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I have a small tank that at the minute is not in use. I am thinking of putting it in my room and putting a Betta in it. This tank is big enough for a Betta to live comfortably. The tank isn't heated, and has no light but it does have filtration. The tank would be in my bedroom and it would be at normal room temp. Would this be ok ?

As long as the room maintains a fairly steady temperature (bettas prefer mid- to upper-70's), you should be okay. Depending on the size of your tank, you can go out and find a heater... 25 watt heaters are available, though they can be a bit pricey. If you want to try your luck, check out Walmart, they have a "junior" heater meant for 2 to 5 gallon tanks.

I use the 25 watter heaters in both two and five gallon tanks and haven't had a problem with them. Just keep an eye on the temperature and you should be fine.

Last edited by Kitten at 25-Feb-2005 13:52

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Thanx. The only problem is the heating gets turned off a night time in my house. Would this be a problem ?

Depends on how far it drops... big temp changes aren't good. If it's a few degrees, your betta friend should be okay. However, I know the heat in my room goes down to 60-ish at night compared to 70-something during the day. I noticed my bettas weren't very active and rather sluggish, so I got the heaters. They're SO much happier now.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I'm not sure. My room is upstairs so it is generallly warmer than most of the rooms in the house. I've just read that Betta generally prefer calm water, so if i don't use the filter i'd have to do 50% water changes, would that be ok ?

Depends on the filter. I have a betta in a five gallon bowfront with an internal filter (came with the tank). The filter is set on the medium speed, I believe, and even with his loooong tail, he gets around easily.

I also keep bettas unfiltered (the betta I mentioned was an impulse buy and went into a currently running tank ) and the schedule for those is 100% water changes weekly. I remove the betta to a cup, dump out the water in the tank (these are two gallons, so easily moved about) and rinse everything out. There's no chance for the tank to cycle, so no need to worry that you're destroying good bacteria. Without filtration, you need to clean much more thoroughly.

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

Thanx 4 your help Kitten u've been a great help. I'll post what i'm gonna do when I've made up my mind.

yes it would be ok. u don't really need a hood, unless ur betta likes to fly. but it is good that u have a filter. good luck,
chris

Mmm... well, some bettas like to jump. A cover is a good idea, or just drop the water level a bit to prevent him from jumping out. I routinely hear a betta jumping up to hit the cover on their tanks... startles me to death most of the time, too!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~