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The water in my tank was up at 100 degrees this morning. Last night I checked the temp at around 11:00. It was at 81 degrees. I cant see why my heater would all of a sudden crank up like that. I have 10 fish in my tank and I need to know if letting the temp go down on its own is the best thing to do and why the heater did this?

wow thats hot... first question. where the heck do you live at?

I'm in michigan in the states and dont yet have my heaters plugged in yet. as reason today, we hit 85... 85!! and its mid october

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I am just outside Vancouver BC and it is raining and cold. I really am confused. I have lost 3 fish in the last half hour. I am worried that i am going to lose more. I feel really bad.

My guess is your thermostat crapped out and basically the heater was stuck in the "On" position. Rare, but it happens, especially in cheaper models.

First thing to do: hook up an airstone if you don't already have one going. Increased water temp means decreased oxygen levels. Also turn off the light so it doesn't heat the water more and so that the fish are kept in as much of a stress-free environment as they can be.

Second thing: get a fan blowing across the surface of the water to increase evaporation. This will cool down the water.

Third thing: do a 25% water change with water that is roughly 3-4 degrees F cooler than the tank water. Wait 4 hours and do another.

I'm sorry to say this, but you're probably going to lose most, if not all of the fish. Most fish cannot survive a thermal shock to that extent. The best chance they have is to bring down the temp in a fast, but controlled manner. If you just change 80% of the water to room temp, that shock will put an even bigger strain on their systems.

Edit: I noticed that you didn't give much tank information. What size is the tank and what are the inhabitants? If you can give any other information you think is pertinent, that would help too.

Sounds like the heater is a TOSS OUT they just do that some times. The temp will go down, by the time you read this the temp should be back to a safe level, that is providing you have either turned off or removed the heater.
Here is another reason to run two heaters then if one goes faulty as least you have the second on as a back up. If it is a small tank a spare heater is basically a must.

Add some extra air if you can also some good bacteria as the heat "might" have killed some of it. I would also add Melafix (as recommended) this might help to relieve any extra stress. Also turn the lights of for at least 24 hrs.

All this might sound a bit of an over kill but I am only talking from 35+years of experience and it has happened to me just recently in the 32Lt Betta tank but the temp did not get that high thank goodness

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Keith

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Thank you all! I turned the heater off right away. I also did a partial water change shortly after that. I also opened all the windows in my place to get cool air circulating trough out. I have 4 clown loaches, a common pleco, 1 powder blue dwarf gourami, and 3 tiger barbs in a 30 gal tank. I lost 3 glow light tetras from the problem. I cant thank you enough for all the info you have given me. It scares me to think that right now I am in the process of putting a 220 gal. tank together. I would have had a heart attack if this happened after I got this tank going.

Well, the good news is that your CLs and the gourami can withstand pretty high temperatures. Plecos are pretty bulletproof too, so you might get lucky there. I wouldn't hold out much hope for the barbs, though.

One thing, though, is that CLs are very susceptible to diseases (especially ich) if they are cooled too quickly, so moderation is key here!

Sounds like you're doing everything you can. Best of luck to you and your fishes!

The water is down to about 88 degrees right now after the water changes and all the other things I have done. All the fish seem fine but I guess the morning will tell the true story. I hope I do not lose any more fish. Thank you all for the help!!

I just hope that the rest of the fish are fine, tyler9999. From now on, make sure & check the water temperature daily. It's one of the problems that occur from time to time in our hobby & losing fish is not very nice.



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I am surprised that no one has recommended removing the hood. Especially if it is plastic, as a plastic hood acts like a greenhouse. I had this problem before myself, and with in a few hours of the hood being off the temp had dropped dramatically. The fish adjusted fine, I also did everything else that was suggested here. And Tyler you should be able to find a small desktop fan pretty cheap, I use one on all my tanks now because of this same issue. Good luck, I hope everything turns out fine.

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Thanks to all of you again. I did remove the hood almost immediatly. It helped alot. All my fish seem fine except one Barb will occasionally float verticaly with its head down. I dont know if this is me being unobservant but I do not recall seeing this behavior before. Thank you again to all of for your input.

Hi,
In all probability, it was the thermostat in the heater
that got stuck. However, what are you using for light on
the tank? Is it fluorescent or incandescent? If it is
fluorescent, then the chance are that it is not the cause,
but leaving it on the top of the tank while trying to cool
it will help insulate the tank and slow down the cooling
process. Since you said you'd already removed it, that
is good thinking.

Just in case, incandescent bulbs can create enough heat
to do exactly what you mention happened. If they are,
then unscrew them and replace them with the screw in
compact fluorescent bulbs. Buy only the ones labeled
DAYLIGHT or SUNLIGHT, do not purchase ones with the name
"warm" or "cool" in their labels. The warm/cool ones are
designed for reading while the ones with "Light" (day or
Sun) are designed for lighting and best imitate the sun
and provide the best light for viewing the fish and growing
plants.

Frank


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