How Long Should This Take?!

[MermaidMel]

Sorry for the sketchy title, wanted you to be curious and read it

I set up a 3.3g for my betta earlier, the water went in at 19 and has taken 3 hours so far to get to 23. It's a hydor mini 7.5W undergravel heater (only thin layer of gravel) and it's designed for 2-5g tanks, so you'd think it's perfect for the 3.3g

The last 2 nights, I've had my betta in a 1g which is being heated by the main tank lights its sitting on and it's keeping it quite warm at about 80 but I'm not sure if I can keep the lights for a 3rd night whilst the other tank heats (if it heats!) as this might be dangerous??

I know he's happy at the warmer temp he keeps building bubble nests, I don't want to transfer him from a warmer tank to a cooler tank, this is too stressful, I could maybe leave him off the lights til it gets to 23 then transfer him.

I don't want to upset him, I'm getting stressed out over all this, can you tell?!

How long should it take for the hydor mini to heat the 3.3g to a decent temp-maybe it's done? 23 isn't warm enough is it?

Oh halp!!!!!!! (also posted in betta forum)

 

[DevUK]

I believe those mini heaters are designed to heat to a certain temperature above room temp, or just to a certain temp. You might find that it only goes to 25 deg C. Double check the instructions

As for moving him. If you find it won't heat all the way to 30 deg C then do what you were thinking and let his current bowl cool slowly (don't leave it overnight as you won't be able to check on him). when the temp is the same, move him accross gently

 

[rdd1952]

Just float a hot water bottle in the tank to raise the temp, use the 80" water from the 1 gallon to do a water change to raise it or simply put warm water from the tap in the tank to raise it to where you want it. I use warm water all the time in the winter to do my water changes. I just let it run for about 30 seconds to a minute to clear the pipes.

 

[MermaidMel]

I left Jai on the tank lights overnight to keep him warm and when I came down this morning the new 3.3g is steady at 27 which is PERFECT for him, I'm over the moon. He's come off the tank lights to cool him by 3 then I'll float him in the 3.3g and yep, when I do water changes I use warm water too, though usually I use the kettle because it cleans the water up, then I add it to cold, de-chlorinated water from my filtered tap to get the right temp - top tip if you have a filter tap, much nicer for the fishies!Xx