Betta has lost color and is much less active

[majesticstorm]

Nope, you're getting it right. Hm..I guess it isn't as noticeable about the water loss with larger tanks, but it is with a 1gal. Maybe get a half gallon of tap and add a drop of Prime in there so that you have water to put back into the tank, just make sure that the water temperature's relatively the same.

How long have you been acclimating him? I would think that it would be ok for him to go into tank by now if you've been doing it since 4pm today.

Edit: Ah, just saw the other posts that have been added since my post, and know why he's still not in the tank.

[dougan]

According to this thermometer, water temperature is pushing 82 F. That's making me a bit nervous.

Please excuse my vase/pump setup in the back.

[callistra]

I hope you are only testing this heater and have not just plugged it in with him in there..

[dougan]

I tested the heater earlier today for a couple of hours in a different and completely empty tank.

When I left to get more supplies, I put this heater in this (his) tank, but left him in the cup outside of the tank.

When I got back around 4:30 PM MT, I then placed the cup containing him into the tank and rigged it with the clothespins. And he's been in there since.

Oh man, I messed this up too. The reason I did this is because I thought that you said I could float him in the cup to acclimate the temp, or do the 1 degree per hour, but no more than 5 degrees per day. But the heater isn't adjustable.

What should I do?

[callistra]

You've got a two fold problem. The first is that you didn't thoroughly test the heater.. new heaters should get a 24 hour test in similar size container. So we really have no idea how hot it's going to get.

The second is that you aren't acclimating him to the higher temp slowly enough.. no more than a degree per hour or 5 degrees per day or float in already fully preheated tank for an hour.. It isn't preheated yet.. so...

Hopefully the heater shuts off soon.. I think at this point I would just watch it really really carefully because taking him out and letting the water drop again is just going to cause more stress.

[Azurelove]

82 is, as said earlier, the very highest you should go, though I wouldn't personally keep that temp for longer than a week unless treating ich. Where are the thermometer and heater in relation to depth in the tank?

EDIT: Deleted the testing bit, you already did this earlier it seems in another tank xD Not to the extent it should've been done, but Callistra covered that and the main tank already needing heating before you floated him.

[dougan]

Thanks, Callistra. The heater is supposed to shut off automatically, but if it doesn't, and I find that the water temperature has surpassed 82 F, how should I proceed?

[callistra]

Some heaters are busted to always on and never turn off so they just keep heating and heating and heating.. so hopefully it's done soon. If it gets any higher you need a new heater asap tomorrow

Nah when treating ick you need to keep it 86-88 for a minimum of 2 weeks and at least a week past the last sign of ich. Plenty of people do it 3-4 weeks.

[Azurelove]

Originally Posted by callistra

Some heaters are busted to always on and never turn off so they just keep heating and heating and heating.. so hopefully it's done soon. If it gets any higher you need a new heater asap tomorrow

Nah when treating ick you need to keep it 86-88 for a minimum of 2 weeks and at least a week past the last sign of ich. Plenty of people do it 3-4 weeks.

Good to know, I'll keep that in mind for my guy. My first betta I think I had the heat like that for two weeks and it was completely gone. As I said, I only keep it that high for a prolonged period when treating ich, but not really for any other reason.

[dougan]

Originally Posted by Azurelove

82 is, as said earlier, the very highest you should go, though I wouldn't personally keep that temp for longer than a week unless treating ich. Where are the thermometer and heater in relation to depth in the tank?

EDIT: Deleted the testing bit, you already did this earlier it seems in another tank xD Not to the extent it should've been done, but Callistra covered that and the main tank already needing heating before you floated him.

I measured the outside of the tank lengthwise this morning and measured approximately 8", but minus 1" due to the glass gravel at the bottom. The bottom of the heater seems to be about 2" above the gravel line, and the top of the heater is about 1.5" from the top of the tank.

The thermometer is on a different wall. I have it basically all the way down to the gravel level, and the top of the thermometer is about 1.5" from the top of the tank.