I'm planning on getting a heater for my 10 gallon that has a betta in it. I have no experience what-so-ever with heaters so I'm just wondering what I should get? How many watts do you think I'll need and what temp. do bettas do best in? He's doing alright but it gets pretty cold at night. Sometimes when I get up in the morning I can see my breath . When I stick my hand in the water to get the syphon going for water changes it feels pretty chilly, I need to get a thermometer also .

I'd go for a 50 watt submersable heater that will automatically turn on and off to keep the temp at a certain temperature. Make sure you get at least one thermometer for your tank (ideally have one next to the heater and one on the other side of the tank). Its best to have the heater near the filter to make sure the heat gets distributed evenly. Watch the temps very carefully the first couple days and be sure to bring the temperature up slowly

Bettas usually prefer a temp around 77-81*F

I have two 10 gallon tanks and 3 50watt heaters (go figure). My house gets to 60 in the evening downstairs, and at 68 upstairs. It's pretty nippy here.

2 of the heaters are the Hydor Theo submersible. They work okay - they have an indicator light. However, I notice the temp is off. It's set to 73, but the tank is running at 78-79. When this happened to the first one, I returned it thinking it was malfunctioning. The second one did the same thing.

The 3rd heater I just purchased is a Visa Therm Stealth by Marineland. I'm using it to heat the buckets of water I leave out (I'm treating for parasites right now). I just used it today.....so I can't give an accurate review for you. It seemed to work within a +/- 2 degrees.

Okay, so a small heater, around 50 watts. I think I can do that. Now I've just got to find somewhere to plug it in. The only outlet that it will reach has already got a full powerstrip. Maybe I can find a strip with more outlets Its kind of funny, my dorm has four outlets and 19 things plugged in ... thank goodness for powerstrips.