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Post Info TOPIC: Fishy drama - Poor Aragon


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Fishy drama - Poor Aragon
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I had a rather frightening thing happen this morning in Aragon's tank. He was darting around in a strange fashion. And would not eat his breakfast. Typically a fish acting like that means there is too much ammonia in their tank. The ammonia "burns" them. I had tested the water only a few days ago and it was perfect. But I decided to do a water change. Never hurts.

I did a 50% water change. I always check my thermometer after a change to make sure I have not changed the temp much with the new water. Well, it was 92 degrees! I freaked out. The water did feel warm, but then it always feels warm at the typical 80 degrees. I pulled the thermometer out to see if it was broken. Nope; the temp started to go down. After it was low, I put it back into the tank. It shot right back up. I felt the heater and it was hot. It was cooking my fish!

I pulled out the heater and opened the top of the tank. You don't want to change the tank temp suddenly, so I just allowed it to naturally cool down. This heater was only 1-1/2 months old so I am pissed. But nothing I could do now. I almost wonder if this is because I bought a rather cheap heater. We are only talking about a 2-1/2 gallon tank, so I bought the smallest one I could find. For those wondering, it was HERTZ brand. I suggest you never buy one. I went to the proper fish store and bought a quality low watt adjustable heater. I have it set to 78 degrees and that is exactly what the tank is at now.

Always check your thermometers. You never know if a heater will stop working or act up. I have had heaters die, but have NEVER had one just keep heating up like this. If Aragon was a goldfish, he would have died. Thankfully he is a tropical fish and so only got uncomfortable.

Christina



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  Christina Ghimenti
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Where Am I?

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Poor Aragon....I bet he feels so much better with the right temp. BTW...Aragon is beautiful...
The last fish tank I had was a 55 gallon...with Oscars...many years ago. You are so right about the temp & not to change the water suddenly. A 55 gallon tank is a job to keep clean...don't think I would want to do it now.

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All Grown Up

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I always get the small tanks with lights, and the lights keep the water warm enough I never needed a heater. I did have a scare once when I stuck my hand in one of my bigger tanks to fix a decoration and got shocked! My heater had cracked and was sending current thru the water! Surprisingly I never lost a fish

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I have my light set on a timer. It goes on for 12 hours and goes off for 12 hours. The books I had read over the years said it was not good to have light for 24 hours as the fish kind of need downtime too. However, when I had this 2-1/2 gal tank in my office at work, I never used a heater. The office stayed a constant temperature which was comfy for my fish. Since I brought this small tank home, the temps drop too much with the winter. LOL--I am not keeping my house warm 24/7 just for a fish .

It has now been 24 hours since I replaced the heater and all is well. Aragon ate his breakfast so clearly is feeling better. Poor boy :(

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Oh Poor Aragon.................he is so very lucky that you stay on top of things.
I am happy to hear that he is no worse for this experience.....of course, you know he is just gorgeous!!!

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Cool, Good to see some fellow Fish Hobbyists on here as well. I have 3 tanks, a 120, a 75, and a 55. Then there is the turtle tank (20).

I also had a "Near death experience" with one of my heaters. I followed suit and quickly realized the Heater was not something scrimp on so I purchased a more expensive, quality heater!

Glad to hear he is ok!


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Smitten by Boxers

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Right after my drama, a friend with turtles said they had the same exact thing happen with their Hertz heater. My main reason for buying it for the 2.5 gal tank was it is so small. All the other nice heaters are much longer than the tank is tall.

So now the newer heater is submerge at an odd angle just so it all fits. It is working well and the temp is staying a steady 78.

I am having a small problem with that fin problem Bettas can get. His fins started to rip. I added some non-iodized salt and that seems to have stopped any further damage. Fingers crossed !

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