Broken tank! Will my betta be alright in this for a few days?

[brancasterr]

So I was in the process of preparing a 5g tank for a betta my girlfriend is bringing over as I type this. The tank was completely set up and I left the room for 10 minutes and came back to find that a broom had fallen over and hit the tank hard enough to crack the bottom and it's now leaking furiously.

Now I have a 1.5g bowl that I've tried to temporarily house bettas in before but they all fell sick after being placed in the bowl. I've since realized that this was because the water I was using (from my faucet) had abnormally high levels of ammonia in it, causing the poor little guys to get sick.

Because of my previous failed attempts with this bowl I'm reluctant to use it as a temp until I can seal this crack or get a new tank for him, but seeing as my girlfriend is on her way back from the petstore now, it is my only option.

Do you guys think he'll be okay in there for about a week or so? I'm going to completely clean the bowl, put in new gravel and new furniture, and maybe put in a plant from my other 10g planted community tank, and FILL IT WITH R/O WATER FROM MY LFS. Not from my poopy faucet. I could even fashion a homemade filter for it.

I'm really worried he'll fall sick, but should I be? Will he be okay? It will be unheated, as the only heater I have is to big for the bowl.

Thanks guys!

[Sweeda88]

He'll be fine. Just don't use soap when cleaning it.

[brancasterr]

Originally Posted by Sweeda88

He'll be fine. Just don't use soap when cleaning it.

Yeah, I'm just going to scorch it clean with gallons of boiling water.

Haha, thanks for the reassurance. He'll be okay without a heater?

[bettafish15]

I'd try to get him a heater for his temporary bowl :/ If you really cant, then keep the bowl in a realllyyyyy warm room :)

[Sweeda88]

Ditto what bettafish15 said.

[brancasterr]

Originally Posted by bettafish15

I'd try to get him a heater for his temporary bowl :/ If you really cant, then keep the bowl in a realllyyyyy warm room :)

I don't know of a heater that small. Any suggestions?

I've tested the water temp in this room before and it was around 71 degrees.

[PewPewPew]

There are some for 1 gallons, theyre "micro" heaters and go under the substrate. I have my fish in a temp 1 gal atm and use a 10w Marineland heater (up to 3 gallons) and it works well :D 79-82 all the time. <3

[brancasterr]

Originally Posted by PewPewPew

There are some for 1 gallons, theyre "micro" heaters and go under the substrate. I have my fish in a temp 1 gal atm and use a 10w Marineland heater (up to 3 gallons) and it works well :D 79-82 all the time. <3

Hmm, I can't find any micro heaters online in any of the usual pet stores. But I have seen 10w heaters. They run about $15, right?

[brancasterr]

Also, I've never really housed a betta in a tank this small.

What should my water changes be?

Like 20% twice a week?

[PewPewPew]

Originally Posted by brancasterr

Also, I've never really housed a betta in a tank this small.

What should my water changes be?

Like 20% twice a week?

Its 1.5 gallons, right? I did 10-15 every 2-3 days and at the end of the week a 100%, because all the poop was just too hard to get without a siphon for that small thing x.x

and..
http://couponmart.co.cc/?q=jungle+mini+heater
http://www.thefind.com/pets/info-min...quarium-heater

this is the 10w :D
http://www.petstore.com/Marineland_M...AQHESU-vi.html

^ on sale at Petsmart atm!