Just raised temp in male betta tank

[Raechal]

I turned the heater off in my 10 gallon with my male betta and 2 ghost shrimp in it and then the temp was around 76. When I woke up to check on the tanks the heater was on (I guess someone turned it on or something) and now the temp is at around 80 F. Today he has been either in the front right corner or down kind of resting on the gravel. I can't do a water change as I don't have any dechlor and will be getting some either later tonight or tomorrow. I took the heater out for awhile as I didn't want it to magically turn back on again.

I think I will pick up a new heater as well just to be on the safe side. I don't know what to do. He isn't breathing heavily or any other signs of illness. Could the raise in temp be causing him to be this way? I even tried to feed him bloodworms and he only took one then swam back down to the bottom.

 

[AlexsDaddy]

80F is a good temp. for a betta. Is the heater adjustable or is it one of the cheap ones that just maintains the temp? It's always better to get a good quality heater to aviod malfunctions. Usually the warmer the water, the more active they are and the colder the more lathragic. Maybe all the temp fluctuations is stressing him out.

 

[BettaMomma]

That's correct - they love 80 degree temps (just like we do! )

Do you know how fast the temp went from 76 to 80? I wouldn't think that if it was any less than a few hours it would make a diff.

You also don't wanna do a water change when you want the temp to go down - you'll do him more harm by quickly changing the water temp. Let it cool down naturally - I got to the office earlier today to check on Amos & Jasper and Jasper's water was up to 85 degrees. now THAT is a bit too warm. He was a bit sluggish, but he was eating and stuff - so it was okay. I unplugged his heater right away and just left it to cool down on it's own.

Drastic temp fluctuations can be hard on them - but as long as they're not really fast it shouldn't matter.

Are his fins clamped up at all? Has he lost any of his color? Is he still eating??

 

[Raechal]

That's correct - they love 80 degree temps (just like we do! )

Do you know how fast the temp went from 76 to 80? I wouldn't think that if it was any less than a few hours it would make a diff.

You also don't wanna do a water change when you want the temp to go down - you'll do him more harm by quickly changing the water temp. Let it cool down naturally - I got to the office earlier today to check on Amos & Jasper and Jasper's water was up to 85 degrees. now THAT is a bit too warm. He was a bit sluggish, but he was eating and stuff - so it was okay. I unplugged his heater right away and just left it to cool down on it's own.

Drastic temp fluctuations can be hard on them - but as long as they're not really fast it shouldn't matter.

Are his fins clamped up at all? Has he lost any of his color? Is he still eating??

I guess he was only like that for an hour or so. The temp is back at around 76 and he is darting around the tank and swimming all around! Maybe he just doesn't like warm water that much?

The temp went down within a few hours so it wasn't that drastic.

 

[SRC]

85* isn't a bad temp either..alot of Meds actually tell you to raise the temp to 85* during the course of treatment.

Maybe your guy is just used to 76, and 80 was just not to his liking lol. I'd suggest keeping it at 76 from now on lol.