Dying Bettas

Hmm .. temp - now that is the only thing I do measure on my tanks and the fish room. With the weather we having the do dip if not heated.

Good that you found the cause.

Later Ferdie

 

@f-fish

Seems I'm going to need an education in heating.

The tank in my bedroom's temperature stays constant and I never thought much about the heating. I thought the heaters automatically regulated the temperature!

I did notice with the 100 liter that is in the same room as the Betta that I had to turn it up to 30 degrees to get it to 24/25 degrees. I assume it's because it is such a cold room at night that the heater had difficulty raising the temperature.

The betta's heat fluctuated extremely due to a faulty plug, but I'm understanding now that there's more that I can do. I've tested the temperature on the remaining tank and it's coming in at 23 degrees. It's a 25watt heater (preset to 25 degrees) Will the heater keep it at that temperature or will it drop substantially as it gets colder?

Will it help to stabilize the temperature, especially at night, if I put in an additional 25 watt?

 

@Dinky

I have noticed that the tanks in the pictures all have open tops. That will cause the heat to escape at the top of the tanks which in the end will cause fluctuating temperatures or heaters which will not be able to heat the aquarium water to the desired temperature.

 

@JPV

Yes, all but my 30 liter is open tops.

Will adding extra heaters help?

 

First, I'm really glad you've identified the problem - I really felt for you this morning, and I'm so sorry for the losses you've suffered.

Ah yes, the dodgy adaptors - I have one too - the centre point just will NOT stay in contact - so now i have my light plugged in there - so I notice instantly if something has nudged it out of alignment. The heater and filter are plugged into the reliable points, so essential life support is assured.

Yes, open top tanks loose heat far faster than closed.

NEVER trust a cheapo heater (or any one really) to maintain temps according to their settings - I always check new heaters against an independant thermometer - each one varies. So one will need to be set at "28" to maintain a realistic 25, the next at "23" - do not believe the lps drivel that they are preset either... lesson learnt the hard way when I believed it for the first time - a heater set to 26 actually almost cooked my poor guppies at over 30 degrees.

Finally, I retest each heater before winter sets in - as a precaution in case alterations are required.

 

A heater in a tank that has no circulation is also a factor .. since it only heats locally around the heater - but for that your beta should have snuggled up to the heaters. No adding extra heater is not the answer. Glass sheet to make a cover and reduce heat loss and some form of filtration will give you circulation.

 

@Dinky

I agree with f-fish more heaters is not the answer, cover the tops with some glass sheet, it is anyway going to look nicer than a bunch of heaters hanging in the tank. As per the comment of f-fish a very small filter is going to help a lot with the even distribution of heat in your tanks.

I sure hope that this will be the sollution to the heating and other problems.

 

@Jenn

Thank you very much. I will test each heater individually.

I'm not familiar with the types / models of heaters on the market, but have Dophin heaters in all of my tanks.

150 watt for the 100 liter
50 watt for the 30 liter
25 watt for each of the 15 liters

Wouldn't want to cook my fish on top of everything else I'm still learning about! Lol! Will keep a close eye on them.

 

@f-fish

I got a quote on the glass this morning from Builders and will be picking it up tomorrow. Far less expensive than I thought it would be.

I'm still having a hard time finding filtration. What I did however see is corner filters (something like in the picture below) and then the normal UG filters. The smallest sponge filter I managed to find had a sponge half the size of the tank on it! Will the corner filters work?

 

@JPV

Thank you very much. I believe every positive change will have a positive result...it sometimes takes a while but it's always there.

Any idea where I can find appropriate filters? Make and model would make my day!

 

I had corner filters running forever in my 100l tanks, with hob . They do the job,however I did hear spondge filters can keep more good bacteria, but like I said, I still use the corner filter.So I would say if you cant find spondge filters go for the corner filter.. En jammer om te hoor van jou betta, bly jyt die oorsaak gekry. Ek het n surge save goeters wat jy al die plugs in plug wat nou op my tenk hardloop, hulle werk sover mooi, weet nou wel nie as dit n veskil maak met die dips nie, maar hy werk mooi. Ek kan enige tyd my 2 spondge filters sponser, maar jys bietjie ver, weet nie wat vevoer gaan kos nie, hulle nog nuut,ongelukkig net 2, so as jy weet van n lift is hulle joune free of charge.

 

@Marius Swart

Dankie jong!

As ek teen more nog niks opgespoor het nie sal ek jou dalk net moet opneem op jou aanbod. Reken die posgeld gaan op die ou einde minder kos as om die heeltyd nuwe visse te koop.

Hoe groot is daai filters van jou? Die tankies is maar 30 x 22 x 22.5

Soek my blou na daai hydro-sponge filters maar nog niks. My een lfs het nie maar sal hulle bes probeer om vir my op te spoor, die ander lfs is net eenvoudig clueless! Verkoop ook net ingevoerde chinese gemors. Jy kan bly wees as daar twee engelse woorde op die boks is wat 'n mens kan verstaan. Nou ja, 'n clueless soos ek het nog instructions nodig! Trust nie goed wat ek nie kan lees en verstaan nie!

 

@Skye01 You have some of these little tanks. Your expertise is required What heaters and filtration do you use for them?

 

@Jenn - thank you for the referral.

I managed to find this tonight. Indicates that it's for 15 - 40 liter tanks. I however have no experience with internal filters and don't know if it will create a flow / suction that I will have to take into consideration.

 

Ken nie die bogenoemde nie, hoop iemand sal jou kan help. Dai van my is seker 13cm hoog, hul is bietjie groot, ek sal more by n lps luister waar ek dit gekry het ,hy gebruik dit in al sy tenks saam met sumps, glo hy sal kleiner aanhoiu. Hul was dai tyd ek dink 40-60, kleiner sou cheaper kos, sal luister vir jou

 

I have used the tetratec filters before, they are nice for the small tanks. I would check tho at your LFS if they don't have some HOB filters. You should be able to find a small one, this way you wont have the filter in the tank but on the back. I prefer those for small tanks.

 

try to get these filters they work well cheap and once a week just clean them out with tank water

 

@St@tic

Thank you very much.

 

How are things going Dinky? Shame it must be horrible losing fish and not knowing why but I assure you, this has been some really bad luck. Also pet store bettas aren't always in the best condition, usually plastic jars in an unlit area somewhere in the store. So your bettas may have been sick even before you bought them and then the temperature changes with the faulty plug might have finished them. It's hard but you learn. I hope things are improving for you.

 

Jammer vir die gewag Dinky, ek sukkel met lift van George, ek glo vandag sal ons n lift kry, ek sal jou op hoogte hou. 3 van hulle?