help! somebody pulled the plug of the heater!!!

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Fri May 06, 2005 9:02 pm

Hi,
i am not sure how, who, or for how long, but somebody pulled the plug out and my temperature droped from 29celcius(84f) to 21 celcius (69f)
i think it happened last night and i just discovered it as i was gone whole day.
Is this bad i put the plug in and i put 1 bucket of warmer water inside the tank that raised the temperature 2 celcius from 21 to 23 celcius(69f to 73f),
is this a wise thing to do??
i am really shocked i hope everything works out well.
thanks

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Fri May 06, 2005 9:59 pm

Some people do that on purpose to trigger spawns. I don't think you need to worry.

Just turning on the heater again should raise the temperature slowly to again, which migh be better than putting warm water in the tank? I'm sure others will have some input on this though, as I don't have any experience with adding warm water to the tank.

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Fri May 06, 2005 10:03 pm

thanks i was just worried of the huge drop in temperature in a short time ,and that it went so low 21 c (69f).i didnt know that zebras could tolerate this temperature.

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Fri May 06, 2005 10:08 pm

what's the temp now? And do they look ok?

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Fri May 06, 2005 10:16 pm

the temperature know is between 23 and more towards 24 in 2 hours time.
i put a bucket of 10littrs of warm water with some easylife in it that at first raised the temperature to 23 and know the heater picked it up to almost 24,becuase of the easylife the water is al cloudy and i dont see much but the 2 or 3 zebras i did see look normal but thats just what i saw so i hope everything goes well.
thanks

McEve · Post by **McEve** » Fri May 06, 2005 10:35 pm

Rio Xingu can drop to 72F - 22C at times. That doesn't mean it's ideal, but if the river itself can drop to that temp it can be assumed that they can handle that temp during short periods of time

I don't know if the Zebra lives at the exact location where the temp was measured at that range though.

But we know that they are the happiest at about 29C.

jerms55555 · Post by **jerms55555** » Sat May 07, 2005 12:53 am

it should be fine!!! Im pretty sure that the water drops durning shipping as well! But I wouldn't really put the warm water in the temp should rise fine and slowly....how are the fish doing?? Can you see if they are stressed out??

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Sat May 07, 2005 9:09 am

i jsut woke up and i went to the tank to have a look the temp. is back to 28 celcius i put the light on, i watched just for only 5 minutes orso,i saw one zebra i am not sure male or female being very active in front of the cave and he is moveing around aloot on the frontside of the cave going upsidedown and sideways in the cave like he is attacking the inside of the cave or maybe cleaning and then gets out and pushes or attacks a zebra thats always positioned under a rock 0nly a inch orso away from the cave.
i am gonna have a look again in a half a hour to an hour time.
i am not sure why he is doing like that he seems to be the only one.
thanks

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Sat May 07, 2005 9:55 am

i am not sure but i think he is stressed out ,i also saw him lay on his back for a few seconds,i put the lights out of the tank.
what can i do??
i hope he is alright.
thanks

Mindy · Post by **Mindy** » Sat May 07, 2005 11:01 am

The temperature won't have dropped suddenly - the water and glass will retain heat a little. It will have gradually cooled overnight. You don't want sudden changes in temperature right now so leaving the heater to do it's thing is probably best as it will gradually bring it back up. Though I'm a bit late in reading this and it's probably all normal now. But if it happens again...

I have had conflicting advice as to the effect of temperature so I'm reluctant to say if it's likely to have caused damage to the fish. I've read a lot of posts here that say they do a cold water change to trigger spawning, whereas I've also been advised never to changed the temp of the tank by more than 1 or 2 degrees or I could have losses.

I really have no idea! I guess you just gotta wait and see how they get on. Maybe leave the tank lights out today so it's cosy and dark and they can feel a bit more relaxed.

Des · Post by **Des** » Sat May 07, 2005 12:25 pm

Tariq,

The temp drop will be tolerated by the zebras for a short period.
Imported fish while being transported are in water much colder during the wintertime. What is important is getting the temp back up slowly. ,over a few hours, to prevent temp shock.
I think you should consider buying an electronic temp sensor with a settable high/low alarm, which will sound if the temp gets too low( thermostat failure in the off position or plug removed in error !!!!) or too high (if the thermostat fails and sticks on the on position, which though rare ,still happens occasionally). Consider the cost of a tankful of boiled zebras !!!!!

I have these ( bought from a LFS) in my zebra tanks and is well worth the £10 that each one costs.

Regards,
Des.

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Sat May 07, 2005 5:12 pm

thanx for the tip des i will go to the fishshop and buy one if they have it,your right better be carefull becuase cant take any unneccary risks with these fish.
well the zebra seems to be doing okay i hope its stays that way i will keep everyone updated.
thanx cheers

Tariq · Post by **Tariq** » Sun May 08, 2005 10:43 pm

they seem to be okay now.i hope it stays this way.
i added 3 new zebras today i hope everything goes well.
thanks for your help everyone.
take care