Bettas and heaters

[rosejones]

Hi all! I agree with Cory that most tropical fish can do without a heater and that we should not be afraid to subject them to gradual temperature variations (day/night, seasonal etc). What do people think about bettas? Does anyone out there keep them without a heater? Everyone says they should be kept at around 80'F and must have a heater. But I think a lot about Cory's videos on the subject and wonder how much of the "bettas must be kept at 80oF year round" stuff is just inherited wisdom not really founded on actual fact. My 3 new betta babies (from breeder not petstore) are currently in water that's 74'F and they seem plenty active and doing well. Room temp is 78oF most of the year (Florida). Room temp gets down to 68oF in winter. I want them to be happy and healthy, but it seems like so many people have problems with heaters exploding and overheating etc. I'm so confused. Do they need a heater or not? Does anyone out there keep them without heaters?

Edited October 19, 2020 by rosejones
Added thumbnail pic

[Hibi]

I am also interested, I keep all of mine around 80 degrees, im wondering if keeping them a little on the cooler side (77 ish) would extend their life 

[ange]

All of what I'm about to say is personal experience and not in any way scientific. I've kept bettas without heaters (they were my first fish as a child), at 78 in community setups, and as high as 84. I had the best results between 77 and 80 degrees. They're definitely more active at higher temps in my experience though I've never deliberately put the temp over 80 unless treating a bacterial infection.

I think that the heater failure concern with bettas isn't specific to them. Everyone hates heaters when they fail, and bettas may be more vulnerable because they're often kept in lower volume tanks that cook more quickly.

If your bettas are thriving without a heater, I don't see them needing one. If you notice signs of stress and there's otherwise nothing off in your parameters, I'd consider a heater. You can also look into other methods of insulating a tank in the winter, though few of them are cosmetically elegant.

[Daniel]

I used to keep and breed hundreds of show bettas 20 years ago. I just kept the room they were in at the mid to upper 70s and they did just fine. Take @ange advice, heaters fail.

When I lived in Florida in the early 80s, I would see bettas in the canals and that water wasn't 80 degrees.

But a caveat to the above...if breeding is your goal, in my experience Betta breeding works best at about 80 degrees.

[Ben Ellison]

So I believe they may live slightly longer. However, I know a lot of disease is more common at cooler temps. I have always kept the few bettas I had at 78 and only had one cause of fin rot brought on by fouled water. I do keep my bettas in community tanks though and with a slight but of salt. 1 tablespoon per 5 usually.

[Kriskm]

I am no betta expert, but this thread shows me how important geography can be to fish keeping. Everyone around here (near Seattle) recommends a heater for bettas, because for 8-9 months a year, most people keep their homes around 68 during the day, and colder at night. That is definitely too cold for a happy betta. A low of 68 at night might be OK (I'll let someone who knows more about bettas speak to that). It would be interesting to check how cold the tank actually gets at night (if the room is getting up to 78 during the day and down to 68 at night, the tank may only get down to 70-72 at night).

[Ben Ellison]

From what I've seen bettas often live in glass bowls with no air or heat. I feel that if your house is kept comfortable for humans the betta would probably be fine.

 

Second thought adding a light and filter would even keep it a degree or two warmer than the room so that might be a factor too

Edited October 19, 2020 by Ben Ellison

[ange]

4 hours ago, Ben Ellison said:

From what I've seen bettas often live in glass bowls with no air or heat. I feel that if your house is kept comfortable for humans the betta would probably be fine.

 

Second thought adding a light and filter would even keep it a degree or two warmer than the room so that might be a factor too

I completely forgot to account for lids. Those play a pretty big role in insulating the tank (especially the DIY greenhouse siding lids that people often use) and I always forget about that.

I live in Texas and my tanks rarely dip under 75F, though smaller ones may go lower during the winter.

[rosejones]

22 hours ago, ange said:

I had the best results between 77 and 80 degrees. They're definitely more active at higher temps in my experience though I've never deliberately put the temp over 80 unless treating a bacterial infection.

Good to know! I've seen other people say they are more active when it's warm. 

[rosejones]

22 hours ago, Daniel said:

I used to keep and breed hundreds of show bettas 20 years ago. I just kept the room they were in at the mid to upper 70s and they did just fine. Take @ange advice, heaters fail.

When I lived in Florida in the early 80s, I would see bettas in the canals and that water wasn't 80 degrees.

But a caveat to the above...if breeding is your goal, in my experience Betta breeding works best at about 80 degrees.

Wow, Daniel. That's a lot of betta experience! 🙂 Okay, good to know. Heaters are the worst. Can't believe we don't have better options after all these years. Cory...? Counting on Cory to bring something new to the market. 

[rosejones]

17 hours ago, Ben Ellison said:

From what I've seen bettas often live in glass bowls with no air or heat. I feel that if your house is kept comfortable for humans the betta would probably be fine.

 

Second thought adding a light and filter would even keep it a degree or two warmer than the room so that might be a factor too

True, Ben. Really hate those bowl and jar setups. Yes, I always have a light and a snug-fitting glass lid.

[rosejones]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Much appreciated. Seems like my tanks are always about 3 oF lower than the room temp regardless of lid. I think the lights being LED don't affect the temp much if at all. I'm thinking wouldn't it make sense to use an incandescent or other bulb deliberately to warm the water top-down just like the sun does. I wonder if anyone else does that? Might start a new thread with this question.

[ange]

If you don't want to use a heater I'd highly recommend watching some of Cory's livestreams. He has one specifically for heat but it gets brought up as a talking point pretty frequently.

 

[rosejones]

13 minutes ago, ange said:

 

 

Thanks for the link, Ange. I seriously thought I'd watched all of Cory's videos by now, but no! 😄

[MattyIce]

When I first got my betta I didn't realize they needed warmer water, kept her in a community tank that was around 75.  she was terrorizing some of the fish so I moved her to a spare tank that I was keeping at room temp. around 72, but dropping to 68 at night.

After moving her, she just sat still, never really swam unless there was food and after about a week she started to get Ich.  I added a 15 watt heater bringing the temp to 74 - 78ish, and she became active again with the ich going away with out needing to do anything.  

Now I try to keep her at 74 or above.  

With the 15 watt heater during the colder months, if that gets stuck on, its not going much higher than mid 80's.  I switch to a 7 watt during the summer, which is about the same way, where on a really hot day it might get to 83 degrees, so im not worried too much about the heater.

Edited October 20, 2020 by MattyIce

[rosejones]

Okay, thanks MattyIce! Very helpful. That's a great idea about switching out the heater. Thank you!