Jump to content

Aquarium Temp Drop


Kreature
 Share

Recommended Posts

Yesterday all the power to my oldest established cichlid tank (55 gallon) failed during the day, and when I got home the temp was down to 65. I fixed the power issue, installed a 2nd heater and did a 25% water change with warmer water. Temp within a couple hours was back up to 77, but I'm concerned what the outcome of this stress on my cichlids may be. This morning they all seem fine, temp is still good, but I know that this type of stress may leave them vulnerable to disease/parasites etc. Anyone have experience with this? Any info greatly appreciated.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your tank is in good condition to begin with, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Keep an eye out over the next few days - you may need to do another WC or two. If you have a way of increasing O2 (air stone, surface turbulance, etc) for the next week or so, that'll keep everyone happy, too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree that this isn't anything to worry about. Water is a great heat reservoir, thus the temperature drop was a slow one. If you dumped a bunch of cold water into the tank, I might be a little more worried. Healthy fish will be able to tolerate sub-par conditions for short periods of time; it is chronic cool conditions that will see them predisposed to illness. And with the note on breeding is a reminder that while we aim to achieve perfection within a small window, in the wild these animals do live in a dynamic world that does see many variables.

Ian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What i find amazing is that you say that the temp fell over ten degrees in a couple of hours.... that is amazing as the power has gone out in my house for over 4 hours and my tanks have only gone down 1 or 2 C in that period of time....

Here's the whole story.....The temp dropped over the entire day. My husband turned off the wrong breaker in the morning when our furnace failed. The house had no heat, and with no power to the aquarium at all, no lights etc, I got home from work at 5 the temp was 65.

Thanks for all your help. I'll do another water change in a couple of days, another bubbler and carry on. No divorce necessary! lol

Edited by Kreature
Link to comment
Share on other sites

LOL , only a guy could make that kind of an error... I am sure everything will be fine with the fish... I have accidentally done 50% water changes with cold water and didn't have a problem.

By the way the fish you sold me were very nice! Love the afra , not sure what my other fish think in the tank as he thinks he is the boss and is constantly displaying.. his problem is that there are about 30 male peacocks , a male empress and male Aci that keep him in check! In hindsight I should of probably taken one of your female Mara's / sulpher heads.

Take care.

Edited by corrosionjerry
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

This is an old post but I'm in the same boat. When I do a 50% water change on my 90G cichlid tank the temp drops from 80F to 72F. All my hot water is soft so all I can use is cold. I refill my tank with a small 1/4" hose so it take about 2hrs to refill and drop the 8 degrees so its not like I'm shocking them with the drop in a few mins.

Is an 8 degree drop to much? When it rains at lake Malawi how much does the temp drop?

Could a temp drop and fresh water help with breeding? Any comments or help would be appreciated

Thanks

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even the longest rainfall won't change the ambient temp in Lake Malawi much at all.  Because the Rift Lakes are so huge, the fish there have adapted to constant water parameters - I notice that some of my Tanganyikan fish don't really like my huge WCs (mainly Synodontis).  Fish that live in rivers are very much receptive to the large, cool WCs to induce spawning.  I think what gets Rift Lake cichlids going after a bit WC is increased O2, or perhaps a nice big decrease in dissolved salts/organics.

That being said, if your fish don't slow down or look distressed, I don't think the drop in temp is that bad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Does anyone else notice that if you pour in a bucket of cold (room temp) water a lot of fish are attracted to it and swim right in the midst of the cold water stream. If they actively seek it out I don't think they mind, at least not in the short term.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe I never bother to pre-warm replacement water. It may be the flow that attracts them but the point is they don't seem to mind the cold. Unlike me stepping into the shower before the water has warmed up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...