weekend tragedy :(

caseopia

caseopia

AC Members
Sep 16, 2004
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Southwest Florida
i just came back from a long weekend at my parents' house, where I helped my 11 year old sister clean out her 5 gallon tank. somehow, unknown to me at the time, one of my brothers came by during the water change and accidentally knocked the heater's dial waaay up. By the time we discovered (the next morning) that the tank water was over 100 degrees, all the fish were (obviously) dead. My sister was devastated, so after determining for sure that the heater itself wasn't on the fritz, we took a trip out to petco and replaced her fish (a betta and 2 cories). poor "mr. gills" :(

I am assuming that all the beneficial bacteria in the tank must also have been killed by the heat-- is that a safe assumption??
 
Nitrifying bacteria do best at a temperature of 78 to 87 degrees, at temperature's above 95 degrees however, they will become stressed and this could become life threatening, this is most likely due to enzyme disruption, or so I am led to believe. Nitratifiers have a temperature limit of about 105 degrees, at this temperature their activity completely stops, while the nitritifiers have a temperature limit approximately 10 dgrees higher
 
not exactly sure how long it was that high... my sister told me later that she had noticed before we left the house (at about 9 am) that the temp was at 90 (i wish she had told me!) and said she turned the heater down. When we got home around noon it was past the 100 degree mark, and the fish were dead. I unplugged the heater immediately after removing the dead fish.
 
Bacteria die off could have occured with the nitratifiers(nitrite consumers) but I dont think it should pose much of a problem, it really depends on the lenght of time taht it was left like that. Just to be sure monitor the tanks nutrient levels to make sure they dont get out of hand. On the other hand the nitritifiers(ammonia consumers) will be fine ,I doubt if many have died at all.
 
oh yes, i just love boiling fish... :p:

when you have five brothers, nothing stays nice for very long...

anyway, i live about an hour and a half from there, but I will call tonight and see if i can explain to my sister how and why to keep track of the ammonia, etc.

then we'll just keep our fingers crossed.
 
Those heater knobs can be soooo touchy. I lost an angel the same way, only my temp went down into the mid-high 60's. Ever since then, I am constantly glancing at the temp. I won't buy heaters anymore that don't come with plastic caps too cover the knobs. As a brother myself, I can attest to the fact that we can be quite a pain in the rear at time. :o
 
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