I accidentally turned the temp up on my 30g during a water change, I noticed last night it was sitting at 27/28°C. The tank has cories and ADF's so not ideal at all, it would've been like that for about 36 hours give or take. I tried to turn it down, but unfortunately the temperature markings on my heater have worn away so I accidentally turned it up even more to 29°C. I noticed within an hour and turned it down again, by this morning it was back at 27°C and I've been adjusting it down gradually so it's now at 26°C. I'm just wondering if I would've caused any harm by raising the temp so high, and also whether I should just turn the heater off and let it naturally lower. I didn't want to shock them by reducing it too far too quickly.
Accidental temperature rise
- Thread starter Lcc86
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- heater observations
Yeah when I saw it I panicked a bit! Luckily it was "only" near the max for an hour or so, could've been much worse. Might be time for a new heater where I can see the markings to avoid a repeat.
The only problem would have been if you had an oxygen issue (lack of surface movement) due to increased temperature. Other than that, if the frogs or corydoras are not breathing rapidly or at the top gasping, no problem. And definitely no damage done. You don't need to worry about anything now.
Even the UK has heatwaves, you just gave them a warm up heatwave for summer. 36 hours is nothing. Just goes back to the oxygen question.
Even the UK has heatwaves, you just gave them a warm up heatwave for summer. 36 hours is nothing. Just goes back to the oxygen question.
You didn't do any major harm. Do you suffer badly if the temperature goes up a few degrees?
Most fishes in the wild live in water that varies quite considerably throughout the year. In Perth where I am the local creeks can drop to 5C in winter and hit 30C+ in summer. In the tropics the water temperature fluctuates as well, just not as much. It might drop to 15C in the cooler period and go up to 30C during the warm season. It also depends on where the waterway is located. In the mountains the water will be cooler.
There are also temperature differences in ponds and slow or stationary water bodies. I have collected fish in large pools of water and the surface temperature was 30C and the water at the bottom of the pond (5 feet down) was 12C. The fish are fine moving up and down through those temperatures.
Everyone gets all concerned about tropical fish needing an exact temperature all the time. They don't. My tropical tanks had heaters set on 18C in winter and the heaters turned off automatically in spring when the weather warmed up. In summer the water would sit on 30-32C for several months before slowly dropping back to 18C over winter.
Most fishes in the wild live in water that varies quite considerably throughout the year. In Perth where I am the local creeks can drop to 5C in winter and hit 30C+ in summer. In the tropics the water temperature fluctuates as well, just not as much. It might drop to 15C in the cooler period and go up to 30C during the warm season. It also depends on where the waterway is located. In the mountains the water will be cooler.
There are also temperature differences in ponds and slow or stationary water bodies. I have collected fish in large pools of water and the surface temperature was 30C and the water at the bottom of the pond (5 feet down) was 12C. The fish are fine moving up and down through those temperatures.
Everyone gets all concerned about tropical fish needing an exact temperature all the time. They don't. My tropical tanks had heaters set on 18C in winter and the heaters turned off automatically in spring when the weather warmed up. In summer the water would sit on 30-32C for several months before slowly dropping back to 18C over winter.
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