So in a last ditch attempt to rid Achilles of his fin rot, I have used Melafix and salt, then Marycns and the Jungle fin rot stuff with no avail, I have also taken his ten gallon apart and nuked it with PP and bleach and 2 days in the sun twice and his fins still look awful, so I am thinking maybe it's the stress of a large tank and not anything bacterial or fungal so he is now in a 1 gallon glass bowl until his fins heal then I am going to get get him a 2 gal mini bow, i think. ANYWAY, I have the 50 watt Tetra submersible heater from his ten gallon and am wondering if it's too much for the bowl, right now I just have a desk lamp over it. Any thoughts/suggestions? Thanks!

He may have been stressed from being in the larger tank. It is near impossible to heat a 1 gallon bowl. I would not put the bigger wattage heater in the 1 gallon bowl for fear of cooking your betta. if you can put him in two gallon bowl or container or larger you could safely heat it with a low wat heater. The lamp may be more than enough for a 1 gallon bowl. however if you turn it off at night it may cool off too much for him.

I was pretty sure the 50 watt was too much, I think I'll cruise through Foster's and Smith online and see what they have. I think I was right about the tank stressing him out, he is blowing a bubble nest now! Thanks Bettaqueen!

yup that may be what was doing it. I am glad he is doing better

Maybe you can get a 25 watt heater? They're recommended for tanks 2 to 5 gallons. I've got several AquaClear 25 watt heaters for my bettas and they work great! So far, anyways LoL

If you are heating a 1 gallon bowl ( and those are almost impossible to heat and maintain a steady temp because of the small amount of water and surface space without cooking your betta) I would go no higher than 7.5 watts . Hydor has one you can get at petco. It also can be laid flat under the substrate. I think I would not try using a heater in a 1 gallon. I would stick with the lamp and keep the ambient room temp around 75 degrees. If you really want a heated container I would use a 2 gallon or larger bowl or tank.

Visi-therm do a 25 watt heater as do Sera if that helps.