One Gallon Tank

I was thinking about using this one gallon tank that I have as a hospital tank-- can you put a 7.5 watt heater in a one gallon tank?

 

in my one gal the tank light is enough to keep it around 82 - 86 degrees.  Miles

 

ONLY with MY permission can you do that Genie! yea, I would think you could do that.

 

If you do, just be careful. Try to get one with a temp controller on it, not just one with a + - thing on it. We wouldn't want you cook your Betta. Natalie

 

Genie, when I was setting up Storms Q tank - 1.66g, I wanted to order that little minI heater from F&S...it is a 7.5 for $9.99. I talked to one of their techies and he said it cannot go into less than a 2 gallon. I ordered it anyway, thought it would be good for emergency in my 3g.

I used the light also..it heated to 78-80, but I had to leave it on all the time. I would go for a 2 gallon tank if you could...and that heater only goes up 5 degrees and you can't regulate it. I ordered another stealth. 25w.

 

I think I am going to put it in a 1 gallon without fish and see what the temp goes to. Then I guess I will go from there. Thanks All

 

People, PLEASE, PLEASE do not get any heater that does not have a setting regulator that you can see what you are doing to set the temperature and also get a good thermometer. Do not rely just on the thermometer of any heater to tell you what the water temperature is as they are accurate (even the best of them) to a +/- 1 degree and that is a lot when you are dealing with fish. You need to know with both.

The 7.5 watt heaters do not hold a steady heat and while they do heat they fluctuate with the room temperature. They heat according to the ambient temperature around them. If it is 75 around them it will heat the water to 80 and if the air around them drops to 67 the water will drop to about 72. That is unacceptable as you will have the biggest cases of ich or velvet or finrot before long and wonder what you did wrong or what was wrong with the fish.

It is not really safe to heat ANY tank smaller than 2 gallons and that is stretching it a bit. A good rule of thumb is 10 watts per gallon so 25 watts should not go into anything less than 2.5 gallons but since the 25 watts can be bought in the best heater in the world Visi-therm Stealth and I personally have used one in a 2 gallon tank as long as I set the temperature lower than I really wanter and used thermometers at each side of the tank to keep track of the temperature to make sure I was not cooking the fish, I know it can be done with care. But I would not put fish in until I had made sure for about a week at least that the temperature was stable.

Hope this helps.
Rose

 

Personally, I would never use a 1 gallon tank as a hospital tank. When a fish is sick it needs steady temps, filteration and good water quality more than ever if it is ever to get better. I would use a large 4 gallon Kritter Keeper with a proper heater. I find an All Glass Aquarium 50 watt heater is great for small hospital tanks because of it's small size, accurate temp control and the quality is the same as the VisiTherm. I use them in both my 5 gallon tanks and they hold a steady temp. A Whisper 3I internal filter is small and cheap and works great for a hospital tank. It has barely any water turbulence which is great for a sick fishie.
Kritter Keepers are cheap to buy and a larger 4 gallon tank would be easier to medicate than a tiny one and the water parameters are more stable. They are pretty small and compact and easy to wash out and store when not in use.

 

I have Cujo is a mini-bow 2.5 gallon as his hospital tank. I have two gallons of water in it because that is easier to dose the medication. I have the whisper 3I filter and a small heater and one silk plant. This setup seems ideal for him, and is really easy to maintain. BUT the mini-bow 2.5 is probably more expensive, even at walmart...

Romeo is in a one gallon tank with a nano filter and a silk plant. I made him a lid for this tank since I couldn't use the nano filter with the original lid. I have a desk lamp over his tank for light/warmth. This setup is not ideal since the water temp fluctuates from 80 degrees during the day to 76 degrees at night when the light is off. But I was scared to try any heater in this tank because they all say "not to be used in less than 2 gallons," etc.

 

You should consider getting Romeo and Cujo large Kritter Keepers or something similar. They are not expensive and you can use a proper heater. I paid about $15 for my 4 gallon Kritter Keeper. It also lets you put in a little more plants and decorations for the Betta to play around than a 2 gallon.

 

Cujo has a 5 gallon tank waiting on him, and Romeo will go into the 2.5 when Cujo moves out. I think that is plenty of room for him and I'm not really considering getting anything larger. For one thing, the tanks are on my desk and I don't have any more room. And truthfully, I think it's enough room for one small betta, regardless of the popular opinion around here.

 

Is that 2.5g one of the minibow kits?

 

Yes, it is a mini-bow 2.5 and I got it at walmart for MUCH cheaper than Petco/Petsmart offer it. It comes with the whisper 10I filter, but as I said elsewhere I thought it was too bulky for the small tank so I went back and got the 3I (which needed the gang valve b/c it has no regulator of it's own).

We actually have 2 of them right now, but the other is on my old man's desk and he won't let me put another betta in it lol

 

Yes, it is a mini-bow 2.5 and I got it at walmart for MUCH cheaper than Petco/Petsmart offer it. It comes with the whisper 10I filter, but as I said elsewhere I thought it was too bulky for the small tank so I went back and got the 3I (which needed the gang valve b/c it has no regulator of it's own).

We actually have 2 of them right now, but the other is on my old man's desk and he won't let me put another betta in it lol

We got one not long ago there and are going to get another one next month. It's a pretty good deal on a smaller tank and one of few to not have the undergravel filters. we'd get a 2nd one now, but gotta save what we can for the Betta show this month.

 

Right now Nate is in the 2.5 mini-bow stripped down to just the tank with the Azoo Palm Filter and a small glass filter and an air wand in it. I do have a minI fluorescent light that I could attach to it but I do not believe in a lot of hours of light for a hospital tank as they need to rest. He is also sitting right in front of my VERY large south triple pane 7 foot wide window and I need to keep the vertical blinds shut most of the way or he and Damon get too much light anyway. He is so hard to keep from being overactive that he needs to be in a smaller space so 2.5 gallons is the maximum I would want him in right now.

I do not ordinarily like the glass heaters but I will say that my first heater was an All-Glass 25 watt and I did like it. I just had it crack and let water enter it so it failed but it did hold a good heat until it did that. I would have to say that it is a very good heater and the very best of all the glass ones.

Rose

 

How is Nate progressing lately?

 

Nate is still raggedy but doing okay. He has been in an uncycled tank so I am now using Bio-spira to cycle the little tank for him so he is going through a bit of a less than perfect stage this week but he is holding his own and is HUNGRY as a little shark. He has graduated to getting about 3 or 4 of the Atison's Betta Pro pellets (smaller than this . for those of you who have not seen them) with his daphnia and he is feeling deprived but we are taking it slow. But overall, I think he is healthy just looks awful.

Rose

 

I don't tend to read a lot in the betta board but I did read this and have a few points.

Chickadee you say 10watts per gallon Did you just do a typo? Unless you live in a extremely cold climate 5watts per gallon is plenty. Everything I have read is 5watts and stores around me recommend 5 also. Having more doesn't hurt I've found but I also have found my water is fine with 5wpg as it is in 10wpg since I have both scenario's setup. Don't get me wrong I'm not saying your wrong and trying to be mean, I'm just wondering were you got this bit of info from?

Other thing is I personally have NO expierence with the stealth heaters but my aunt bought one and did not like it at all because it wouldn't keep a steady temp in her 29gallon. I honestly haven't used one before but I like having a pilot light and knowing it's working, just my opinion. Have you ever heard of faulty one's before?

In the mini-bow 2.5 gallon I found the elite stingray filter works pretty good also.

 

Heater Selection Guide Aquarium Size Desired Increase Above Room Temperature
Gallons 5ºC/9ºF 10ºC/18ºF 15ºC/27ºF
5 25 25 75
10 50 50 100
25 75 75 100
40 100 150 300
50 150 200 (2) 200
65 200 250 (2) 250
75 250 300 (2) 300
Heater Size in Watts

the division of Marineland that makes their heaters the Visi-therm Stealth and the Visi-therm Deluxe. While the 5 gallon tank can safely be heated with a 25 watt heater and is in most cases, my point is that the general rule is that the 25 watt heater is not recommended for any smaller tank than the 2.5 gallon tank or 1 watt per 10 gallons. I would not recommend a 25 watt heater for a ONE gallon tank no matter what quality the heater is. I may stretch it to a straight 2 gallon tank if it was made of sturdy plastic but never a straight one gallon tank.

Rose


Does this help to explain where I am coming from?

 

Hmm. interesting guide. O yes I understand were your coming from and agree with the heater. I was just wondering if that applied in larger tanks also. I wouldn't heat a smaller tankn than 2.5 with anything less than25w heater either. I get where your coming from.

 

Nate is still raggedy but doing okay. He has been in an uncycled tank so I am now using Bio-spira to cycle the little tank for him so he is going through a bit of a less than perfect stage this week but he is holding his own and is HUNGRY as a little shark. He has graduated to getting about 3 or 4 of the Atison's Betta Pro pellets (smaller than this . for those of you who have not seen them) with his daphnia and he is feeling deprived but we are taking it slow. But overall, I think he is healthy just looks awful.
Rose

I guess the most important thing is being healthy, but they're so beautiful we really want them to look it too. I'm glad he is moving up and you'll have him back to his old self, i'm sure. really glad for him recovering, he sounded pretty bad off there. he's got his betta mommy taking care of him good.