I have a young male betta in a smallish container (round but straight-sided). I've also got a little oxygenator in there. I estimate it's about 2 of yer US gallons in capacity.

What I really need is a heater. At the moment I am having to heat the entire *room* to make the water temperature acceptable to him, which isn't very comfortable for me. However, my pet shop (otherwise wonderful people) don't have in-tank heaters that small. There's a possibility of upgrading to one of those 5-6 gallon mini aquaria with heater etc in future, but not until Christmas since I'm unemployed and already feeding the fish a better diet than myself...

Any advice on this from other betta owners? Are there heaters on the market that are suitable for containers under 5 gallons? Is this any good:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...mMakeTrack=true
?

I don't know about that one. Looks rather big to me. I had a hypor heater when I had a 3 gallon that seemed to work fine. I believe it was the hyphor brand. It was a flat rubber one that your could burry under the gravel. Make sure it is around 2 or more U.S. gallons because it is hard to keep an even temp and heat accurately containers under 2 gallons

Hi and welcome to Koko's!

Here is a recent thread in which we discussed using heaters in small setups for another UK member

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...topic=51689&hl=

Maybe do a keyword search as well

Welcome to Kokos! I hope that someone on here can help you out, I am lucky and live in a climate where I never have to heat my tanks.

I know how hard it is to be unemployed this time of the year, too. My boyfriend has been searching for three months with no luck. I hope that you find something soon!

You know what may help heat up his tank without a heater till you can upgrade at christmas is to maybe put him on table under a table lamp and leave it on. I used to do that with my bettas when I had them in glass containers and after awhile it will heat it up the water some. I gues another idea if you have one available is to put a goose neck lamp on the table not far from his container. That may work as well to heat the water up some as a temporary solution till things get better for you.

Thanks everyone! I have a bedside lamp but it's broken - maybe if fixable, that would be a better option than the 25w heater (I ended up winning it anyway - sod's law - oh well, might be handy in future and only £7). Otherwise I'll try again looking for a little heater.

Temperature at present is averaging about 74 - 75 Fahrenheit. Has been a couple of degrees either side on occasion. I'd like to keep it more stable though - my flatmates seem to have a totally random approach to turning the central heating on and off. And obviously it probably wants to be a bit higher than that. He's pretty active though, in between mooching picturesquely in and out of bamboo sticks and such.

And I just dropped about half a gallon of tap water I was preparing all over my feet and the bedroom floor. One of those weeks........?!

Stressed and Damp of London
x

Bless your heart.... I hope things look up for you soon.

"The only way is up"...

Found a Hydor mini 7.5w heater online, so that should be arriving in a couple of days. Happier betta, less stressed me. Marvellous.

A 7.5W hydor is perfect I'm weary of using lamps because though it will keep the betta nice and toasty during the day, the temps will quickly drop during the night. I think a fluctuating temperature is just as bad as cold all the time.

yup it depends on where you have the container located. I have mine on the night stand and when I turn the tank light and lamp off at night I turn up the heat a few degrees so he stays nice and toasty with the light off till I turn it back on in the morning. He also knows when I turn the light back on in the morning that it is time to eat. If you could locate him in an area where you could leave the lamp on 24/7 it might help.

But since bettas can not close their eyes, don't they need darkness in order to get good rest at night?

yup that is true Kissy, and the downside of leaving the light on all the time would be algae overgrowth

Okay, so the heater arrived today... it's very cute, but I'm not sure how to tell if it's actually working! This morning the temperature on the thermometer was 72F... I put the heater in some time ago (over half an hour).... and it's still 72F now.

On the plus side, Samson LOVES the heater. Since I put it in he has spent virtually all his time trying to eat it, going through the gap between it and the tank, or just gazing at it adoringly. This leads me to suspect it may be working but at a level that I, a mere puny human, cannot detect. And that my thermometer isn't working (or it's just taking a long time to heat the water evenly). btw - should I put a cover over the top of the tank to keep the heat in? I've got one of those 'partial lids' that prevents jumping, at present, because the bamboo/silk plant thing sticks out the top.

His colours are still quite pale at the moment - but he is active, and eating, and I'm not getting any shocking water readings. Do you think it's stress from the changing environment?

Is this enough questions? ;-)

<-- me, not the fish

UPDATE - just got home, and the temperature has now stabilised at just over 76 degrees F, and the betta is signalling approval. Hooray! I think that's as high as can be hoped for at present, with this heater and no overhead light. Would welcome advice re: lid though.

I'm glad you and your betta like the new heater Its good that the temperature rose slowly because you don't want to shock him. I wouldn't worry about a solid lid for the purpose of keeping heat in unless it gets much colder. Even then, I don't think it would help too much.