Heater malfunction, cold water

[jeni12]

Hi,
I was out of town for 2 days, and at some point my heater shut off, I came home to find my betta not moving and the water below 40 degrees. I though he was dead, and when I went to remove him I noticed he was moving slightly. Right now I have him in a 1 gallon tank sitting in the sun, since I currently cant get ahold of a new heater. He is moving around a bit, but is laying in weird positions and swimming strange as well as breathing rather hard. Is there anything I can do to save him?

[Romad]

I guess the only thing you can do is keep replacing the tank water with pre-conditioned warm water as often as possible to keep him warm. I would wrap the tank in a blanket and try to hold some heat in that way. Another thought is to keep a lamp over the tank - that might warm the water up a few degrees.


But obviously your best bet is to get that heater as soon as possible.

[lilyrazen]

Try floating a water bottle. put hot water into and when it's up to above the right temp in the tank, take it out, then refill and replace!

[jeni12]

I set out in the sun for the day, so his water warmed up, and got a new heater. He's still struggling to swim, and keeps sinking down the the bottom where he lays on his side for awhile before trying again. His belly is also really pale, and is still breathing hard. Is there anything else I can do, or do I just wait and see what happens?

[caroknap]

I had the same problem happen to my old betta, only mine didn't survive the temperature fluxuation. I hope yours has better luck! Do you still have him in a 1 gallon tank?