URGENT!....please help!

naterealbig

naterealbig

Premium Member
I have had my purple tang in QT for a week now. I am treating the fish for ich, and came home today - water temp 100F in the tank. Amazingly the fish is still alive, not moving at all, but breathing none the less. I put a frozen water bottle in the tank, but what else should I do? Should I do a couple of water changes or would the temp. change just shock and kill him? I appreciate any help or advice.

Nate

(I tried posting thread in a different forum, but so far no replies)
 
question is how did the temp get so high? and how is it being measured? I doubt any fish would tolerate 100 degree water for any amount of time, I would check the accuracy of your themometer
 
I'm not sure what caused the problem. I've got my heater set for 76 degrees, so it would only come on during when it got a little chilly at night. I keep a towel over the QT - the fish seem less stressed, and when I walked by the tank when I came home I could actually feel the heat - almost bath water hot- which is the only reason I didn't wait a while to check on the fish. I've tested the QT with 2 other thermometers - all readings are within 1 degree.
 
I checked the thermostat dial on the therm. and it still said 76-77. I'm assuming a heater malfunction, short, or bad temperature switch. Either way I immediately un plugged the heater and removed it from the tank.
 
throw it away and go buy another, also it is good to have two heaters incase one gets stuck on like in your case.
 
I'ts been almost an hour and fifteen minutes - the water temp. is down to about 86. I've been using ice in ziplocks.
 
throw it away and go buy another, also it is good to have two heaters incase one gets stuck on like in your case.
Click to expand...

I agree with tossing the heater, but I'm not sure of the beneifit of 2 heaters if one gets stuck on. I think it would make sense to have 2 heaters, but thats only if one gets stuck off (and its too cold)
 
Well, he's still breathing, and his fins are actually moving just a little bit now. He's laying on his side. The funny thing is, his colors (now that the temp has gone down) are the brightest I have ever seen them.
 
I went and checked on him again, just a second ago, and he has moved! He is still on his side, but he (I guess it could be a she) moving his fins more, and his little eyes are looking around now. Definately better than before - it was very pale, stiff, and staring off into space when I first inspected the fish.
 
Another thought. Assuming the tang survives, how has the biological filter inside of the QT been affected by the dramatic increase in temp?
 
To use two heaters, you determine what the total wattage needed would be. Then divide this between two heaters. They will never have the power individually to cook the tank if one were to fail in the on position. If both stuck on, you'd be back in trouble obviously, but that is typically unlikely to happen on the same day.

If this is a 10g quarantine tank, you're looking at a 30w heater (3w per gallon). If you have a 250w heater in the tank, there's the issue.
 
No kidding! You know, I have been doing this for 10yrs + and never thought of that. I guess thats what dumdums like me join sites like this for. So three W/gal is the rule huh? I'm not sure of the wattage of the heater - there are no ratings on it at all. The brand name is ELITE.....nice.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8538106#post8538106 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by naterealbig
Another thought. Assuming the tang survives, how has the biological filter inside of the QT been affected by the dramatic increase in temp?
Click to expand...

The bacteria in the tank would very likely be dead. Water changes daily would be key. If you have some macro algae in your refugium, you could put some of that in the tank with your Tang. It may eat it, and put some bacteria in the system again.
 
I'll try that. I grow chaeto. and gracilaria. I will place some grac. in the tank, and maybe take some of the floss out of the sump and place it in the QT as well. In conjunction with daily 1-2gal waterchanges, this should be ok.
 
UPDATE

UPDATE

The tang has now righted itself, and moving all fins. Appears to be atleast attempting to swim, and still appears to be alert. Breathing has slowed a bit. I really don't believe this!
 
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