Setting Up 3 Gallon Critter Keeper

[wolfrad]

I will be setting up my 3 gallon Critter Keeper for one of my female bettas that are in 1 gallon tanks and I am needing a little help with a heater issue. Walmart has these 50 watt tetra whisper heaters for around 14.00 and the heater itself is preset to 78 degrees and is suppose to handle tanks from 3 to 15 gallons. My question is has anyone used these and are they worth throwing 14.00 dollars into. I figured I could at least buy one and take my chances until I could get a little more money to buy a better heater. What do you all think.

 

[HODDY]

This sounds stupid but i thought iwould try putting a 50watt into my new little 1g tank.And its on a constant 79!!! I was chuffed becuase i thought it would set the tank alight!

 

[zoekin8yg]

you'd be better with a 25 watt heater for a small tank

 

[1ncubu5]

and one with a thermostat

 

[stang1]

Zoe is right. I have 25w heaters in my Betta tanks and have no problems with them.

 

[Jaded12]

yeah 25W should work just fine. One question though, how many females will you be putting in there? Female should be in groups of at least 3-4 and 3 gallons is a bit snug for that I would think, maybe 3 in 3 gallons would work...

 

[wolfrad]

I will only be putting one female in the tank, the only 25 watt heater that I've seen at walmart is a small 7.00 dollar one that's pre-set. I have 50 watts in 2 of my 5 gallon tanks and 1 100 watt in my other 5 gallon tank and they all seem to be O.K. the 100 watt keeps the water at a constant 76 degrees, it has a small pygmy platy in it---the other 2 50 watt heaters are set where they keep the water at 78 degrees constant. Now this little heater is probably only 5-6 inches long and fully submersible, since it's rated at 3 gallon on up would it hurt to at least try it out.
Also what type of 25 watt heater are you all using in your small tanks.

 

[Jaded12]

I will only be putting one female in the tank, the only 25 watt heater that I've seen at walmart is a small 7.00 dollar one that's pre-set. I have 50 watts in 2 of my 5 gallon tanks and 1 100 watt in my other 5 gallon tank and they all seem to be O.K. the 100 watt keeps the water at a constant 76 degrees, it has a small pygmy platy in it---the other 2 50 watt heaters are set where they keep the water at 78 degrees constant. Now this little heater is probably only 5-6 inches long and fully submersible, since it's rated at 3 gallon on up would it hurt to at least try it out.
Also what type of 25 watt heater are you all using in your small tanks.

Ah ok, my apologies, I misread your first post

 

[wolfrad]

I will only be putting one female in the tank, the only 25 watt heater that I've seen at walmart is a small 7.00 dollar one that's pre-set. I have 50 watts in 2 of my 5 gallon tanks and 1 100 watt in my other 5 gallon tank and they all seem to be O.K. the 100 watt keeps the water at a constant 76 degrees, it has a small pygmy platy in it---the other 2 50 watt heaters are set where they keep the water at 78 degrees constant. Now this little heater is probably only 5-6 inches long and fully submersible, since it's rated at 3 gallon on up would it hurt to at least try it out.
Also what type of 25 watt heater are you all using in your small tanks.

Ah ok, my apologies, I misread your first post

Na, it kind of sounds different than I thought, sometimes my mind and my fingers/mouth don't seem to work in conjuction with one another.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

hrmm, why not get a 10 gallon and set that up? they are like 10 bucks at petsmart. you can put like 4-6 females in there depending on how aggressive they are. if you really insist on setting up a 3 gallon, you can probably get a one with a thermostat for like 15 bucks. hagen thermal compact 25w. i have one and it works great as long as you set it up correctly

 

[wolfrad]

hrmm, why not get a 10 gallon and set that up? they are like 10 bucks at petsmart. you can put like 4-6 females in there depending on how aggressive they are. if you really insist on setting up a 3 gallon, you can probably get a one with a thermostat for like 15 bucks. hagen thermal compact 25w. i have one and it works great as long as you set it up correctly

I have 2 10 gallon tanks here in the apartment but I've tried putting female bettas in one about year and half ago and I lost 2-3 of my 5 females due to fighting or herassment. I thought it would be better to get the 3 gallon setup and running, however if someone has any idea on setting up a tank where I'd have a good opportunity to save all 4 of my females I'd love to just have one tank instead of 4 smaller tanks.

 

[davidnso]

i saw a 10 gallon at petco for about ~$11..but it has no cover. are covers necessary for tanks? or would a filter + heater do fine

 

[zoekin8yg]

i saw a 10 gallon at petco for about ~$11..but it has no cover. are covers necessary for tanks? or would a filter + heater do fine

With bettas its ideal to have a cover as they are quite good at jumping out.

 

[Mikaila31]

I use the small 25watt heater you saw at walmart for my bettas 3gal. tank. The only problem I have is that the tank doesn't have a filter so the water is heated unevenly. Also the heater is suppose to have a saftey that will turn it off if it goes above the preset temp, But this saftey turns the heater off permently and you will have to buy a new one.

Other than that I think the heater is well worth the $6-$7 you have to pay for it.

 

[fishwatcher]

I have that same little $7 heater from Walmart in my 3-gal betta tank. It works ok, but it only keeps it about 70 at night (we let our house get down to about 60 at night though). Works good for the money IMO.