Bearing in mind betta's originated in steamy swamps and paddies, from
coutries that are hot *all year round* and can take much higher temps
that most tropical fish find uncomfortable (28C/82F +), a Sydney
winter night (15C/60F) can be too much of a shock from them. Below
(18C/65F) they slowly shut down and become lethargic, and may even
starve to death as a result. I found this out the hard way last year
when I left my betta in a bowl (I'm in inner west of Sydney) and found
him one cold May morning floating on his side with cloudy eyes.
Thought he was dead but when I tapped the glass he swam off. Rushed
out and got him a 5 gallon tank with a 25w heater and he was better by
evening, charging up and down, bubblenesting and demanding to be fed.
A 5 gallon tank and 25w heater can be got for around AU$50.
HTH

On Sat, 1 May 2004 23:24:31 +1000, "Graham Broadbridge"
wrote:

"claire" wrote in
message . au...
greetings,

I've a male betta in a 4 litre / (1 gallon?) bowl.
Like myself, he is not coping too well with the sudden onset of Autumn and
the drop in temperature, and has become lethargic.

You're unlikely to find a heater suitable for a bowl that size in the
typical Sydney aquarium shop. You could try Aquaria Australia warehouse in
Perth (www.aquaria.com.au) as they stock unusual items, but I don't fancy
your chances.

If you really cant set up a small (say 10 gal) aquarium, I'd simply suggest
letting the fish get used to the cooler temperatures. Most fish are used
to being cooler in winter and simply slow down their activities (as you've
seen). They will survive and will become more active as spring approaches.

I would strongly recommend against using an incandescent light to heat the
bowl. With only 1 gallon of water it will warm up and cool down very
quickly resulting in an enormous amount of stress for the fish each day as
the water warms up and then cools down.

It is much better to let the fish acclimatise to the water temperature.


Graham.
(Sydney, OZ)