oh no! freezing cold hoshi. =(

[orphansparrow]

so, i cleaned out hoshi's tank the day before yesterday. just now i was looking at him, and i noticed the thermometer in his tank was not registering any temp at all, or at least it was below 60. after fiddling with things i realized that the outlet his heater is plugged into is not working! =(

so i just switched outlets and now the heater is working.

anyway, i know there's nothing i can do. i'm just sad...he's not well as it is. i just wish i would've noticed earlier...

[Oldfishlady]

Oh no....one thing I have found with my Bettas....is that they generally can handle much cooler temps short term than they are given credit for......mine have survived 10 days in water temps under 50F when we lost power due to an ice storm and in late summer early fall as the weather changes or it rains-the Bettas-both adult, eggs, fry of different ages- I have outside- will tolerate the gradual cooler night time temps going into the 50'sF then up to low 70'sF by mid day-but the clumps of organic matter both plants and leaves that are decaying emit some heat and will be sometimes as much as 5 degrees warmer within the floating clump of organic matter and usually where the fry can be found-not very active but alive and perk up as the water warms....not recommend to keep Bettas long term in cooler temps.....but tropical temps start at 72F.......

Good luck, I hope he pulls through-it can be trickier when they are already compromised.....don't try to bring the temp up too fast-but if he seems stressed-you can fill a plastic bottle with hot water and float in the tank to speed up the warming process......you can also make a small water change...10-20% and have the replacement water about 10 degrees warmer than the tank water-just add it slow......

Keep us posted.....

[orphansparrow]

thanks OFL. my heater heats pretty slow. this morning about 8:30 when I noticed it was below 60, I plugged the heater in, and now, at 11:00am, it's still only at 64. So, it's gradual.

Also, speaking of decaying plant matter...I had wondered why my banana plants, that had been doing so well, started turning yellow over the last couple days. =( i guess they don't like temp. changes either.

[jasonh]

Originally Posted by orphansparrow

thanks OFL. my heater heats pretty slow. this morning about 8:30 when I noticed it was below 60, I plugged the heater in, and now, at 11:00am, it's still only at 64. So, it's gradual.

Also, speaking of decaying plant matter...I had wondered why my banana plants, that had been doing so well, started turning yellow over the last couple days. =( i guess they don't like temp. changes either.

you can always do a partial water change with slightly warmer water to speed up the process.

[orphansparrow]

thanks jason, i think it's at it's top capacity now...in between 75-80.