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Due to lack of room and expense I am thinking of setting up many smaller aquariums 1-5g but heaters are still expensive and are limited to 50w no such thing as a 5w heater other than that does anyone have any suggestion
PS
I am good a diy and am willing to try anything cheap with easy to find materials

Hi,
Well a couple of thoughts come to mind. First unless the
tanks must be kept over 76, you could simply maintain the
room houseing the fish slightly warmer by some means.
Or,you could use a heating pad. Spread the pad out on the
shelf and lay a piece of cloth over it to hide it and then
set the tanks atop of the pad. Use the heating pads that
are designed for that such as those that are used to warm
reptile cages. They fit between the tank and the shelf.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I second the heat strip, but obviously try it and adjust it as needed fully set up but minus fish in case something happens.

Also, there are little 7 watt heaters available, one example can be found at wal*mart.

That is a good idea but is it easy to find? and are the heating pads expensive?

commercial heating pads are under 15 dollars, and can be readily found at any pet shop that has anything to do with reptiles.

Is it any good? I mean have you guys ever tryed it? Or will I be pioniring new technology?:-0

There are the "junior" heaters at Walmart (not sure how easy to find they will be) which are 7.5 watts. I've heard good and bad reports on them. Some people have gotten the heater and it didn't work at all, I have one and it seemed to work pretty well, though it wasn't as temperature constant as some other heaters. There's no way to adjust the heat, you just plug it in and deal with what you get.

25 watt heaters are becoming more readily available. I've used these in tanks from 1-5 gallons and they work well. I've found the temperature very stable and you just have to keep an eye on the smaller tanks, because, of course, they'll heat up more quickly than the larger ones if there happens to be a malfunction.

I've never tried the heating pads, but they do seem like a nice solution. I believe you can also find them in gardening supply shops, as they are used to promote seedling growth. Someone here has one from there, and it's quite long... I believe there's perhaps half a dozen betta tanks on the heating pad? It's long and narrow, I gather. Sounds like a great solution to me, and something like that would decrease the number of cords you need for multiple setups.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

10x all I will go out and try to find it asap and I will let you know how it turns out