Olly Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 I just looked at one of my tanks and the heater has been unplugged all night All but two maybe three fish appear to be dead The temp was 12 degrees. I did a warm water change and brought it up to 15 I have put some extra heaters in the tank too. Is there anything else I can do to help my fish survive? It was a growout tank for my young fish, it had 8 cockatoos, 2 angels, a bristlenose, a young pair of firemouths and a brown hap in it (tank is divided). the brown hap and the bristlenose are still swimming around, so should be ok. All the other fish are on their sides. One of the firemouths is still slowly breathing and moving his pectoral fin. one of the cockatoos is breathing too. None of the other fish have shown any sign of life yet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Plug the heater back in. That's all you can do. And you probably don't want to warm it faster than over maybe 5-10 hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Oh, and I wouldn't flush the "dead" fish yet. You're not dead until you're warm and dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twinkles Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 just let it come back up slowly, so it doesn't stress them out any more, and cross your fingers for the floaters good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 I know this from experience that bringing a tank up to temperature quickly will most likely harm if not kill the fish. Best thing you can do is plug the heater back in and leave it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olly Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 the tank is now 23 degrees The bristlenose and brown hap are fine the male firemouth is swimming around on its side on the bottom, occasionally getting upright Everything else is dead - 1 firemouth, 2 angels and 8 cockatoos (and 2 sets of wrigglers they had have died two) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwiplymouth Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I learnt the hard way too and now all my tanks that contain valuable or favourite fish have 2 heaters in them. The first is the primary heater and the second is set slightly lower and only ever turns on during water changes, extra cold nights or primary heater failure. Cheap insurance I recon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Gutted mate I am very sorry to hear about your losses But also glad to hear that some survived, keep a good eye on them over the next few days for whitespot etc as changes in temps can cause issues.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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