Will bowls fluctuation levels be alright for my fish?

HI everyone!! Some background: I was recently gifted some starter supplies for a Betta by my roommate, they gave me the bare neccesities but no heater or fish so I could use personal preference. I put some water in the bowl to see how the temperature fluctuated, and they range from about 79 at noon to 72 by 10:30 pm. Now this is a tiny bowl- my roommate took pet store advice as gospel and now unwaveringly believes that is tiny .75 gal bowl will work (its the TopFin fishy fishy night bowl without the plastic light tube), and I personally am not 100% OK with the small bowl (the only thing keeping me from being more upset is that its better than the store cups on shelves, and it isn't a permanent arrangement). Since we live together, I can't just not use the bowl and say I did, I have that obligation to use it for just a little while, but then my fish will be upgraded to my old 2.5 gal filtered tank. But back to the question, I need to get a heater because I know temp fluctuations are bad for bettas, but I don't want to make fish soup in this tiny bowl. Will a 7.5 watt heater be enough to maintain a high 70s-low 80s temp in my little tank, and will it be enough to do the same when I can upgrade? Also, I know heaters need around and at least 24 hours to stabilize the temp, but I'm getting my Betta and my heater the same day, and despite the bowl's fluctuation I can't bring myself to keep my new fish in that tiny little petrI dish of a cup for 24 hours. Will my bowls fluctuation levels be alright for my fish until the heater can stabilize? I'm going to do the multI step acclimation, where you dip the cup to do temperature, then add the water to the cup a little at a time to acclimate water parameters, then net the fish into the bowl, so the heater should have time to start working before my Betta is all the way in the bowl.
Thank you all!!

 

honestly if your getting that kind of fluctuation in the coldest time of the year (assuming you live in the northern hemisphere) you probably don't need a heater.

also, since you have a small bowl you are going to need to do a lot of water changes (this is going to cause small temperature variations anyway even with a heater).

I hope this helps

 

It does, greatly.....I live in the western US and its only 20-40 degrees out at any given time right now
I just kind of wanted to get one, jiust in case, even if its just for backup when the house gets cold in the summer and with the water changes, I'm hoping to do at least a 25-50 pwc every day (I'm planning to get an ammonia test kit at the same time as the fish too) and a full change once a week, then adjust accordingly for the ammonia levels

 

if you want to get a heater the general rule is 5 watts per gallon
your betta should be happy with that water change schedule (you can probably change less water once you upgrade the tank)

 

Sounds good......I'll see if I can find any minI heaters that are around 5W, sometimes the pet store gets odds and ends like that in
And I'm happy to hear that, this is going to be my first Betta, I've only ever had chilly water fish (I bought cheap fish labeled as goldfish and found out later that they were just gold-orange feeder fish!), I'm hoping to toss in a sprig or two of live Elodea to help with the day to day water quality

 

It does, greatly.....I live in the western US and its only 20-40 degrees out at any given time right now
I just kind of wanted to get one, jiust in case, even if its just for backup when the house gets cold in the summer and with the water changes, I'm hoping to do at least a 25-50 pwc every day (I'm planning to get an ammonia test kit at the same time as the fish too) and a full change once a week, then adjust accordingly for the ammonia levels

I would recommend getting the API freshwater master test kit to test for ammonia, but whatever you get don't get the test strips.

 

Yea a minI heater will do the trick. Also. Live plants, the smaller the better (they have anubias Nanna and micro swords, as well as similar small plants attached to a decoration or the like) will help greatly with water quality between changes! And finally. Get a turkey baster, as it will help to suck up poop and bits of uneaten food that get left behind, also a great help in preserving water quality between changes!

 

Hi, welcome to the forum

I think that temperature change daily would be stressful for the fish so I am glad you are getting a heater. Personally I would just return the bowl and use the money for the heater. You can always say you forgot you have this other tank but would love to use that exchange for some decorations and a heater (or something like that). I wouldn't think anyone would find that insulting especially if they've never kept a betta? It would be so much easier on you and better for your new pal

 

I would've thought so too, but In a way I feel kind of stuck now; I made a new post about it actually, but they could be home tomorrow, and I'm not entirely sure where my old tank is at the moment (it could be in the garage rafters but I'm a big scaredy cat when it comes to heights), but if I can't find it before they get back I'll just have to use it, it didn't cost enough to exchange for a new decently sized tank, so I'll have to use it until I can find my other one
Update:
I know a couple people said I probably won't need a heater, but I especially want one for this summer- I had the window open because I shampooed the carpet so it could dry, and left it that way when I went to work....long story short, it was 66 in my house when I got home, and the tank was only 71. It gets to the high 90s outside in the summer here, sometimes the hundreds, but we keep the house around 65 during that time, and even though I may not need a heater when our house is at its normal winter temperature of 75, I will definitely need one in the summer!!!