HELP I forgot to turn my Betta's heater back on when I did a water change

[amaranth13]

Yesterday I did a water change. My betta is still pretty new and I was really stupid and forgot to turn the heater back on. Now I came home to find him hovering on the bottom and looking very feeble when he moves at all. The temperature in the house and of his water is 59 F right now

I immediately turned the heater back on, of course. I really hope I didn't do lasting harm to him!

My question is, should I let the heater raise the temperature, or is that too fast? Or is it too slow and should I do a small water change with say 3F degrees warmer water and repeat that after half an hour or an hour? What is the best way to go here?

I was trying to be so ethical cycling his tank and everything and my bird-brain just undid all that

 

[FishGuest5123]

I would add a little warm water , just a few degrees every hour for the next few hours then let the heater do it’s thing.

 

[FishGuest5123]

I would add a little warm water , just a few degrees every hour for the next 3 or 3 hours then let the heater do it’s thing.

I never unplug my heater.

 

[amaranth13]

Thank you so much to answer so quickly!!! I will add water of a few degrees more every hour. And you're probably right about not turning the heater off but when I do a water change the heater is not all covered by water anymore (only half of it), or if I would get less water then I couldn't vacuum the tank well enough.. But a possible broken heater is less bad than this..

 

[Fishmanic]

Is your heater mounted at an angle or is it upright? If you mount it at about a 30 degree angle with he bottom of the tank, you should be able to do a 60% water change with the heater still sufficiently covered by water.

 

[amaranth13]

Mine is upright, I never thought about putting it at an angle, I thought they had to be upright? it's one of those preset Aqueon 78F things. But yeah I do a fifty percent and that is enough to vacuum the gravel, so that would definitely work!

 

[Fishmanic]

I believe that is the heater I use and I have it at an angle. Works fine.

 

[amaranth13]

Thank you, Fishmanic! I will definitely do that!

 

[amaranth13]

The water is now 71 degrees F. My betta is swimming bits now and then instead of laying on the gravel all the time. After a bit he's going back to rest on the gravel, but every few minutes he gets a bit of a swim. I have hope he might not be too badly affected (effected?). Unfortunately i can't stay up, I need to work tomorrow. I will let the heater do it's work now, and will write in the morning how he's doing.

 

[Fishmanic]

I had a similar incident happen to my tank but heat only dropped 10 degrees. My betta got a bad case of fin rot and lethargy after the incident. He is finally starting to swim better.
Here is my thread: https://www.fishforums.net/threads/betta-has-clamped-fins-after-temperature-dropped.454984/

 

[Essjay]

I never unplug my heater.

I always unplug my heaters and internal filters before I put my hands in a tank. The only thing I leave on is the sponge filter in the betta's tank as there is nothing in the water connected to the electric mains.
I once cracked a heater during a water change and water flooded into it (yes I am that clumsy). Luckily it was not plugged in at the time.

 

[amaranth13]

My betta is swimming around as normal and is eating. I might have gotten very lucky.. Let's see if the stress is problematic long-term.

 

[FishGuest5123]

My betta is swimming around as normal and is eating. I might have gotten very lucky.. Let's see if the stress is problematic long-term.

Great news!

 

[Retired Viking]

Happy to hear he is doing well. I had a Betta that had a really nice personality once, he would rush toward me when he saw me and follow me if I moved. Haven't had one for many years but I read that they like marimo moss balls. I have several moss balls in my tank, they are suppose to be great at absorbing ammonia.

 

[amaranth13]

Thank you all so much for your help. My betta seems to have recovered completely, he is eating and swimming as normal. We'll have to see what happens long term. I have two big marimo moss balls in his tank as well, by the way. And a very small one, he pushes them all around.