Unfortunately a few days ago my tank flooded. I got distracted and accidentally left the fill hose running. It flooded the room pretty bad and we had to call in the water cleanup crew. They used a water vac. and then put in a couple giant fans and a de-humidifier. It was working great, but I noticed the next morning that my room was getting pretty hot. Of course I was worried about my fish, but I had to leave so I filled a couple of gallon bags and put 2 in the big tank and one in my small tank. The room temp. at that time was about 96 degrees, and my thermometer only reads up 99 in my room. When I next went to check on my fish it was 7:30 p.m. I got up there, and the room was upwards of 100 degrees. I went and felt the tank glass, and it was very hot. My Kribensis were breeding at the time, so I checked them first. Both the mother and the father were dead, and that was in the big tank. I could only imagine what had happened to the cichlids in my small tank. In all 7 Harlequin Rasboras (so the whole school), my 2 Kribensis and all their newly hatched fry, my nearly foot long leporinus, 4 shellies, an upside down catfish, a bn pleco, my blue guppy male, and my glowlight tetra all perished in the heat. Its the worst tragedy I've ever experienced with my tanks, and even though I know the fish can be replaced, their personalities can't.
So here's some tips and advice to prevent this happening to you. If you have anything to add to add to list, feel free to post it! First, don't think that fish can't die from over-heating! The night they were all cooked I read on other forum that fish apparently can't die from overheating, that, just like humans, heat may make them uncomfortable but it doesn't kill them. Yeah, well it does. All the readings in my tanks were fine, they had multiple air stones going in each tank, and they still died in the heat. And of course humans can die from overheating... HEAT STROKE??!! Second, if you live in an area where your fish room temperatures tend to escalate, maybe you should invest in a cooling system. I remember thinking that morning, maybe I should pick up a cooling system while I'm out, and deciding against it. I really wish I had called and asked one of my family members to bring one home. Third, keep thermometers in ALL of your tanks! I know this is kind of just common sense, but my big tank was without a thermometer, having broken it a few weeks ago, so I had to guess at the temperature. Luckily the small tank had one (which read 100 degrees when I went up at 7pm), so I transferred that one over to the big one while I was trying to drop the temperature to make sure I didn't make it drop to fast and stress the fish further. Fourth, try to keep either an air stone or something to agitate the surface water in the tank handy (or just keep it in the tank), to make sure that your fish are getting adequate oxygen. This is especially important as the temperature rises, since the oxygen saturation of the water will drop.
If you are experiencing high temperatures in your tank, here are a few things that you can do. Check the thermometer. Generally, if the temperature if below 90 degrees, you can cool the tank pretty efficiently by simply putting a fan at such an angle that it blows across the surface water of the tank. If its above 90 degrees though and your fish are experiencing rapid breathing or increased activity, you may need to cool the tank more quickly. To do this, you can introduce a bag of ice. I highly recommend you not put the ice cubes directly in the water, as they may contain foreign contaminants, or be made with water containing chlorine or another chemical. If the temperature outside is less then the temperature in the room, and the room has windows, opening the windows and cooling the room will make a significant change in the tank temperature after a few hours. If the ice and fan are not cooling the tank enough after about an hour or two, you need to do a partial water change with cooler water. I would do no more than 30% of the tank, unless you are experiencing extreme temperatures, like above 100 degrees as I was, in which case I changed about 45% of the water. Do not refill the tank with ice cold water though. Try to refill it with water that is only a few degrees cooler than your tank water. For example, if your tank is at 96 degrees, I think it would be okay to probably refill the tank with water anywhere from 86-90 degrees. If you do water changes like this over the course of a few hours, your tank will cool in such a way that it shouldn't shock the fish. Check the tank temperature regularly during this process though, to make sure that you don't go from one temp. extreme to another. If you find your tank overheated and your fish dead, remove the dead fish! Allowing them to stay in the tank while trying to cool it is not only disgusting, but its bad for the rest of your fish as it releases ammonia and other wastes into the water.
Please note that these are simply guidelines, and are not the only way to cool a tank. When you go about cooling your tank in anyway, watch your fish closely for signs of stress and illness during and for a few days after the ordeal. Shocking your fish with a drastic temperature change is just as harmful as letting them overheat. Please use caution and common sense when doing anything with your fish tank, and never leave a filling up tank unwatched
In memory of Dragon the leporinus, Rosy and Sam the Kribensis, Harlequin Rasbora 1,2,3,4,5,6, and 7 (could never tell them apart ), Gale, Todd, Cuty, and Lady the shellies, Emerald the guppy, Spots the pleco., Whiskers the Catfish, Bulb the tetra, and countless Kribensis and Shelly babies that died the same night their lives started.
So here's some tips and advice to prevent this happening to you. If you have anything to add to add to list, feel free to post it! First, don't think that fish can't die from over-heating! The night they were all cooked I read on other forum that fish apparently can't die from overheating, that, just like humans, heat may make them uncomfortable but it doesn't kill them. Yeah, well it does. All the readings in my tanks were fine, they had multiple air stones going in each tank, and they still died in the heat. And of course humans can die from overheating... HEAT STROKE??!! Second, if you live in an area where your fish room temperatures tend to escalate, maybe you should invest in a cooling system. I remember thinking that morning, maybe I should pick up a cooling system while I'm out, and deciding against it. I really wish I had called and asked one of my family members to bring one home. Third, keep thermometers in ALL of your tanks! I know this is kind of just common sense, but my big tank was without a thermometer, having broken it a few weeks ago, so I had to guess at the temperature. Luckily the small tank had one (which read 100 degrees when I went up at 7pm), so I transferred that one over to the big one while I was trying to drop the temperature to make sure I didn't make it drop to fast and stress the fish further. Fourth, try to keep either an air stone or something to agitate the surface water in the tank handy (or just keep it in the tank), to make sure that your fish are getting adequate oxygen. This is especially important as the temperature rises, since the oxygen saturation of the water will drop.
If you are experiencing high temperatures in your tank, here are a few things that you can do. Check the thermometer. Generally, if the temperature if below 90 degrees, you can cool the tank pretty efficiently by simply putting a fan at such an angle that it blows across the surface water of the tank. If its above 90 degrees though and your fish are experiencing rapid breathing or increased activity, you may need to cool the tank more quickly. To do this, you can introduce a bag of ice. I highly recommend you not put the ice cubes directly in the water, as they may contain foreign contaminants, or be made with water containing chlorine or another chemical. If the temperature outside is less then the temperature in the room, and the room has windows, opening the windows and cooling the room will make a significant change in the tank temperature after a few hours. If the ice and fan are not cooling the tank enough after about an hour or two, you need to do a partial water change with cooler water. I would do no more than 30% of the tank, unless you are experiencing extreme temperatures, like above 100 degrees as I was, in which case I changed about 45% of the water. Do not refill the tank with ice cold water though. Try to refill it with water that is only a few degrees cooler than your tank water. For example, if your tank is at 96 degrees, I think it would be okay to probably refill the tank with water anywhere from 86-90 degrees. If you do water changes like this over the course of a few hours, your tank will cool in such a way that it shouldn't shock the fish. Check the tank temperature regularly during this process though, to make sure that you don't go from one temp. extreme to another. If you find your tank overheated and your fish dead, remove the dead fish! Allowing them to stay in the tank while trying to cool it is not only disgusting, but its bad for the rest of your fish as it releases ammonia and other wastes into the water.
Please note that these are simply guidelines, and are not the only way to cool a tank. When you go about cooling your tank in anyway, watch your fish closely for signs of stress and illness during and for a few days after the ordeal. Shocking your fish with a drastic temperature change is just as harmful as letting them overheat. Please use caution and common sense when doing anything with your fish tank, and never leave a filling up tank unwatched
In memory of Dragon the leporinus, Rosy and Sam the Kribensis, Harlequin Rasbora 1,2,3,4,5,6, and 7 (could never tell them apart
), Gale, Todd, Cuty, and Lady the shellies, Emerald the guppy, Spots the pleco., Whiskers the Catfish, Bulb the tetra, and countless Kribensis and Shelly babies that died the same night their lives started.
