Small bowl heater?

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.

He gets a full water change every week, the water is conditioned with ager
and left to stand overnight (at least) prior to the change.
I tried doing 50% changes every five days but only did this once as this is
when I noticed fin rot. He ended up losing a large chunk of one of his side
fins but with the help of Melafix, this is regrowing rapidly.

During the warm summer months, he was happy and healthy and was making
bubble nests all the time and was really active and responsive.

While he was getting over his fin rot, he was a little less active but
eating so much, he became 'pig-fish' but his fin was regrowing at such a
rate that I kept it up figuring he needed the energy for the regrowth.

Anyway, now he is not eating as much and has become much less active and I
figure it is because of the cold.

I've searched locally (Sydney) and as many AU websites but the smallest
heater I can find is 25watt, which I am sure is too high. I'm in a small
unit and am not really able to move him to a bigger bowl at this stage.

I'm toying with the idea of moving his tank to a side table near a 25w lamp
but I'm unsure if the light would be unpleasant/distressing to him.

Any suggestions as to the lamp idea or any small heater recommendations?

t.i.a,

- claire

Any suggestions as to the lamp idea or any small heater
recommendations?

t.i.a,

- claire

I've seen goldfish bowl heaters for small bowls like that for $8-10 in US,
preset temperature, small, like 5w, and seems perfect for a bowl...

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is that better??

walmart carries a small heater ( Jr Heater) for 2-5 gallon bowls and tanks.
i think its still too much for a 1 gallon. even if you upgraded him to a 2
gallon then u could use the heater. as far as the light, you just have to
make sure the temp doesnt fluctuate too fast and too much. also you will
need to turn it off at night because they need a proper photoperiod of 8-12
hours of daylight.


"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.

He gets a full water change every week, the water is conditioned with ager
and left to stand overnight (at least) prior to the change.
I tried doing 50% changes every five days but only did this once as this
is
when I noticed fin rot. He ended up losing a large chunk of one of his
side
fins but with the help of Melafix, this is regrowing rapidly.

During the warm summer months, he was happy and healthy and was making
bubble nests all the time and was really active and responsive.

While he was getting over his fin rot, he was a little less active but
eating so much, he became 'pig-fish' but his fin was regrowing at such a
rate that I kept it up figuring he needed the energy for the regrowth.

Anyway, now he is not eating as much and has become much less active and I
figure it is because of the cold.

I've searched locally (Sydney) and as many AU websites but the smallest
heater I can find is 25watt, which I am sure is too high. I'm in a small
unit and am not really able to move him to a bigger bowl at this stage.

I'm toying with the idea of moving his tank to a side table near a 25w
lamp
but I'm unsure if the light would be unpleasant/distressing to him.

Any suggestions as to the lamp idea or any small heater recommendations?

t.i.a,

- claire

"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)

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)