Janelle Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 Sadly, one of my borneo suckers has passed away. I suspect the cold. It was my little stripey one. RIP little fish. I'm sorry I could not afford a heater for you. =( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdspider Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 OMG Janelle same thing happened to my baby! For the same reason I think. He's in an unheated tank & it was freezing to touch. (eel is cool with it though). He was upside down, i moved him to a tropical tank but he still died. So sad, he was so cute Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted July 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 I'm so sorry to hear, bdspider. I completely sympathise! Mine wasn't upside-down but I knew immediately she wasn't alive. She never sits on the gravel that way.... I still haven't had the heart to dispose of the body. I keep thinking maybe she will suddenly, miraculously spring back to life, but I know that's not possible. I may have to bury her in the garden. There is one other borneo sucker in my tank. I may quickly buy a heater on TradeMe so it will be quickly delivered, maybe in time to save him, but I don't even know if he is alive either since I haven't seen him in days. I can tell they are struggling because the algae is growing on my glass again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted July 10, 2007 Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 There's a reason that it's generally advised to have a heater even in a coldwater tank...Most NZ houses don't have a clue what insulation is, let alone actually have any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted July 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2007 Well, I'm aware of that, but I have not had the money for it. There was a moment when I did have the money for it and was just about to buy one when my car registration became due. =( My case is worse than some since the tank is bordered on two sides by windows. Not my idea... I got last pick for where I could place my tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 If the other is alive maybe you can do some warm water changes to help? get the water up a few degrees until you get a heater? What a bummer. They're not cheap either huh?! Thanks for the update though. I'm still tempted to get some but after speaking to you I was pretty sure I'd need a heater as well! (I might bite the bullet and get one for my bigger tank once I set it up cause with the houses so cold it really does seriously limit the options!) Hope you find the other and that it recovers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted July 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 I was thinking of doing some warm water changes. Is that really safe for the fish? I have this bad feeling I'll do it wrong and shock them with too much change at once. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 I have some 'baby' goldfish in a plastic tub indoors (waiting for spring to go backoutside) and their water gets cold. When I change it I often add some warmer water. Many of the tropical folks do their water changes with cold water with no problems so I'd assume the reverse could be true. It will of course only cool back down but the forecast looks like it won't be as cold overnight as it has been lately so maybe if you can get the temp up a bit it would have a better chance of staying that way. Can you heat the room? Or maybe move the fish into a bucket and keep that in a warm room till you work something else out if it means keeping it alive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted July 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 No worries.... dropped into a pet store on the way home, bit the bullet, and stuck a heater on my credit card. It's all plugged in now. Hopefully my other borneo sucker comes out from the rocks alive and kicking... and not dead and rotting... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 what have you got the heater set to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 What's your temperature right now? They should handle cold temperatures as they usually thrive at temperature of about 18. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted July 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 You know what, I don't know... And I found my second borneo sucker had died too. *sigh* I had a thermometer on my tank and my boyfriend took it to use with his siamese fighter. I didn't even want to touch the water, so I wouldn't be surprised if it goes down to 12 degrees in the early morning. Later in the evening we have the fire going to keep the room warmer. I'm going to try to work the heater up to a constant 20 in the end.... And now I have a heater, I need to hunt for more borneo suckers since the algae is growing in my tank again... >_> Am I a bad fishkeeper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael.qian Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 Are you sure your water is ok? Test for nitrate, ammonia and pH, also borneo suckers like some hiding places and a current in the tank, they won't like it if the water is perfectly still. Good idea to make sure the water parameters are ok before buying any, they are expensive to lose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted July 11, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 I'd had these for about three months? No problems before it got cold. I have a powerhead in the tank to keep the water swift at least at one end and they generally hung out wherever the food was regardless of current. I have large, smooth rocks in the tank they used to play around in, and one broad-leafed plant one used to enjoy sucking a lot. Their absence is almost immediately known from the amount of green stuff suddenly growing on my glass and rocks, which I suspect wasn't helped by the fact they had died in there.... When it first began to get cold they turned pale and stopped moving around so much, so the temperature is my main suspect. It has been getting to temperatures around the -5 range in my area and my tank is bordered by two large, drafty windows on two sides. In the morning when we first come into this side of the house we can see our breath on the air - it gets that cold even inside. I could test for pH but to test for Ammonia I would have to borrow a test kit. I suspect it would be a little higher due to the fact I just had two dead fish in there and I haven't changed the water in two weeks because it's so freakin' cold in there.... I haven't been feeding the fish much as it's been getting colder either and I have a few plants in there, and of course the new algae.... I can't be sure, but they were very happy before the winter snap, even when the temperature first started to fall. It wasn't until after the first frosts they began to lose their colour and energy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted July 11, 2007 Report Share Posted July 11, 2007 I think you are right - the cold weather you folks have had lately is pretty severe, the cold overnight and not warming up much during the day. Around that temp we used to get ice forming on the inside of the windows at our old farm house. The borneo suckers aren't really 'cold water' fish like a goldfish or even a WCMM, they like the cooler end of the tropical temps though. A small heater in there, turned down to it's min temp (~20c) would be a good precaution for your winters I think. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janelle Posted July 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 When I first got the borneo suckers my tank was averaging 20-24 degrees in summer, so it wasn't a problem, and I had been worrying ever since the temperature started dropping since I could see them getting pale. My heater has a minimum temp of 18 but I've put it onto 20 because I think it would struggle a little. My new heater is 100 watt and my tank is about 70-75 litres. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jn Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 Hey Janelle, I think Organism still had some Borneo suckers on their stock list if you want more. He posts an update every Friday (or just about) in the commercial trade and exchange section so keep an eye out. michael.qian : I'd be interested to know what sort of temp your coldwater tanks get down to in AKL just out of curiosity. Mine here in chch is sitting around 12 and warms up to about 15 after running the fireplace for a while (it's in the next room) but always cools back down to 12 by morning. Ianab: I had ice on the inside of my windows on Sunday morning.. didn't start thawing till after noon!! Brrrrrrrr! Of course this is better than flooding or tornadoes so can't complain too much!!! If the sun would just come out once in a while I'd be very impressed! It's been awfully 'shy' lately! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted July 12, 2007 Report Share Posted July 12, 2007 My new heater is 100 watt and my tank is about 70-75 litres. That will be fine, I have a little 50w unit in one of my 70l tanks. It drops a couple of degrees on cold nights, but not enough to upset the fish. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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