Feh. I managed to kill the rest of the fish on my tank this weekend.
Nothing too exotic or spectacular, just three Otos and a small breeding colony of Endlers, but it still hurts.
My baby SAL, Nahualito (Named after a SA lake monster,) seems to have remained unscathed. (He's about a foot long, and maybe an inch thick right now.)
Winter's setting in, outside temps are dropping to freezing, and the house I'm currently renting has really poor insulation. It probably drops to the low 50's (F) indoors at night.
Not hard to handle with an extra blanket or two at night, or a sweater if I'm up, but not so great for my tank. I had noticed the water in my tank was getting a bit too cold for my fish, as they all were eating less and acting a bit more sluggish than normal. Since I had some old aquarium heaters sitting around unused, I figured I'd use one of them to raise the water temp. So I dusted one off two weeks ago, and set it as low as it would go before plugging it in. It seemed to be working well, as my fish were all more active and eating better again, but the heater must have had a small crack I hadn't noticed, because this morning I woke up to find it shut off, with the bottom broken away, and pieces of the bottom of heating coil laying on the gravel. I don't know what that did to the water chemistry of my tank, but every fish in there other than my SAL died.
So now I'm left with the task of cleaning up, changing the water and eventually restocking the tank. It's only a 40 gallon planted tank, (just barely right for my SAL right now, and nothing too fancy, with just a few swords growing on laterite and on some driftwood pieces.)
I'm also supposed to be moving to a better place in February, so I might just clean it, keep just my SAL there for now, and wait to get a bigger, nicer set-up after I move. I need a larger tank anyway, so right after I move might be the right time to get one.
Also, any cheap water heating recommendations in the meanwhile?
Or should I just hope my SAL can put up with slightly cool water for a couple of months, until I move and set him/(her?) on a bigger, better tank? (I'm at work right now, and I can't remember what the temperature ranges of my tank at home were, exactly.) I recall daytime water temps seemed reasonable, and the lighting setup I have for the plants (Incandecent bulbs) does provide a little extra heat too.
Nothing too exotic or spectacular, just three Otos and a small breeding colony of Endlers, but it still hurts.
My baby SAL, Nahualito (Named after a SA lake monster,) seems to have remained unscathed. (He's about a foot long, and maybe an inch thick right now.)
Winter's setting in, outside temps are dropping to freezing, and the house I'm currently renting has really poor insulation. It probably drops to the low 50's (F) indoors at night.
Not hard to handle with an extra blanket or two at night, or a sweater if I'm up, but not so great for my tank. I had noticed the water in my tank was getting a bit too cold for my fish, as they all were eating less and acting a bit more sluggish than normal. Since I had some old aquarium heaters sitting around unused, I figured I'd use one of them to raise the water temp. So I dusted one off two weeks ago, and set it as low as it would go before plugging it in. It seemed to be working well, as my fish were all more active and eating better again, but the heater must have had a small crack I hadn't noticed, because this morning I woke up to find it shut off, with the bottom broken away, and pieces of the bottom of heating coil laying on the gravel. I don't know what that did to the water chemistry of my tank, but every fish in there other than my SAL died.
So now I'm left with the task of cleaning up, changing the water and eventually restocking the tank. It's only a 40 gallon planted tank, (just barely right for my SAL right now, and nothing too fancy, with just a few swords growing on laterite and on some driftwood pieces.)
I'm also supposed to be moving to a better place in February, so I might just clean it, keep just my SAL there for now, and wait to get a bigger, nicer set-up after I move. I need a larger tank anyway, so right after I move might be the right time to get one.
Also, any cheap water heating recommendations in the meanwhile?
Or should I just hope my SAL can put up with slightly cool water for a couple of months, until I move and set him/(her?) on a bigger, better tank? (I'm at work right now, and I can't remember what the temperature ranges of my tank at home were, exactly.) I recall daytime water temps seemed reasonable, and the lighting setup I have for the plants (Incandecent bulbs) does provide a little extra heat too.
but glad your SAL is ok.
