Need help: Temperature fluxtuations vs. Fish health

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Oreo

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 7, 2008
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A few days ago I noticed my fish were breathing fast & heavily. I tested the water & everything seemed good. Ammonia & nitrites = 0, nitrates weren't bad, pH, alkalinity, & hardness were ok but I don't normally pay too much attention to them.

Then I remembered... It's 98*F outside & I've been keeping the AC off to save on the electric bill. So I did a 75% water change & my fish went back to normal within an hour. I was relieved. I figured it must have been the water temp.

So I've had the AC on in the house all weekend & now some of my fish still seem to be breathing awfully heavy again. Particularly my two scat fish, & the Columbian cat-shark seems to be darting around continuously. He's not normally that active. My goldfish are not breathing heavy & seem to be doing fine.

So... am I overlooking something? Will water temp fluctuations cause this kind of behavior?

Thanks in advance
 
you have to dial down your aquarium heater's thermometer. if you have your heater set at 80F, your water will actually be much warmer. so dial it down to about 75F, which should maintain the water at around 82F. You'll have to play around with it to get your optimum temperature.

warmer water reduces the concentration of oxygen, that's why your fish is struggling to breathe.

whenever the weather hits above 85F, you should just turn off your heater (unless you have an AC unit that keeps the house cooler).
 
I don't have a heater. In fact, I'm considering getting a chiller. I used to have a digital thermometer in the tank but it broke & I haven't replaced it yet- so I think I'll be doing that today.

Still, I'd say my water is normally around 77*, and even on these hot days the tank water probably is still in the 80s, which I thought was a normal range for these fish?
 
I understand completely the last few days my temps were reading around 86 after I unplugged the heaters .
the ac in my house was not working and outside it hit the high 80-90 for about 4 days .
fortunately my fish seem fine and the temps been brought down
 
Your aquarium heater should have a built-in *thermostat* that prevents it from operating when the water temperature is at or above the level that you set.

Therefore, turning down the temperature of the heater or turning it off will NOT decrease the water temperature if the room temperature is higher than the heater setting.

Turning the heater temp. up and down and plugging/unplugging it wears on its mechanics which are prone to failure. I would leave it alone.

The warmer your water is, the less oxygen can dissolve in it. This may be the cause of your problems, especially if your tank is tightly covered or overstocked. I am suspicious, though, of a problem being caused by high temperatures that affects other fish but not goldfish....
 
dmed;1873079; said:
The warmer your water is, the less oxygen can dissolve in it. This may be the cause of your problems, especially if your tank is tightly covered or overstocked. I am suspicious, though, of a problem being caused by high temperatures that affects other fish but not goldfish....
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Why is that? Are goldfish particularly sensitive to the oxygen in the water?

My tank is definitely not sealed up. I keep a reptile screen lid on it. I don't have any airstones though. I've been directing the filter outlet from the bottom of the tank upward towards the water surface. For the last couple years this has provided enough surface agitation to keep the fish happy.

Still, I'm almost certain that it's a temperature related thing. I haven't done any water changes since the initial problem. Since then they've gone to breathing heavily in warm water & back to normal again in the same water the next day after the air conditioning in the house was turned up a bit. THey seem fine now that the house has been kept cooler.
 
Its been like a inferno at my house, no ac, 90's outside. In my 55 Gallon, the heater is set to about 78ish and the tank goes between 78 and 81. However my 10G the heater is set to 76, but the tank will jump to 86; if i don't keep an eye on it. I have to leave the lights off and crack open the lid on the 10G to keep it from spiking. I have never noticed the fish breathing heavy, but hard to see that with the tank lights off.
 
Why is that? Are goldfish particularly sensitive to the oxygen in the water?
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Goldfish are cold water fish. They should not be kept with tropical fish. In warmer water they will have a greatly increased metabolism, along with greatly increased oxygen and nutrition requirements. A goldfish at temps in the 60's and low 70's will produce a lot of waste, but a goldfish in the 80's will be an eating and s****ing machine until it dies of hypoxia or heart failure.
 
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