raising betta's tank temp?

[Splashes]

Now that Splashes (the fish!) is finally getting rid of his columnaris (posted on disease board), I want to raise his temp a few degrees. Can I safely just give the heater one click up and raise the temp a degree or two at a time that way? How quickly can we change the temp? I know they don't like sudden changes, but is it ok in the course of a couple of hours or so?

He's in a 1g hospital tank. His tank has been about 76-77, but I want to raise it to 78, then 80 later. I want to acclimate him to the temp of his new, permanent home (2.5g tank) that's waiting for him. I plan to transfer him this weekend. ;D Yay!

[Rachel]

With your Hagen 25W? Raising the temp over the course of a day should be ok. Just do it one click at a time and wait a few hours to do it gradually as you planned. I've noticed with mine that sometimes it takes a few clicks to even raise the temp one degree, so just go slow and watch it. Making him gradually warmer wouldn't have as negative of an effect as if you were going colder or if the temperature change was a regular occurrence. So, basically your plan sounds just fine. Good luck with the tank switch.

[abm]

Rachel said:

Raising the temp over the course of a day should be ok. Just do it one click at a time and wait a few hours to do it gradually as you planned. I've noticed with mine that sometimes it takes a few clicks to even raise the temp one degree, so just go slow and watch it.

Just a note of caution: I've noticed with my Hagen 25watt'ers that SOMETIMES one click can cause a drastic temp change , as in heating more than 2 degrees per hour! I don't know why this should be the case, but as with everything else you do with your bettas, monitor any changes constantly to be sure all is proceeding well.

[Rachel]

abm said:

Just a note of caution: I've noticed with my Hagen 25watt'ers that SOMETIMES one click can cause a drastic temp change , as in heating more than 2 degrees per hour!

Wow, that's quite different than any of mine. Just from rotating the knob once? What size tank abm?
I guess the best thing is to use caution and go slow to prevent large temperature fluctuations as already mentioned. Let us know how it goes Splashes.

[abm]

Yup. One click. I've had it happen with one heater (out of 7 I've used, not bad, but still worth mentioning I think) and it happened when in a one gallon tank and also in the 2.5 gallon minibow it's in now.
Basically I just treat all heater adjustments as a potential hazard, do it only when absolutely needed, and watch watch WATCH the tank temp every few minutes until the heater goes off and the new temp is stable. In other words, I NEVER adjust the heater and then go to bed or off to work With my experiences, that's asking for disaster.

[Splashes]

Thanks! Yes, it's the Hagen 25w. I did click it up just once and it raised the temp to 78 after a few hours. I will probably click it up once more tomorrow to let him adjust slowly. But maybe it will heat too quickly in the 1 gal? Should I just leave him at 78 until transfered, then raise the temp of the 2.5 gal to 80 after he's settled?

The 2.5 gal is unheated at the moment. Not sure of the temp but it's not real cool due to the filter heat. I plan to move the heater over to the larger tank, let it sit until it's 78 (or the same temp he's in), then move him over. I don't think his 1 gal will cool too quickly, and I can always add heated, treated water to the 2.5 until it's right. Does that sound ok?

And I am being careful to watch the water temps -- will be extra careful now, abm. That's a big temp jump.