heating a 1 gallon tank?

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dieanna

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 8, 2005
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169
Location
Syracuse, NY
I have a one gal and was thinking about using it. Is there anyway to heat a one gallon? It's getting colder and the water temperature drops at night.
 
to be honest - i don't think you can put a heater in a 1 gallon and I don't think you need one either.

if you put a heater in anything less than a 5 gallon - it will heat up the water too quickly.
In fact, a 1 gallon is only compatible with a betta - and it should do fine without a heater in a tank of that size
 
There used to be a betta in there, I actually have him in a divided 10 gal right now. I was thinking about putting a new betta in the 1 gal, but sometimes the temp in my house drops so low. I had a sick fish in there, there's new water in there now, and I had a desk light rigged up to keep him warm. Maybe I could do that for the betta, if I get one. I just hate to see tanks go unused, lol.
 
dieanna said:
but sometimes the temp in my house drops so low. .

what temp does it drop to ??
if its greater than 20 Celsius/68 Fahrenheit, that should be fine
 
The problem with the light though is that it will need to be on at all times, and pretty intense too, in order to keep the temperature up. It'll probably do a bit of stress to the fish as well I'm guessing. I know there are mini heaters out there. Petsmart carries them. You could see if you can find one on their website. I think it's about 10 watts. But don't hold me to that. :)
 
What I did was turn a heating pad on low, when my mom went through her " YAY THE AC IS FIXED LETS BLAST IT" faze. I did however, check on the temp regularly and if I saw it going past seventy seven I would pull the heating pad from such and put a blanket over it.
 
Bubble_B0y said:
to be honest - i don't think you can put a heater in a 1 gallon and I don't think you need one either.
The smaller the tank, the more prone it is to temperature fluxuations.
 
I used a 25 watt heater in a 2.5 gallon I used to quarantine my betta before introducing him to the 55. It worked great. However, a one gallon is a lot smaller than even that. I might try a 25 watt at a low setting and just watch it very carefully the first day or two to make absolutely sure it keeps the temp steady and low.

Drs. Foster Smith also sell a "mini-heater" that is supposed to raise the temp by just 2 to 5 degrees in a tiny tank, but I personally would go with the regular 25 watt because i dont think the mini has a thermostat.
 
I also used a 25-watt heater in a 2.5 gallon (the All-Glass brand Mini Bow, which is actually acrylic!) That worked out well.

I have also used the mini-heater from DrsFosterSmith: Mini Heater

I used it in a one gallon acrylic critter keeper, with a betta. This critter keeper, (and the 2.5 gallon minibow) are only my QT setups.

Some comments on the mini heater: It doesn't have a thermostat -- you can't set it like the other heaters. You'll definitely need a thermometer in there to see if it's getting too hot. DO NOT use any kind of light over the tank (ambient room light is fine) while using this heater. The water temp will rise above 90 degrees in no time. I kept the lid to the critter keeper open to dissipate some of the heat. The temp stayed pretty constant for me, at about 84 degrees. This is a little on the warm side for a betta, but it's better than the day-to-night temperature fluctuations of just using a light for heat.
 
I have a 1 gallon tank that I hatch fry in. It has a 25watt Neptune submersible heater, with thermostat. It does a fine job of keeping the temperature stable in there. ;-)
 
I wish I needed a heater in my house. My parents are anti-airconditioning, and I'm lucky if my tanks goes below 80 degrees. Surprisingly my goldfish don't seem to mind.
 
jrp1588 said:
I wish I needed a heater in my house. My parents are anti-airconditioning, and I'm lucky if my tanks goes below 80 degrees. Surprisingly my goldfish don't seem to mind.
Have you tried fans? Evaporative cooling can be effective for a few degrees.
 
I've got all the fans I can fit in my room. I think the fish are all used to it by now anyway, and my plants are doing a good job at oxygenating the water.
 
Are any of the fans blowing down on the water?

Yeah, if you have enough lighting the plants do a great job of comphensating.
 
jrp1588 said:
...Off topic, but where have I seen your avatar dskidmore? Was that a character in that "Read Or Die" show?
Indeed. Take away the superpowers, and the money to actually own that many books, and that's a younger version of myself. A friend insisted I'd have to see the show as it reminded her of me. I've changed alot since those days, I now give real life a higher priority, and books a lower one.
 
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