heating for a large betta collection

[Levelz]

hi all, i have a problem with keeping my betta's worm

i have over 20 betta in my garage in glass jars and the temps are getting very cold of a night..

i was wondering if any of you knew ways to heat all my collection with the least amount of power as possible.

i have some large plastic tubs i could put the jars in with heaters but that would still need 3 or 4 heaters and i was hoping to do it all with 1 good size heater

any help would be much appreciated.

[Bettarazzi]

Search for reptile heating cords on eBay. You can place the jars directly on the cord. 6m cord costs around $25.

Thermostats are separate and a lot more expensive. I managed to find a thermostat which was for an aquarium heater where the heater was plugged into the thermostat. I had to buy the whole unit which from memory was about $45 (hmmm not sure about that price). I then unplugged that heater and plugged in a powerboard instead. Then I was able to plug 4 heating cords into that. But I was heating 65 containers so it was worth it. Alternatively you could put a timer on the cord. Takes a bit of trial and error but I was able to eventually get it to come on and off to maintain temperature quite well.

If you could section off part of your garage and insulate it that would be the best solution. Or create an insulated cupboard.

[DenningA.Rajit]

What I normally do is to ask my lfs if they have any empty fish box to spare. If they do, ask them for their longest box they have. I put a brick on either side and one in the middle. As, I wasn't able to source out egg crates, I used leftover tiles that was used for the floor and laid the tiles on top of the bricks.

The heater will be situated under the tiles.

Because the box is made out of styrofoam box, i think its pretty good insulator to keep the heat in and cold out. So, far I'm quite happy with it and so are my fishes.

I'm currently jarring 9 fish in one box. I have a longer box which could jar at least 18 in one box.

I'm still playing around with the idea of the heating chord. I'm looking for a heating chord that could be submerged under water. But, so far most of the chords are water resistant not water proof.

[melbournebetta]

The fighters will not do well without stable temp of 26-28 even in the day.... keep an eye out for disease if they've been getting cold at night.

This is the principal of Bain Marie style heating (but not with apron)

Bain marie style heating works for me - this is how:

I get a large plastic storage tub from Kmart/officeworks $20

Then multiple of these, I like the really tall ones that are 1lt each, or taller and BIGGER - beanie boxes work really well too (bit more $) or glass jars - but be careful they aren't in contact with the heater

Poke holes in lid, fill these quite high with water (enough that fish can breathe) then put all of these into the storage box, fill it with water (not higher than the level in your small containers)

Then shove a heater in the bottom of the plastic box.

you have to be careful of evaporation and check the water level every day - you also need to do very regular water changes

Amazing - best for a grow out situation as you can't really see the fish, it's no display tank, but if you want that - look into divided barracks that you can filter and heat.

-Ness

[Pez]

I've seen thermostat power boards like razzi mentioned on HK eBay for around the $25 mark..

As a similar idea to Ness, you could use a plastic bin as a water reservoir with heater. Go Bain Marie style but use a pump to pull water from the bin into the tub and overflow back into the bin. It should give you a larger thermal mass (more consistent temp) and should allow for more evaporation...

[Alucard]

Hi I had the same worries before the cold arrived. My quickest solution was setting up a standard 3 foot tank and throw in about 15 Betta 5 of them are males, most of them would just flare and run off if given enough space. But I still had about 20+ males left, I made a 5 section Betta tank out of acrylics and had holes drilled for water flows. Had suction cups installed and these stuck well inside my 3 foot tank so I made 4 of them. I've got a video posted on aus aqua Facebook site, my work is dodgy but with more time and effort you could probably make clear display barrack that hangs inside a larger tank. For filtratin I've got 2 sponges and an eheim 2217 , I've als got 3 l333 and 3 peps inside that 3 foot and planning to put more fish. Hope this help