Fish bowl cozy

[Girlymomwithsons]

So here is a weird request. A friend stopped by today to give us a present, a beta fish in a bowl. My boys LOVE it. I am totally unprepared for this new pet, although she did give us the food and water preperation stuff that we need. THe bad part is that we heat our home with a wood stove, and we had been out all morning, so it was cold in our house. :The poor little fish's water temperature dropped very quickly, so I am now encouraging a raging fire to warm up the air, and checking her water temperature while her bowl rests in a shallow warm water bath. I can tell I am going to lose sleep worrying that she is too cold, at least until summer, when I worry that she is too warm. We don't want to set up our big tank, it costs too much to run. So my short term solution, that is very indicative of my new addiction, is to knit her a bowl cozy. Like a tea cozy. I even have the perfect yarn for it. I just need a pattern. Google gives me nothing. Anyone have any ideas? I could just go for it and figure it out, but the yarn I want to use is very fuzzy, and doesn't frog well, I don't want to wreck it playing around.

[Kyamo]

I could be way off here, but are you sure it would even work? Knitted stuff keeps humans warm because it traps the warmth that our bodies produce and less heat escapes. But a fish is cold blooded, so although the bowl may cool slower, won't it eventually drop to your cold room temperature? Unless you have a lightbulb or something else producing heat in the tank. My parents-in-law have their betta in a small plastic tank (1 gal?) that has a lightbulb. The lightbulb keeps him warm enough, although their house sounds warmer than yours.

Anyways, even if I'm wrong and it will work, I doubt you'll have much luck finding a pattern, since fishbowls vary a lot in size and shape. I'd just measure every dimension of the bowl and use that and my gauge to do the math to make a simple pattern.

[beansricerevolt]

You could even place the bowl under a lamp. An average house hold light bulb will keep a fish bowl warm enough.

[Sage_SS]

so funny!

Beta's are cold water fish. They live in shallow, murky mud puddles. They can survive warm water, but prefer cold water.

[Girlymomwithsons]

You guys are all so smart. I wanted to knit the cozy (mostly because I am newly addicted to knitting) for at night when the house cools off, to slow the cooling of the water. I know that betas prefer cold water, but the print out our friend gave us told me they prefer between 21-29C. When she had been in our kitchen for about an hour, the temp of her water had dropped to 10C. She was fine, but not moving around much, and my son wanted to watch her do stuff. Now that the house has warmed up, her water is at 24C and she is happy and moving around a lot.

So thanks for all the fish advice. Any thoughts on the knitting though? I thought it would look nice to have a cozy on the bottom third of the bowl. Just for fun, mostly. Thanks!

By the way, Sage SS, did you go to Sunnyside elementary?

[Sage_SS]

Nope, I'm in BC. There is no Sunnyside Elem. in my city, tho I did live on a street named that!

Beta's also don't move around alot. So don't be surprised if he (if he has long fins, its a male, the female's have short fins and are fatter) doesn't move around alot.
Oh, and in case you're wanting to get him a friend, it can't be another male because they'll fight to the death, and so you'd need to add TWO friends. One female will die due to exhaustion, as the male won't leave her alone, they're madly horny fish. You'd have to get two females for him. Or you can get him a gold fish, but not a fancy one, he'll attack anything with long fins.
Eventually, if your tank is big enough, you can put an algae eater in there. They are also cold water fish.

lol.. I just saw that you have a sheet of info so this stuff should be on there! Next time I'll read your whole post before replying!

[utopia760]

this is why i dont give pets as gifts - lol

[Girlymomwithsons]

[QUOTE=Sage_SS;10835789]Nope, I'm in BC. There is no Sunnyside Elem. in my city, tho I did live on a street named that!

QUOTE]

I grew up in BC, and went to that school with a girl named Sage. Your profile matches her COMPLETELY! Although I would be surprised if she has kids. Anyway...

Utopia760: I know. I am trying really hard not to wonder "WHAT THE HECK!" because I know it was a sweet gesture on thier part. They know my son loves to watch the fish at thier house. They also know we have a 30 gallon tank sitting empty in our basement. But, why didn't they wonder why it is empty? At least it wasn't a dog.

[Sage_SS]

lol.. where in BC?

[Girlymomwithsons]

Originally Posted by Sage_SS

lol.. where in BC?

South Surrey.

[Beth-TX]

I don't know what shape your fish bowl is, but maybe if you just knitted a ribbed tube, it would conform to the bowl's shape.

I like the idea of a fish bowl cozy. But I like to put cozies on everything (we have a great need for them here in cold, cold central Texas! ).

peace, Beth

[Girlymomwithsons]

Thanks for the suggestion Beth. I saw a pear cozy on line when I googled fish bowl cozy. Have you made those?

[Beth-TX]

Heh. Not yet, but I have made an apple cozy.

peace, Beth

[Sage_SS]

You're a Surrey Girl?!?!

just kidding

[Girlymomwithsons]

Beth, that is adorable! SageSS, I am, born and bred. Except I also lived in Nanaimo, Langley, Delta and now I'm in Alberta. Where are you?