Unheated betta tank

[gale]

I have an eclipse 2 which doesn't have a heater. With the light on the temp stays around 80 F but after I shut it off at night, by the time I get up to turn it back on the temp is about 76. Is this much daily fluctuation ok or should I leave the light on all night? Or should I put it on a timer on it? I would like to avoid putting a heater in it if possible-there isn't room for another cord so I'd have to cut a notch in the top plus there are no outlets left to plug one in.

 

[Danno]

Nope thats just fine.

If you get a heater the heat would go from like....85 w/light 80 w/o light. So basically the same fluxuations

 

[cutechic]

I disagree. Heaters with thermostats will keep the temperature at a constant level. If the light heats the water, the heater will turn off until the temperature drops again- then it'll kick in.

I had the same problem with one of my betta bowls. I didn't think a 4 degree temperature flucuation would be too stressful, but eventually he got sick. Try wrapping a warm heating pad (like the kind you heat in the microwave) around the tank at night, along with some towels. Also, try to rest the tank on some styrofoam. This will help keep the heat in at night. If this doesn't work, or it's too much effort to do each night, I would get either an electronic heating pad which the tank rests on (the heating pad should be on all day, even when the lights are on), or a 7.5W or 25W heater.

I wouldn't recommend keeping the light on all the time for two reasons: it promotes unwanted algae, and fish should have some time in the darkness, just like they would in the wild. If the light is on 24 hours a day, they would get too stressed.

 

[gale]

My husband had the idea of putting some fleece around the tank while the light is off for two reasons. One is that I'm up till 4am usually and then the sun comes up about 3 or 4 hours later and he's not in the dark long. The fleece covering will keep him more in the dark for a few hours. Also we're hoping the fleece holds in the heat for a few hours. I found a nice piece of polar fleece in my fabric stash and before I go to bed I'm going to wrap him up with that using some clothespins (don't worry, I'll keep it below the hood/filter/etc) and see how it works. If it doesn't work I'll get a small heater.

So now my spoiled betta has his own fleece jacket.

 

[f250fisherman]

The heating pad under the tank will not change anything. With the light and pad...it would go to 85 maybe, then cool off to 80 when the light is out. If anything, use the light, then turn on pad when the light is out to keep the temp near that level. If it stays at 76 without any heat source.....I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe just turn on light for awhile each day. Then it might only go up to 78....which makes it a 2 degree fluctuation.
In nature, the temp cools every night, even in the summer. 3-4 degree will not hurt it when it changes slowly. It's the fast changes that bother any fish.