Nia Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 I've had my betta since July, so it's been about 5 months. I haven't had any problems until now. It's pretty cold now and I noticed that the heater I have in the tank isn't working as well, most likely because of how cold it's been and my fish isn't eating. I'm not really sure if I should get a bigger heater or move it out of the back compartment of the tank and actually put it in the main area. I'm iffy on adding another heater since my tank only holds 3 gallons. Another thing that I noticed is we was trapping himself under the piece of wood in his tank, and he never did that before (I'm sure this is how he tore his tail) I'm really don't know what to do, so I would appreciate some advice. Thank you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 If he's cold he will slow down and become lethargic and stop eating. What temp is the tank? bettas like it really very warm. It might help if you move the tank to a warmer part of the house so your heater doesn't have to work so hard to keep the temp up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 On 12/16/2022 at 8:09 PM, Nia said: I've had my betta since July, so it's been about 5 months. I haven't had any problems until now. It's pretty cold now and I noticed that the heater I have in the tank isn't working as well, most likely because of how cold it's been and my fish isn't eating. I'm not really sure if I should get a bigger heater or move it out of the back compartment of the tank and actually put it in the main area Can you use something to measure the temp of the water? I had a fish this past week that went through some stress and it had a tail fin tear. It is almost healed up (been about 3 days now) and it took the fish about a full 48 hours to show normal eating behavior. With bettas, depending on where you keep your at, you might want to go up a degree for the sake of cooler nights. The main placement is going to be putting the heater where the most water flows around or near it (intake / output flow regions). If you want to show us the tank we can try to give a suggestion, but I wouldn't simply say "put it here" without having knowledge of how the flow and filtration is setup. Target temp is going to be ~80 degrees F, most keepers target 78-81 for their bettas. As far as your heater now, what wattage is it? What is the temperature of the room at night? If it's over a certain range then you might need a stronger heater. Meaning, if the air in the room is more than 10 degrees cooler than what you wish to keep the betta at. A lot of the smaller heaters are preset, you might just need one where you can adjust the temp manually? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSwissAquarist Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 Could you post some water parameters and pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nia Posted December 17, 2022 Author Share Posted December 17, 2022 Hi guys thanks for the tips, the temperature has never been a problem until now and I even ordered a new heater and kept my betta in my room in a separate container since I had a heater in my room. Unfortunately he did not make it overnight. I'm just super upset because ultimately the temperature couldn't stay up overnight in the tank (it would drop to 70 and then later in the day go up to 76). Do you guys have any brand recommendations for heaters just in case I get a new fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nabokovfan87 Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 On 12/17/2022 at 1:34 PM, Nia said: Hi guys thanks for the tips, the temperature has never been a problem until now and I even ordered a new heater and kept my betta in my room in a separate container since I had a heater in my room. Unfortunately he did not make it overnight. I'm just super upset because ultimately the temperature couldn't stay up overnight in the tank (it would drop to 70 and then later in the day go up to 76). Do you guys have any brand recommendations for heaters just in case I get a new fish? Very, very sorry for your loss. I have had this happen and know that pain. 😞 The aquarium co-op heater might be perfect for you because of the shape / size in a smaller tank. Second to that, if you have a 20L aquarium I recommend the fluval E series heaters (pricey, but very good heaters). Just try to find one where you can set the temp and then always have a thermometer or something to check things out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flumpweesel Posted December 18, 2022 Share Posted December 18, 2022 Temp is tricky in smaller aquariums does yours have a lid? I didn't ask earlier but lids help a lot at keeping heat in. I have two tanks next to each other in my kitchen both have heaters set at 20C one is 15gal (60liters) lidded and is sat at 26C on average. The 20litre (5gal) tank has a partial lid and averages at 20C Heaters unfortunately you are generally limited on what will fit in your tank with nano set ups but I dislike the preset ones and always look for variable. If you want to try fish keeping again I would recommend a slightly larger tank with a lid you'll be surprised how much easier this makes things for you. If you want to stick with that s size consider shrimp you don't need to heat those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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