It's been hotter than usual the past couple of days. It might have been up to about 82 or 83 in the house at various times during the past couple of days. I have a cheap heater in my tank that does not keep a constant heat. You just turn it up or down based on the current temperature. I don't know if it was coming on or not...I would guess no. I have a new heater that keeps a constant heat but I haven't put it in the tank yet because we were supposed to move a month ago and I thought I would just put it in once we set up the tank in the new house. Our closing keeps getting pushed back and now here we are in the summer with an 83 degree house.
To top it off, we have been quite busy the past few days and while I have fed my fish each day and I target feed my frogs every other day, I didn't do my usual head count. My tank has been very stable for months. I have not added any fish since sometime in 2008 and have not lost a fish since before I added the last fish and even then I have not lost many fish at all. Only toward the beginning of the tank setup so this has been a very healthy tank. My water parameters are always good. I do weekly to biweekly water changes depending on our activities.
Today I noticed my gouramis acting kind of squirly and one of the snails laying funny in the tank. I fed the fish and then fed the frogs. When I put my hand in the water, I noticed that it felt warm and when I checked, it was up to 85!!! I guess hot house plus light over top = 85 degrees? I quickly did a head count and realized that I hadn't seen the male blue ram eating sure enough there he was all sad and broken in the corner.
He is now totally colorless (was VERY vibrant before), both bottom fins are chewed off and much of his back tail is chewed off. When he swims, his back tail is going up a bit in a funny way. So SAD. His name is Mark. Mark has always been a nice big, bright and healthly guy who basically ruled the tank so this was very sad to see him like this.
I quickly tested the water to make sure all was good and it was. I then did a 40-45% water change to cool down the tank a bit. I brought it down to 80 degrees. I didn't want to drop it too far, obviously. As soon as the water change was completed, Mark came out and I saw him eating. He has been swimming around a bit and is no longer hiding but still is colorless, lifeless eyes and of course chewed up fins.
Other than what I have done already, is there anything else that I can do to help him? Do you think he'll be ok? Will his fins grow back? How do I keep my tank from getting so hot in the summer? Should I keep the light on at night instead of during the day?
Thanks for reading and any advice that you may have!
Info:
29 gallon tank
5 cardinal tetras
2 dwarf gourami
2 blue rams
1 fancy tail guppy
1 bushy nosed pleco
2 dwarf frogs
1 otto
4 dwarf cory cats
3 red arc pencilfish
1 mystery snail
2 zebra nerites
I feed a wide variety of food including shrimp sinking pellets, fish flakes, algae wafers once a week when the lights are out, snail jello, and occasionally cooked broccoli or fresh cucumbers.
Please no over stocked comments. The tank is heavily planted and like I said, it has been very stable and everyone has been quite happy and healthy for many months now. Plus the dwarf catfish are teeny tiny little things.
To top it off, we have been quite busy the past few days and while I have fed my fish each day and I target feed my frogs every other day, I didn't do my usual head count. My tank has been very stable for months. I have not added any fish since sometime in 2008 and have not lost a fish since before I added the last fish and even then I have not lost many fish at all. Only toward the beginning of the tank setup so this has been a very healthy tank. My water parameters are always good. I do weekly to biweekly water changes depending on our activities.
Today I noticed my gouramis acting kind of squirly and one of the snails laying funny in the tank. I fed the fish and then fed the frogs. When I put my hand in the water, I noticed that it felt warm and when I checked, it was up to 85!!! I guess hot house plus light over top = 85 degrees? I quickly did a head count and realized that I hadn't seen the male blue ram eating sure enough there he was all sad and broken in the corner.
He is now totally colorless (was VERY vibrant before), both bottom fins are chewed off and much of his back tail is chewed off. When he swims, his back tail is going up a bit in a funny way. So SAD. His name is Mark. Mark has always been a nice big, bright and healthly guy who basically ruled the tank so this was very sad to see him like this.I quickly tested the water to make sure all was good and it was. I then did a 40-45% water change to cool down the tank a bit. I brought it down to 80 degrees. I didn't want to drop it too far, obviously. As soon as the water change was completed, Mark came out and I saw him eating. He has been swimming around a bit and is no longer hiding but still is colorless, lifeless eyes and of course chewed up fins.
Other than what I have done already, is there anything else that I can do to help him? Do you think he'll be ok? Will his fins grow back? How do I keep my tank from getting so hot in the summer? Should I keep the light on at night instead of during the day?
Thanks for reading and any advice that you may have!
Info:
29 gallon tank
5 cardinal tetras
2 dwarf gourami
2 blue rams
1 fancy tail guppy
1 bushy nosed pleco
2 dwarf frogs
1 otto
4 dwarf cory cats
3 red arc pencilfish
1 mystery snail
2 zebra nerites
I feed a wide variety of food including shrimp sinking pellets, fish flakes, algae wafers once a week when the lights are out, snail jello, and occasionally cooked broccoli or fresh cucumbers.
Please no over stocked comments. The tank is heavily planted and like I said, it has been very stable and everyone has been quite happy and healthy for many months now. Plus the dwarf catfish are teeny tiny little things.
