Forgot to plug in heater, dang it!

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freak78

freak78

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Jan 25, 2013
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Northwest, Indiana
So I did a water change on my 220 Tuesday evening and yep forgot to plug the heater back in. Needless to say when I went to feed Wednesday afternoon the Tank was 70 which I didn't think was too bad since the basement is in the low 60s. I usually keep the temp at 78 but the fish were no worse for wear, they ate like pigs still and it didn't seem to phase them. So I just plugged it back in and it took about 6 to 8 hours to heat it back up with the 1000w heater I have in it.
 
Glad you noticed it.I did the same thing a short while ago but my fish were near death when I'd noticed my mistake.
 
That's why I put my heater low enough i never need to turn it off. Though, before I started doing that my fish went a few weeks over winter without heat several times. They slow down a little bit around 60°F, but otherwise don't seem to care.
 
Feeding some species when they are cold and metabolism is low. is a bad idea.
Next time warm them up for a day before feeding :)
 
I remember a time where I didn't really forget to plug in my heater, but the timing. I used to have a Chinese Perch which does better in cooler temps and I knew it could be fine in 65F. As winter arrived, I was at work and figured, it was probably cold enough where the tanks will hit below 65F. That day was pretty chilly. I got home with the intention of plugging in my heater and set it to 72F-75F. All my other tanks were winter ready, just not the Chinese Perch's tank. I was trying (unsuccessfully) to ween it off live feeders. It hasn't eaten for about 4 days (I would throw in 1 feeder once a week and the rest of the days would try fresh shrimp and/or tilapia). So I got to it's tank to find it belly up. The temp was well into the upper 50's. I think if it was well fed, it probably would've made it, but the starving and the cold temp did it in. :(
 
After forgetting to switch equipment back on a few times myself, I now set an alarm on my phone, timed to go off roughly an hour after I expect to finish the water change which reminds me to double check I've switched everything back on.
 
"Most" tropical fish can easily take temp drops into the 60s, some even lower.
in many of my cichlid tanks, I haven't used heaters, and room temp is fine, and even may be healthy for some.
What kind of fish are they?
 
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