Best Heater For A 10 Gallon?

[honmol]

Before I haven't had to get a heater because it was always so warm that the temp stayed in the 70s. But I just moved and now I need to know what heater is best for a 10 gallon. I'm looking for a low price heater that will do its job and I'd rather have 1 that'll last several years that's more expensive than 10 that last shorter amounts of time but are individually less expensive. Any reccommendations?

[Jasonanatal]

I would order a Marineland Stealth 50 Watt Aquarium Heater. This thing works wonder for my 10 Gallon QT Tank. and is about $15.00 online from www.petsmart.com or www.petco.com (I would rather give money to petsmart. Just my opinion.)

[honmol]

Ok. I might be going to petsmart today because I also need a filter (this started out as just a betta and now she's in a 10 gallon tank and needs heating.)

[honmol]

Also, when I go to petsmart I always feel sorry for the bettas in those tiny cups so I always end up buying the one in the worst condition and trying to nurse it back to health. When this happens I usually don't have a tank ready and waiting for it. Is there anything that I can do to make a cycle in one of those tanks easier? I just can't stand to leave a betta in a cup.

[An t-iasg]

A ten gallon, heated, filtered tank will be a wonderful home for your betta!

I also have the Stealth 50-watt heater in my 10 gallon tank. (well, it's not set up right now!) I also have three 25-watt Stealth heaters for my three 5 gallon betta tanks. I like the Stealth heaters. Since they are plastic, you don't have to worry about remembering to unplug them for a water change.

Look for a sponge filter for your betta. Bettas don't like current, and my bettas have always been happy with sponge filters. To power the sponge filter, I have both a Tetratec 12 and a Rena 50 airpump. The Tetratec 12 runs two tanks through a gang valve, and the Rena runs one tank.

[honmol]

But what should I do if I end up buying another betta today? Petsmart and petco generally only carry males. I could just get females because I'm thinking of having a female betta tank but I don't know what to do if I end up getting another fish. What can I do if I get the fish and wan to put it firectly into the tank so that it doesn't have to be in the cup anymore. I've just done daily pwc in the past for that but is there anything else that I can do? Is it better for the betta to be in the cup with more stable conditions for a little while until I cycle the tank or is it better just to cycle with the fish in the tank and do the daily pwc?My other option is to do what I've heard works when breeding bettas which is to put the female (or in this case the new betta) into a jar in the tank but intead of putting a top on it covering the top with tule so the the water is still filtered, the jar is just blocked off. But if I leave a male in there then he might kill himself trying to get at the female. :|

[Sati]

Tule = Toile? I use panty hose rubberbanded over my filter uptake. That could work too.

I understand that you want to save fish. But since there are so many fish to be saved and only one you, maybe it would be better to wait until you have a tank setup. With only 1 fish I imagine you'd be OK with daily water changes and a little baggie of gravel from your established tank though.

BTW, I use a 50w Ebo Jäger in my 10g's. Well I use Ebo heaters in all of my tanks...

[Jasonanatal]

Yes the do always look alittle helpless at petsmart. What is with the Blue water? Can anyone tell me why their water is blue?

[honmol]

Well, I got another betta. But it's not my fault. My little sister decided that she wanted a betta too because she liked mine so much so without asking me she got another female betta but didn't get a tank for it because she thought that it would be fine in mine. What can I put her in? I know that using soap is bad but if I thouroghly soak and rinse something will it be ok? Because 2 females are not ok. This new one is also about half the size of the other one which doesn't help things and I think that there may be something wrong. She breathes slowly and occasionally she'll sit on the bottom for a minute and suddenly get a burst of energy and dart around her cup. Her body is white (or pale pink, but it looks white when you fisrst look at her) And her fins sort of fade from the white into a red color. The top of her head has red dots around it and near her fins it's whiter than the rest of her which I'm concerned might be ich but I don't think it is. She has blue speckles near her head and her eyes seem clear. My sister has named her Rachel. She's about 1.5 inches. Is there anything around the house that I can use for her? It's not permanent but she needs somewhere to stay at least until she grows.

Also, while I was at petsmart I bought two decorations for the tank, one was a rubber anemone type thing that was reccomended for a female betta tank and the other was a large castle. I got it because it provided several hiding places for the fish but when I got it home I realised that it was actually too big to realisticly be ok in the tank. Does anyone know if petsmart will take this back?(I've removed the tags) They also had no sponge filters but I got the stealth 50 watt heater. Now in the tank there is:

gravel

elodea

a crypt

a heater

a betta

a rubber anemone

But I'm not done aquascping. Any suggestions would be great.

[Jasonanatal]

That a typical excuse for getting another betta. How is the heater working for you?