Heater recommendations (available in Australia)?

[Pasqua]

I have set up a twenty litre tank for my foshie but am yet to get a heater for the tank. Is anyone able to reccomend a particular heater brand that they have had good experiences with or know to be effective/reliable? And also what size to get would be helpful =)

I am in Australia so particularly looking for responses from people also down here who might be able torecommnd brands that may be sold here. I only have access to four pet stores and one fish aquarium store near where I live unless I want to spend a couple days driving elsewhere :S hoping to be able to buy something locally as I don't want to wait to order something online.

Any adviceon what to get would be helpful as I don't really want to ask for help in store only to get the response if nah fish don't need heaters here its hot enough =P (yes I do live in the tropics where I believe cars without aircons should be illegal but its actually been getting to below 25•C at nights recently! And I read on here about how the water temp should be kept stable).


=)

[Aus]

I'm in Melbourne, envying your tropical weather! Brr!

The only heaters I've used are Dymax adjustable 25w (you'd probably need a bigger one..). They're not cheap! but so far I have found them quite reliable. I like that they're adjustable, too.

I've seen them in a few stores. There's probably less costly ones that are as good, I just haven't tried any as I have Dymax tanks and prefer the ones made for those.

[Cargo]

The rule is 5 watts per gallon, so you would need a 25 watt heater. I don't know what kinds of stores are in Austrailia, so I can't recommend anything. There is a user on here, can't remember her name exactly.. Bombaralina.. something like that. She is in Austraila and very experienced with bettas. Try to find her here on the forums.

[Aus]

LittleBettaFish is also an Aussie, so she might help, too.

Thanks for the watt/gallon rule, Cargo - I'd actually misread 20L as 20G.. Just shows I need to pay more attention as I read!

For your size tank, then, Pasqua I do recommend the Dymax 25 w mini-heater. But as I said, there's probably other reliable brands that are a bit cheaper out there.

[SarahandOscar]

Coconut Grove
287 Bagot Road
Coconut Grove NT 0810
(08) 8985 2491

Palmerston
55 Georgina Crescent
Yarrawonga NT 0830
(08) 8931 1085

Petbarn Darwin (i hope it's close enough to you)

I use Aqua one 25w heater they sell it for $30(ish) but you can get it for $20(ish) if you shop around. Just call around and ask the stores, 25w should be fine. i use them in all of my 9L unfiltered tanks and also in a 22L filtered and we have never had an issue. They are adjustable reliable. I tried the marina 10w but it is not adjustable and didn't quite hit 26-28 degrees celcius, nor did the heat mat. As long as you have a thermometer and you check it you shouldn't have an issue.

Hope this helps!

[SarahandOscar]

We should probably get a little Aussie group together on here come to think of it, i know there are some meds, plants and tanks that we don't have here for various legal/retail reasons. I may start a thread actually. Bombalurina, myself and batmantha are from Aus and now i know LittleBettaFish and yourself so thats 5, there have to be more.

[Aus]

Great idea! I'm indebted to Bomba and LBF for Aussie-related/local advice. Especially links to plant/fish suppliers, for after the house move I want to make this year.. and the links to good Melbourne FS's. An Aussie thread would be cool. :)

[Pasqua]

Thats great everyone, thank you so much for that!

@SarahandOscar yes those are close enough to me and I believe I have seen the Aqua One heaters there before =) I will go and get one of those this weekend!

What sort of thermometer does everyone use? I didn't want something too bulky so was looking at these little black strip ones that have the temps written on them, and apparently the temp of the water will show up coloured on the strip. Do these seem fairly accurate?

Sarah thats a great idea for an aussie thread =). I get frustrated when everyone else talks about cheap tanks and accessories they get from walmart or petco that I can't buy here lol.

[SarahandOscar]

http://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=103668

well it has begun ^ haha yey! i will know what people are talking about!!

i just use the little suction cup thermometers, it's got the green band and as long as i see the red stuff sitting on the green band i'm sitting happy haha, They're easy enough to hide on the sides of the tanks (opposite side of tank to heater) and personally i prefer something inside the water not stuck on the outside of the tank. but that's just me i've had no experience with the stuck on strips.

They are also available at petbarn ($3-$5). Call a few of your local pet stores to check prices and get a list together of everything u may need (even a few emergency supplies, aq and ep salt etc) siphon, net etc. This will save you from weekly visits lol

[Pasqua]

awesome! I will go and check it out =D

That's a good ideacillecring a list of supplies. Although I like visiting the pet store (almost ad much ad I love browsing officeworks haha) so I don't mind an excuse to visit every weekend =P