Heat and starving fish

Humanist · 07-09-2012, 11:00 PM

Strange things have happened in my 30 Litres / 8 Gallon fish tank, resulting in the loss of 2 celestichtys margeritatus.

Problems started with the hot and dry weather, that has not changed since the beginning of June. Temperatures rose over 30 C /90 F. My fish tank was invaded by probably blue-green algae, that stopped, after i put a bag over the fish tank when I left 5 days ago. when I returend, I found, that two of my fish had notches, where their bellies had been. I fed them two or three times and installed my self-built co²-set for 2 hours.

I bought some living daphia, when i set them into my fish tank, i saw all of my 6 fish swimming. One hour later, I found one of the nearly starved fish dead, although he had been eating. On fish is missing, I could not find him.

I am now looking for the causes of this sudden deaths. Is it possible, that my fish died after i fed them? Is it possible, that too much co² got into the tank? Could the heat be a reason?

steven p · 07-09-2012, 11:51 PM

Warm watet isn't as friendly to dissolved gasses. It is possible that you added too much gas to be dispelled, but you wouldve noticed them dashing to the surface trying to breathe. I gassed some cheery shrimp at one time... They pass out and float to the surface.. most of them woke up.. i only recall removing one dead female. Otocinclus were fine, but they have a labyrinth? Do you know your tanks stats, can you get them tested if you dont?

WestHaven · 07-09-2012, 11:58 PM

It could be a combination of all of the above. Most fish are capable of going more than a few days without food (a lot of them peck on algae growing on your plants/rocks). The fish may have been really stressed from lack of food , heat and the addition of CO2/lower oxygen content was too much for them. Remember that warmer water can hold less concentrated oxygen that cold water. I did a search of your fish species, and wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danio_margaritatus) said they prefer temperatures from 20-25 degrees C/high 60s to medium 70s degrees F.

Also smaller tanks are more susceptible to temperature swings due to their smaller size. I'm sorry for what happened to your fish.

Humanist · 07-10-2012, 12:29 AM

I used a test strip that afternoon, everything was fine with no measurable No², very few No³ and the PH at ~ 7. As I changed a nearly half of the water before the fish died, so toxic substances in the water could not have been the cause.

I am thinking about a possible connection between the heat, the lack of food and the co², but I could not find anything about this. Without having too much knowledge on the vital functions of fishes, i got the idea, that the cause might affect the ability to breathe.

WestHaven · 07-10-2012, 01:06 AM

One thing you should know is that test strips are said to be less accurate/reliable than liquid test kits. Good luck.

livingword26 · 07-10-2012, 01:23 AM

I am having a little trouble with the sequence of events here. You have an 8 gallon aquarium. It had blue-green algae. You put a bag over it, and left it for 5 days. When you came home, the fish looked starved/sick. You fed them, turned on your co2, and had 1 dead, and 1 missing, an hour later. Is that right?

What kind of bag was covering the aquarium?
Was there any way for air to get into the aquarium?
Was the water 90 degrees?
Did you test for ammonia?
How many fish in the tank?
How long has the aquarium been set up?

GaMeR · 08-16-2012, 06:46 AM

Galaxy Rasboras don't like temperatures over 30 c. They will die, I've lost too many..

fusiongt · 08-16-2012, 08:43 AM

Did you really leave 5 days with no food for them?

Well, no point in dwelling on what's happened - instead try to prevent these types of possible stress. Heat? Starvation? Lack of oxygen? No good, no good, no good. If you can, put a fan on top of the tank and let it blow over the surface. It'll drastically reduce the water temp.

Keep up weekly or twice a week water changes (perhaps 25% only and not 50%) I'm sure you won't get more losses.

lipadj46 · 08-16-2012, 11:01 AM

fish don't get pinched stomachs and starve in 5 days. They got stressed, got sick and died. The DIY CO2 was the final nail in the coffin.

Jules · 08-16-2012, 01:18 PM

Putting a bag over the tank would have also made the heat situation much worse by eliminating cooling from water evaporation (which is a significant source of cooling for tanks, even when they don't have fans on top).

PlantedRich · 08-16-2012, 02:01 PM

The base cause is something that we see in different forms far too frequently. When making a radical change in the tank, it pays to watch far more carefully than normal.

Covering the tank is a major change, leaving for five days is not good policy. Fish won't starve in five days but if algae dies and pollutes the water at the same time the temperature goes high, there can be a problem.

Adding CO2 when the fish are acting strange in any way is not a good idea.

Sorry, sounds like a set of actions which led to being too much for the fish to handle.

wendyjo · 08-16-2012, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlantedRich

The base cause is something that we see in different forms far too frequently. When making a radical change in the tank, it pays to watch far more carefully than normal.

Covering the tank is a major change, leaving for five days is not good policy. Fish won't starve in five days but if algae dies and pollutes the water at the same time the temperature goes high, there can be a problem.

Adding CO2 when the fish are acting strange in any way is not a good idea.

Sorry, sounds like a set of actions which led to being too much for the fish to handle.

^This!

07-09-2012, 11:00 PM	#1
Humanist Newbie (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Austria Posts: 2	Heat and starving fish Strange things have happened in my 30 Litres / 8 Gallon fish tank, resulting in the loss of 2 celestichtys margeritatus. Problems started with the hot and dry weather, that has not changed since the beginning of June. Temperatures rose over 30 C /90 F. My fish tank was invaded by probably blue-green algae, that stopped, after i put a bag over the fish tank when I left 5 days ago. when I returend, I found, that two of my fish had notches, where their bellies had been. I fed them two or three times and installed my self-built co²-set for 2 hours. I bought some living daphia, when i set them into my fish tank, i saw all of my 6 fish swimming. One hour later, I found one of the nearly starved fish dead, although he had been eating. On fish is missing, I could not find him. I am now looking for the causes of this sudden deaths. Is it possible, that my fish died after i fed them? Is it possible, that too much co² got into the tank? Could the heat be a reason?

07-10-2012, 01:23 AM	#6
livingword26 Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Wichita, KS Posts: 978	I am having a little trouble with the sequence of events here. You have an 8 gallon aquarium. It had blue-green algae. You put a bag over it, and left it for 5 days. When you came home, the fish looked starved/sick. You fed them, turned on your co2, and had 1 dead, and 1 missing, an hour later. Is that right? What kind of bag was covering the aquarium? Was there any way for air to get into the aquarium? Was the water 90 degrees? Did you test for ammonia? How many fish in the tank? How long has the aquarium been set up? __________________ 29 gallon, Fluval 306. Aquatop PF25-UV Power Filter, 1x39 watt T5HO 7" above tank. P.F. Sand, Pressurized CO2, 5 Glowlight Tetra's, 3 Halequin Rasborah's, 3 neons, 2 Oto's, 5 Cherry Shrimp, 4 Amano Shrimp. Last edited by livingword26; 07-10-2012 at 01:42 AM.. Reason: correction

08-16-2012, 08:43 AM	#8
fusiongt Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (2/100%) Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Menlo Park, Ca Posts: 805	Did you really leave 5 days with no food for them? Well, no point in dwelling on what's happened - instead try to prevent these types of possible stress. Heat? Starvation? Lack of oxygen? No good, no good, no good. If you can, put a fan on top of the tank and let it blow over the surface. It'll drastically reduce the water temp. Keep up weekly or twice a week water changes (perhaps 25% only and not 50%) I'm sure you won't get more losses. __________________ 10.5 Gallon Planted Tank

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

07-09-2012, 11:51 PM	#2
steven p Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: columbus, ne Posts: 1,057	Warm watet isn't as friendly to dissolved gasses. It is possible that you added too much gas to be dispelled, but you wouldve noticed them dashing to the surface trying to breathe. I gassed some cheery shrimp at one time... They pass out and float to the surface.. most of them woke up.. i only recall removing one dead female. Otocinclus were fine, but they have a labyrinth? Do you know your tanks stats, can you get them tested if you dont?

07-09-2012, 11:58 PM	#3
WestHaven Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: West Haven, CT Posts: 327	It could be a combination of all of the above. Most fish are capable of going more than a few days without food (a lot of them peck on algae growing on your plants/rocks). The fish may have been really stressed from lack of food , heat and the addition of CO2/lower oxygen content was too much for them. Remember that warmer water can hold less concentrated oxygen that cold water. I did a search of your fish species, and wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danio_margaritatus) said they prefer temperatures from 20-25 degrees C/high 60s to medium 70s degrees F. Also smaller tanks are more susceptible to temperature swings due to their smaller size. I'm sorry for what happened to your fish.

07-10-2012, 12:29 AM	#4
Humanist Newbie (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: Austria Posts: 2	I used a test strip that afternoon, everything was fine with no measurable No², very few No³ and the PH at ~ 7. As I changed a nearly half of the water before the fish died, so toxic substances in the water could not have been the cause. I am thinking about a possible connection between the heat, the lack of food and the co², but I could not find anything about this. Without having too much knowledge on the vital functions of fishes, i got the idea, that the cause might affect the ability to breathe.

07-10-2012, 01:06 AM	#5
WestHaven Planted Tank Obsessed (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: West Haven, CT Posts: 327	One thing you should know is that test strips are said to be less accurate/reliable than liquid test kits. Good luck.

08-16-2012, 06:46 AM	#7
GaMeR Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Turkey Posts: 56	Galaxy Rasboras don't like temperatures over 30 c. They will die, I've lost too many..

08-16-2012, 11:01 AM	#9
lipadj46 Planted Tank Enthusiast (View User Tanks) PTrader: (5/100%) Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: NY Posts: 796	fish don't get pinched stomachs and starve in 5 days. They got stressed, got sick and died. The DIY CO2 was the final nail in the coffin.

08-16-2012, 01:18 PM	#10
Jules Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: May 2012 Location: NS, Canada Posts: 169	Putting a bag over the tank would have also made the heat situation much worse by eliminating cooling from water evaporation (which is a significant source of cooling for tanks, even when they don't have fans on top).

08-16-2012, 02:01 PM	#11
PlantedRich Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Pflugerville, Tx Posts: 1,513	The base cause is something that we see in different forms far too frequently. When making a radical change in the tank, it pays to watch far more carefully than normal. Covering the tank is a major change, leaving for five days is not good policy. Fish won't starve in five days but if algae dies and pollutes the water at the same time the temperature goes high, there can be a problem. Adding CO2 when the fish are acting strange in any way is not a good idea. Sorry, sounds like a set of actions which led to being too much for the fish to handle.