter!)

I'm asking this because one of my friends has a betta in a 2.5 without a heater, because originally I told him to get a heater because they are tropical, so he agreed because he really cares about him. The water was originally 74 and only drops to 72 at night time minimum (don't ask, we recorded it as a very controlled scientific experiment). His betta is currently 3 years old and has not really ever been sick and constantly zooms around the tank. However, when we did purchase the heater, we stuck it in at 76, and he was fine with that, then after a few days we bumped it to 78 and his betta HATED it. He would sit at the bottom, pout in the corner, flare at the heater...he would still eat and respond to outside stimulus though. We decided to take out the heater and lo and behold he went back to his usual self @_@.

My friend now uses the heater in another 2.5 Gal for his new betta.

Is this possible? Or is his fish crazy? I'm just very curious and this post reminded me of this event
 
#9 ·
"Is this possible? Or is his fish crazy? I'm just very curious and this post reminded me of this event"

No, the fish isn't crazy and, yes, it is possible. I have a couple of bettas that like it a tad cooler than the regular 78 - 80 degrees. Anything over 77 and they start "pouting"! :)
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top