Stupid, stupid mistake

[SarahBravo]

Did a quick water change on my quarantine tank last night - inhabitants Midnite (ancistrus sp), Julep (L200), pair of chequerboard cichlids, pair of swordies and 2 shrimp. Was in a hurry cos I had to get to sleep to be at work early, but checked everything before I went to bed.

Nipped home half an hour ago to get some grub and saw the 2 cats upside down and the swordies and one cichlid floating. In my efforts to be efficient last night I'd made sure I'd turned all the plugs back on before I went to bed. Including the heater, which has been off for the last 3 weeks. Raised the temp from 23 to 28.

So I just boiled some awesome fish (the £60 or so is a side issue). Only survivors are one swordie and the male cichlid, neither of whom are looking too hot (excuse the pun) and the 2 shrimps who look fine.

Guess moral of the story is less haste more speed. And if you've got your heaters off at the moment unplug them just to be on the safe side in case my absolute stupidity can be transmitted over the net.

 

[john5748]

Sorry to hear that

 

[hello kitty]

oh dear poor u, i hope the survivors will be ok

 

[Maroonostrich]

What a nightmare. I'm so sorry!

 

[rdd1952]

That's a pretty large change (9 degrees F) in temp but I wouldn't think it would kill your fish, especially since it was over the course of a night and day. I guess it depends on how fast the heater was able to raise the temp. I'm sure that a lot of people who live in hot climates see swings similar to that on a daily basis but maybe it happens slower. If there are no other problems like ammonia, nitrite, etc., then I guess it's the only thing that could have happened. Sorry to hear about your lose though.

 

[Undawada]

FWIW it's not the temperature itself that likely killed your fish, it's more likely that the oxygen was driven out of the water as the temperature went up and the fish suffocated. Make sure you have plenty of surface agitation (perhaps an airstone?) to help the survivors.

GL and thanks for the warning!

 

[SarahBravo]

I did put an airstone in at lunctime, but to no avail, the last chequerboard cichlid and swordy were dead when I got home Only happy bunnies were the shrimps who were eating the corpses....

The ammonia is nil, nitrites are nil and nitrates are 20. PH is as the rest of my tanks, about 8.5. Apart from the heat, could it have been anything else? If one of my cats had got household chemicals on its paws and then got them on the tank, wouldn't the shrimps have kicked the bucket too?

I'm just really wary now about putting anything else in the 'Tank of Death'. If I scrub it out, I suppose I should chuck out or boil the filter media to be on the safe side. For the sake of cloning it or cycling it again it isn't really worth the risk I suppose. If it was a horrible disease will the shrimps be carriers? Can I risk putting them in another tank?

Urgh......bummed out

Sarah

 

[jollysue]

Sorry SarahBravo. I accidentally boiled my shubunkin, my very first fish. Saved him from the Oscar feeders tank. Bums me still. I liked him.

I hope you find answers and find great new stock.

 

[rdd1952]

I'm just really wary now about putting anything else in the 'Tank of Death'. If I scrub it out, I suppose I should chuck out or boil the filter media to be on the safe side. For the sake of cloning it or cycling it again it isn't really worth the risk I suppose. If it was a horrible disease will the shrimps be carriers? Can I risk putting them in another tank?

[snapback]847475[/snapback]​

If they died from lack of oxygen (probably the case as Undawada mentioned, I hadn't thought of that) there wouldn't be any disease in the tank to worry about. You could clean the tank but if it is cycled, that would all be lost. You might try a couple replacement fish like the swordys and see how they do. Since the shrimp are ok, I doubt you have any problem that you need to be concerned about.