Betta and Heater Help

[Aurelie]

Hi,

just a little confused and looking for some good advice on heating for a betta. At the mo i am cycling a three gallon tank and have been reading up on heating for it. Now some sites claim that having a heater in a tank smaller than five gallon could boil the fish! Is this true? Also if anyone could recommend a small filter/heater system for this kind of tank it would be much appreciated (I live in the UK but dont mind buying off the net).

Thanks

Aurelie

 

[Grassguy]

If you buy a heater with a built in thermostat (which most have) I don't think it will boil the fish. I would say just to get a good quality heater and thermometer. If you watch it closely for the firts 48 hours and get it set right, you should be just fine.

 

[tomm10]

what he said

The worry with heater in a small tank is that they are technically over powered for the tank. This won't cause a problem unless the heater malfunctions and sticks on. then the problem is that the heater will be strong enough to super heat the water.

It shouldn't be a problem if you buy a quality heater. People here rave about Ebo Jagger (sp?) heaters and I've heard good things about Tronic heaters as well.

 

[Locust]

For a 3G tank, a 25W heater won't be all that overpowed. Assuming you pick up a good one (I'll vouch for Tronic), I don't think you'd have any problems. Though, of course I'd keep a thermometer handy and check it every so often. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

 

[TKOS]

I have a 50 watt heater in a 5 gallon tank (the only one thatw as available when I needed it). This is technically overpowered but I have never had any problems with over heating. I have a thermometer in all of my tanks and check it generally 2 times a day (this is how I caught my 90 degree tank before it did any damage).

 

[Aquarius0015]

Last night I bought a heater that purports to work in 2 to 5 gallon aquariums. It's called the "Junior Heater" by Jr. Aquatics.

It was about $6 from the local Wal-Mart, so it seemed like a good deal. However, this heater does not include a thermostat control, and it should not be completely submerged. If you let the water level drop below a set point on the heater, the instructions claim that it shuts off permanently.

For these reasons, I am going to return the heater. If I want a heat source without a thermostat, I can just turn on the incandescent light on top of the aquarium,which doesn't necessitate any extra cords. However, this might be a good choice for a 5 gallon tank with fluorescent lighting, or maybe as a back up.

The website for the heater is quite sparse, but it may be of some assistance. http://www.jraquatics.com/