Do bettas need a heater?

[bkk_group]

If Wuv keeps bettas in Texas w/o heaters, I bet a Lone Star, she uses a heated room , or closet.

During the winter I use a space heater and keep the room at about 76 merely because that room has insulation problems, but as soon as it slightly warms up outside,they are on their own.
I'm definitely against heaters for bettas in most situations.I sincerely believe that if YOU (a warm blooded animal) are comfortable at the room temp,your fish will be too. For a better example of why go read my post in bettamommas swim bladder thread. I believe fluctuation keeps them healthier. But it all boils down to location and different enviromental situations that are unavoidable (for example, your parent controls the thermostat and keeps it at 60 24/7 or something)

my sentiments exactly. we have been breeding and keeping bettas without in-tank heaters for a couple of years now and believe that it produces hardier fish in the long run.

 

[cation]

Well casion , since you called into question my info
What I advised Skylar on was the knowledge that every fishkeeper is expected to know nowadays . Begginer to Oldtimer . Cycling aquarium water ,
Old hands had been doing it for years , without knowing why , It worked.
When I learned the principals of cycling, I found that fish have an easier time adapting to cycled water. ( I mean cycled water, old water, aged water,used water)Water that has adapted to turn fish waste into , nitrites, then nitrates.

Once again, it's the bacteria that do the work, not the water, and the bacterial colonies live on surfaces, not in the water column. You can argue all you want, but I can tell you this is a biological fact. I have a degree in Biology, have taken lab classes where the difference in surface vs water column bacterial and algal growth is clear (observable and quantifiable under a microscope).

Believe what you want, I don't care. Makes no difference to me how you keep your tanks. I will continue to give information that has a basis in biology, and enough empirical proof to back it up for fishkeeping.

 

[cation]

Well, I bought my betta. He is a purple veiltail that has a white head with a few brown speckles on it. His home is a LARGE fish bowl with 3 silk plants, black shiny stones and a mini castle.

Congrats! I'm sure he'll love his new home. Welcome to the addiction.

 

[Skylar]

Another question *ignores the groans of all betta-owners*. Do Betta have nostrils? Or like, small little holes above their mouth? Mine does and they are edged with brown. I have never had a betta that was light-colored before so I was wondering if this was normal?


Once again, any name suggestions?

 

[Kiarra]

You know, I've been wondering about whether they have nostrils, too. I have several light-colored ones that have very small perfectly round circles that look just like nostrils.

 

[alabaster]

Cation is right: beneficial bacteria grow on surfaces, not in the water. If they grew in the water:

1. We fishkeepers would have no use for physical filters (BIO-Wheel, etc.), since the water would provide biological filtration.

2. Our tanks would begin a new partial cycle every time we did water changes, and 50% water changes would probably cause deadly ammonia spikes.

Kinda fishy, you're wrong

 

[cation]

my sentiments exactly. we have been breeding and keeping bettas without in-tank heaters for a couple of years now and believe that it produces hardier fish in the long run.

You're keeping them w/out heaters, bkk? Are you using a space heater or anything? It hasn't been warm enough down here, although I think it will be soon.

I'm considering dropping the temp on all my tanks down to 70 - which should keep the heater from coming on unless the temp drops a lot overnight or something.

 

[bkk_group]

my sentiments exactly. we have been breeding and keeping bettas without in-tank heaters for a couple of years now and believe that it produces hardier fish in the long run.

You're keeping them w/out heaters, bkk? Are you using a space heater or anything? It hasn't been warm enough down here, although I think it will be soon.

I'm considering dropping the temp on all my tanks down to 70 - which should keep the heater from coming on unless the temp drops a lot overnight or something.

when we were actively breeding (we are retired now) we kept (and still do) our fish in our living room on a number of shelves. while we don't use in-tank heaters we do keep the heat on (for our benefit as well) during the winter months.

 

[BettaMomma]

When I got Louis, my blind boy, I did some research on "betta nostrils" and never wanted to tell anyone because I thought they would think I was nuts. I needed to know if Louis would be able to "smell"his food.

Okay, now that someone else has started the topic, I can tell you that from what I learned, they do, in fact, have nostrils - 2 sets of them. One pair closer to the front of their head, another farther back. Apparently, they use them strictly for smell - the water comes in the front pair and goes back out the back pair. The difference between them and us is that while we both have nostrils (in the front) that take stuff (for us it's air, for them it's water) in, but the air we take in goes back into our mouths and down our throats, allowing us to breathe. Fish, their second nostrils just shoot water back out into the body of water.

I ripped off this quote from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Comission website:

As well as hearing your lure, fish can smell it from a distance. Fish have a very sensitive sense of smell. How sensitive? They can detect concentrations of chemicals as low as one part per trillion. That's the equivalent of one ounce of chocolate syrup in a million railroad cars full of milk. Salmon can detect smells from the waters where they were born from hundreds of miles away. Stands to reason then that a trout can smell a tasty nightcrawler from a few yards. Conversely, the same thing goes for the smell of bug spray from your hands on fishing line you have touched.

The sense of smell, or olfactory sense, is located in a fish's nostrils, which are actually called nares. There are two pairs of nares on both sides of the snout. For humans, smells are detected by sensing chemicals dissolved in air. Fish detect these chemicals in water. As water flows through the nares, the dissolved materials trigger the olfactory organ which in turn transmit signals to the brain.

I was fascinated, and relieved. All I have to do is drop pellets into Louis' tank and he finds them EVERY time without me even having to guide him to them anymore.

 

[rdd1952]

I think the question of heaters has been answered but I will add one thing. A lot really depends on the normal room temperature in the room you will be keeping him in. If you keep the house cold (72° or lower) you will almost definitely need a heater. If you keep it warm (76° or higher) as I know a lot of people do, you probably don't need a heater as the tank water will probably always stay at least 78 degrees. You could possibly (but not likely) even need some type of chiller if the water temp is getting into the 80s during the day. There was a post a couple days ago where the person was trying to figure out a way to lower the temp. Their normal room temp was 80° and their tank was about 80°. I know you already have the betta now and I hope he is doing great. My suggestion would have been to set everything up except the fish and heater and let is set for a week while observing the temp during the day. If it is always at least 76°, you most likely don't need a heater.

 

[eudielynn]

I was fascinated, and relieved. All I have to do is drop pellets into Louis' tank and he finds them EVERY time without me even having to guide him to them anymore.

I knew you'd be amazed at what you would learn from him. Have I mentioned he's my personal favorite of yours?

 

[BettaMomma]

Yep. hee hee! And I think he's my personal favorite too.
He always seems perfectly content with his life. It's amazing too - he sits still most of the day, but when I come into our bedroom (where he sits on my bookshelf), he can hear me walking across the carpet! How, I have no idea - but he does. He starts wiggling like it's dinnertime. And (I'm afraid to admit this but...) I sing the song Louie, Louie to him every night - and he comes up to the front of the tank and just listens while I sing.

 

[eudielynn]

I sing the song Louie, Louie to him every night - and he comes up to the front of the tank and just listens while I sing.

Okay, now you're telling us they have ears?

Ooops, sorry Skylar, didn't mean to hijack your thread. My bad.

 

[BettaMomma]

I researched their ears, too.

They do have ears - but they're not like ours. They're just little holes in their head behind their eyes and they don't come out from their bodies like ours do. They don't hear like we do, exactly, either. They feel things moreso in waves of pressure in the water, and sound produces those waves. From everything I read, their ears are used moreso for keeping themselves upright than for hearing. (For balance, I guess) - while we have tiny micro tubes in our ears that help us keep our balance - I had vertigo a while back so I researched THAT too. Fish also have what are called lateral organs that run down their sides which also allows them to feel pressures and waves in water. That is what allows them to swim in such synchronized patterns while in a school w/out running into each other.

SO... after having said all of that, he probably is stunned by my horrible singing and can't move til I'm done.

HIJACK OVER.
sorry.

 

[yeeviabetta]

You don't need a heater in the tank if you turn-up your home heater to 80 degree F. Like me. LOL