How can i keep my betta fish warm, until i can go and buy a fish heater?

Question

the thing is, when i bought the fish i had no idea on how to take care of it until i went back to the pet shop yesterday and they gave me a guide line. So off i went back home to see and feed my fish, but it hasn't eaten the food i've given it for a week and i think it desperately needs a heater due to it being so cold in australia at the moment - but the shops aren't open on sunday! i need to wait until a couple of days until i can get the fish heater, until then i need some advise on how to keep it warm.

Answer 1

If your tank is moveable sit it on top of your refrigerator.  That's the warmest spot I know of in our house because of the heat the evaporator on the back gives off.

Did they tell you that a betta really needs a 5 gallon heated filtered tank, not one of those little one or two gallon things?  Heating one of those small tanks is pretty hard to maintain a constant temperature.  Betta's do enjoy water temperatures around 80F the most.

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Answer 2

float a bag of  hot water in the tank or use a student lamp over the tank

Answer 3

The best you could do is keep a warm lamp near the tank, making sure no water gets near any electrical sources. If the fish isn't eating, it's probably going into energy save mode, in which case you should only be concerned if it swims around a lot and uses energy fast.

You should probably keep a lamp or something pointed at the tank until you get a heater. I'm not really sure how much it will heat the water, so you may be better of keeping the bulb in actual contact with the glass of the tank.

Answer 4

until you get on put a very very hot bright lamp next to the tank and make shore its touches  

Answer 5

hey where  in aus r u? im in perth and i have never had a problem with not heating them. had a few for over a year now. have you conditioned its water? if its in a large tank have u cycled the water? gd luk

Answer 6

Keep the tank in a room with no drafts, open windows etc.

Place it near a source of light, or in a warmer room in the house. Try placing a lamp next to the tank, this will generate a small amount of heat also.

Answer 7

hi from brizzy ;)

try kmart, target, big w etc. they have them for WAY cheaper. mine broke yesterday, i went out and bought a vitapet 100w heater today for at least $20 to $30 cheaper than what they had them for at the pet shop. vitapet is a great brand. it's cheap, yet still great quality, and all their heaters have in a built in thermostat so it won't overheat your tank. i use vitapet heaters in both my 9g and 18g and they work very well for me, so if you can find them, i reccomend them. it's a bit late now though, they won't be open again untill the morning. you could try filling water bottles with boiling water, but it probably won't do all that much, and could be very hazourdous to your fish if he swims against it. last night i kept my tank warm by shutting my window and door (it's in my bedroom). the heat from the computer, tv and aquarium light helped slow down the cooling process. since it is a descent sized tank, it maintained some heat, which helped. by morning it was 21*c, which is still cold, but not all that bad. is your tank small enough to wasily relocate untill morning? if it is, try putting it in the warmest room of the house.

best of luck! :)

Answer 8

They like to have their water in the 70's. So if you do get a heater, make sure you don't put it much higher. Some petstores say the water can be in the 80's, but that is not true and can cause your fish an early death. Until you get one, just put him in the warmest room of the house. I wouldn't put him in direct sunlight because it can actually cook him (my mom made this mistake before! :-\ ). Other than that, there's not too much you can do. He should be fine for a few days as long as the temp doesn't go under 60 degrees. I'm sure your house is warmer than that.

Answer 9

Im pretty sure it wont matter. Many people put bettas in extremely tiny tanks for decoration and there's no room for heaters. All my tank has to keep them warm is a light and theyre just fine with it. Try a different food with your betta, or maybe if you can, move their tank. Bettas are rather easy to take care of and listening to EVERYTHING a guild line says can be expencive with uneeded things. For instance, someone I know went to a Humane Assosiation to get a dog. Filling out for one was rough and when the woman asked her where the dog would be staying she said "Most outside." and the woman turned around and said "How would YOU like to be outside all the time?" and she was turned down. Now what do you think? Its uneeded to have a dog who LOVES THE OUTDOORS AND IS MEANT TO BE OUTDOORS to be inside like that. You see? Very uneeded things that people say you must have.

Answer 10

How big is the tank? I wouldn't recommend getting a heater for it if it's only a few gallons...too easy to overheat a small tank.

Most bettas do fine at "room temperature." His lack of eating probably isn't due to temperature - some don't adjust well to being transported to a new home, and it takes them a while to settle in. Also, do you know what they were feeding him at the shop? If you're feeding him something different, he might just be a little wary of the new food.