Heating a 1g

[Endgame319]

Would a 25w heater work in a 1g at all? My betta is in there right now and he doesn't seem to mind the low temperatures. With an incandescent lamp I've managed to keep it stable at 70. Also, is there any fish that would work in an unheated 1g?

*Edit- Meant 1g not 10g, and btw Faith, the creater of bettatalk.com says the minimum space to keep a betta is 1/2 a gallon. He still has plenty of room to swim around. 1g is alot bigger than you'd expect.

 

[William]

Nothing, not even a betta, can be in a 1g.

You should go with Minimum 50 watts in a 10gal, more if its on an exterior wall or near an airconditioner output.

I, personally, run 100watt heaters in my 10gals.


But about your betta, your betta is a tropical fish. And altho he may appear " happy ", It will be much better for his health and well being if you put a heater in there and brought it up to around 78-82.

again, I, personally, run at 82.

 

[cdawson]

william: 82 is much too high for most fish, 78 should be where you keep the majority of your tropical fish at. 82 is best left for fish such as angels and discus, as well as some dwarf cichlids.

Bettas need a temp of 62-75. anything higher is not good for the stress level of the fish.

William I suggest you should do some research what the actual specifics of the water parameters your fish require.

 

[madasafish]

I still agree with William that 1 gallon is really quite small for anything but Trimmatom nanus... That said, I don't want to foist my opinion on ya, so I'll back off. Just something to think about.

I get confused by the multiple recommendations for bettas. Obviously, they survive in temperatures well down into the 60s, otherwise a lot of the bettas I've seen in my life would be dead. However, fishbase.org states that they really need temps of 72+ degrees. One of those cases where guidelines can be bent a little bit, I suppose...

 

[Christmasfish]

I also keep all my tanks at 80..82 and for the chocolates..85.

Hey, Endgame....
Keep in mind that Miss Granger is a commercial breeder in a temperate climaten (warm foothills in Los Angeles) and a strict water change regieme (didn't you read her instuctions that come with your bettas when she ships them to you..? it is like assembling a vcr!).


And though two species sof paradise fish and some bettas come form the north where it is colder..the betta splendens is not one of them.

Doesn't ANYone ever think beyond the first sentence and do some research? Especially if teh source is commercial or retail where the cheapest, minimal is the way to go and they sure wont tell you an oscar grows bigger than the 8 inches they assured you.......

When a stated temp range says... 60-80 for ANY animal..it means the seasonal highs and lows the animal is exposed to during entire seasonal YEAR!!! Soan average of the two extremes or the average temp of the region would be the measure of temp. ..not the lowest temp or highest temp the poor dumb beast has to adapt to for it's entire life!!!

edit(comp crash): Addendum:
If there is too much conflicting datd it is best to go with scientific data from studies on the animal over general keeping practices..

 

[Atlarge]

Honestly, I take offence from that. I work at a Pet'smart and when people do stupid things it's because they don't listen to me, not because we're an evil conglomerate. I happen to know that on the tag for the oscars in our store it says that they reach a 12 inch maximum, for one thing. I don't get any sort of bonus for selling products to customers, so why should I lie to them? For one thing, the setup we have at our store is superior to the 3 other pet stores I've worked with.
In short, places like Pet'smart get bad raps because the people who shop there don't care, not the employees.

 

[Hypostomus]

Betta breeders may not be thinking about bettas as pets. It's more like "how cool can I make this fish," and the level of "comfort" is not considered as long as they will still breed.

You aren't keeping bettas in a barracks system to facilitate a huge breeding operation, so you should give your betta the best care possible. That includes a decent size tank. A 2g "wide" bowl is not expensive (I think I picked one up for $10) and will give your betta a great deal of room to swim from side-to-side while facilitating his need to rise to the surface every so often and take a breath. Fill it with some low-light plants (another $6-$10) and you have a jungle for him to explore. $10-$20 for a mini-heater. $40 maximum isn't asking much for comfortable living system that can serve you (with an attractive set-up and a long-lived fish) and all the bettas (with an interactive environment and pristine water conditions) you keep in the years to come.

If you really need further convincing, there are a number of betta breeders who disagree with the 1/2g philosophy, at least as far as keeping bettas for pets goes.

 

[Christmasfish]

..on THE actual TOPIC:
You can heat them with the under tank pads like for lizards. AS mentioned ad nauseaum around here. One gallon is not really a good permanent home for any creature..except maybe crickets. A human being CAN live in a cardboard box in an alley and subsist on garbage...doesn't mean it is the optimal way of life! Many animals have had wrong done by them for many years. But it becomes an ethical dilemma when you KNOW what they need and choose not to provide it. We mostly love our little friends here and wish to have them as comfy as a captured pet can be. And most here speak from painful experiences we wish others to avoid.



My rant on pet stores wil await some other thread

 

[malkore]

I'm not a breeder, because I couldn't stand to keep a ton of bettas in 1 gallon bowls...it's just not enough room.

 

[krap101]

hey yo for the long lived thing i heard they only live like 2 years or is that considered long lived.. maybe it is.. wait what are you comparing to. goldfish which can live up to 25 years it said somewhere or something like the wasps or watever where the eggs are laid males hatch first i forgot what they do and then they die.. oh yeah they mate with the females i think.their like the black skinny bees. they only live like 15 mins