Tropical Or Not?

[pica_nuttalli]

bettas like temps between 24 C and 28 C.

a tank with no heater is the same temperature as the surrounding air.

there is little point in cycling any tank smaller than 5 gallons.

male bettas are best kept by themselves or with bottom dwelling fish.

if your betta has long fins, then it is definitely a male.

if your betta has short fins, then it is either a female or a "plakat" male.

females can be kept in groups IF at least 5 females are present and each female can claim 2g of territory. (odd number groups generally do better because bettas prefer dueling over brawling.)

 

[Bettabelieveit]

then what is correct lol

What IS correct is one male betta by himself, no females. Only time a female should be with a male is when they are breeding, and this is a planned, involved proccess.

If you want some females, I'd say pick up a ten gallon tank and start setting that up, then when it is cycled get yourself some females, as they are very fun to have in a nice big planted tank.

 

[ILM]

They are tropical fish and will be at optimal health kept at 78-80F degrees. However, younger fish can be acclimated to live in cooler (room temp) conditions without too much trouble. Most of my juvvies when they get "jarred" are at room temp (which is betw 65-68F). However, older fish can handle water that cool for very long and will die sooner. A betta who is used to being kept at warmer temps will usually die fast if you switch him--he stresses out and will become more susceptible to fungus and other things. I lost one of my best male breeders overnight when I forgot to turn his heater back on after a cleaning--poor guy was literally wrapped around the heater shivering and covered with fungus. I've had a few bettas that didn't die (again, after tank cleanings when I forgot to turn the heaters back on) but they looked totally miserable and acted sick when I finally saw them the next morning (however, once the heat went back on, they were fine).

 

[Synirr]

I don't understand why people advocate heaters so strongly. Blah blah blah, heater heater heater. If your home is heated and you keep it above 70 degrees F, you absolutely do not need a heater, and if you keep it above 75 degrees your fish will get no benefit from having a heater whatsoever. I avoid using heaters whenever I can because it's possible for them to malfunction and fry your fish. Contrary to popular belief, they can deal with the minor temp changes that can occur throughout the day, and personally, I think it makes them more hardy if they have to do so.

 

[Naughtygirlrlw]

I only keep heaters in my 2 10g betta tanks, all the smaller ones go w/out.
Unless your house is absolutely freezing they should be fine.

 

[liz2]

You wanna live in my house.. central heating boiler has died ..we need a new one! Definitely need heaters.

 

[Captain Retardo]

My room is around 66 degrees fahrenheit, with sometimes major temp changes, I think I should get a heater

 

[afireinside]

My room is the warmest in the house (around 70 I think), though my mom normally opens my room in the day, I'd wish she stop. When it get's real cold in my house, I switch heaters in the tanks.

 

[Captain Retardo]

I love the cold, of course, I live in Minnesota

 

[lljdma06]

I don't understand why people advocate heaters so strongly. Blah blah blah, heater heater heater. If your home is heated and you keep it above 70 degrees F, you absolutely do not need a heater, and if you keep it above 75 degrees your fish will get no benefit from having a heater whatsoever. I avoid using heaters whenever I can because it's possible for them to malfunction and fry your fish. Contrary to popular belief, they can deal with the minor temp changes that can occur throughout the day, and personally, I think it makes them more hardy if they have to do so.

I agree, but I like your wording especially. Blah blah blah, heater, heater, heater. Very powerful.

 

[Synirr]

Geez, you people have cold houses! Our's is kept at around 77

 

[diademhill]

Geez, you people have cold houses! Our's is kept at around 77

Lets see - here it is 56F outside at 2.30 pm.
To heat the house to 70F costs about half what it would cost to take it to 77f..... you can always put on a fire to warm up a specific area but tropical tanks need keeping at tropical temperature - that requires heater stats unless you have the room thermostatically controlled at suitable temperatures. Many central heating systems switch off overnight and a heater is needed to keep the temperature stable. If you can't keep neons without a heater then Bettas need one.
For small tanks/bowls the requirment is more critcal as these will change temperature much more quickly than than a larger container. If you can't or won't house a fish properly you shouldn't buy them.

 

[lljdma06]

Geez, you people have cold houses! Our's is kept at around 77

They are not blessed by living in warmer climates like you and I do. I keep my apartment at 75-77 degrees in IL, but I also don't have to pay for heat. Heat is getting really expensive up here. Especially gas. Some of my friends have $300 dollar a month heating bills and they keep their house at 70 degrees. Really sad.

 

[Synirr]

I'm an extremely cold natured person... my ideal temp is somewhere between 78 and 80, so I actually use a space heater even in the summer to bump my room temp up a notch from what our air conditioner is set to!

 

[liz2]

Geez, you people have cold houses! Our's is kept at around 77

Lets see - here it is 56F outside at 2.30 pm.
To heat the house to 70F costs about half what it would cost to take it to 77f..... you can always put on a fire to warm up a specific area but tropical tanks need keeping at tropical temperature - that requires heater stats unless you have the room thermostatically controlled at suitable temperatures. Many central heating systems switch off overnight and a heater is needed to keep the temperature stable. If you can't keep neons without a heater then Bettas need one.
For small tanks/bowls the requirment is more critcal as these will change temperature much more quickly than than a larger container. If you can't or won't house a fish properly you shouldn't buy them.

Some of you lot dont know what cold is! we do in the UK