PostalPenguin
05-12-2009, 06:47 AM
I just finished the semester at school and needed to bring home my fish. Moving the tanks seemed simple enough, drain, carry, drive, carry, fill. Boy was I in for a surprise. I went home early on Saturday to build a stand and then went back Monday to get my fish.
That brings us to Monday afternoon, upon opening the door I am shocked at how cold the apartment is. I had left the windows open! No worries I think to myself, the heaters for my tanks are all oversized. Wrong. My 5 gallon tank was at 64F and my 10 gallon was at 66F. :ssuprised: My room must have dropped into the 50s for my tanks to get that cold. Upon further inspection the AC20 on my 5 gallon had jammed so it was both freezing and unfiltered!
Well needless to say my fish were in bad shape. My betta was listless and barely alive. The cabomba plant in with him had disintegrated in the cold and likely jammed the filter. My corys in the 10g were barely moving and my ottos in both tanks seemed to be on the death's doorstep. My platys, however, seemed to not have noticed the weather change and were happily swimming around.
I immediately turned the heat on in my apartment and brought the room back to normal temperature. The heaters started to raise the tank temperature and I noticed a cory floating upside down. dead. :scry: Then I noticed my betta had completely lost the ability to stay upright and was covered in ich spots so I euthanized him. :scry: I think the temperature change had been too much. That meant I only needed to bring back one tank since my 5 gallon was now empty with the surviving otos moved to the 10 gallon.
Bringing the tanks home was another epic challenge. A half filled 10 gallon is still heavy and I needed to carry it down and up a flight of stairs. Thankfully my car has big springs and rides quite smooth so the drive was uneventful. I got the tank safely home without losing a fish or spilling a drop. thumbs2:
So far the increased group of otos are happily playing together while the platys are already hungry. My lonely cory will get moved to the 20 gallon where he will get some friends in a week or so when I set up my tiger barb tank.
I am glad to be done with that.
That brings us to Monday afternoon, upon opening the door I am shocked at how cold the apartment is. I had left the windows open! No worries I think to myself, the heaters for my tanks are all oversized. Wrong. My 5 gallon tank was at 64F and my 10 gallon was at 66F. :ssuprised: My room must have dropped into the 50s for my tanks to get that cold. Upon further inspection the AC20 on my 5 gallon had jammed so it was both freezing and unfiltered!
Well needless to say my fish were in bad shape. My betta was listless and barely alive. The cabomba plant in with him had disintegrated in the cold and likely jammed the filter. My corys in the 10g were barely moving and my ottos in both tanks seemed to be on the death's doorstep. My platys, however, seemed to not have noticed the weather change and were happily swimming around.
I immediately turned the heat on in my apartment and brought the room back to normal temperature. The heaters started to raise the tank temperature and I noticed a cory floating upside down. dead. :scry: Then I noticed my betta had completely lost the ability to stay upright and was covered in ich spots so I euthanized him. :scry: I think the temperature change had been too much. That meant I only needed to bring back one tank since my 5 gallon was now empty with the surviving otos moved to the 10 gallon.
Bringing the tanks home was another epic challenge. A half filled 10 gallon is still heavy and I needed to carry it down and up a flight of stairs. Thankfully my car has big springs and rides quite smooth so the drive was uneventful. I got the tank safely home without losing a fish or spilling a drop. thumbs2:
So far the increased group of otos are happily playing together while the platys are already hungry. My lonely cory will get moved to the 20 gallon where he will get some friends in a week or so when I set up my tiger barb tank.
I am glad to be done with that.