Rope Fish fell in Hot Water :(

[NIN8185]

Hi all, Unfortunately today while cleaning my tank one of my rope fish stayed hiding in one of my rock decor. I went to put the rock enclosure in hot water (its was hot but still warm enough for me to leave my hands in) to clean off some brown algae. The whole piece did not fit so I flipped it over and 5 seconds later i could hear one of my rope fishes swim or jump up and out of the rock decor and on to the floor. Picked him up right way with my hands because i didn't want him to squirm away while i got a net and put him in the tank. I am not 100% sure which one it was that fell in the the hot water but one of the rope fishes lips seem to be a little red compared to the other rope fish (first degree burn maybe or just irritated?) Gills seem to be working fine and he is swimming around like nothing happened while the other one which shows no signs of damage is hiding around which is also normal. I know hurt fish will tend to act normal so they do not become pray.

What should I look out for?
Is he really just acting like he is fine by swimming around calmly but could actually be hurt?
Or if he was really hurt would be hiding in a dark place like they normally do anyways?

Any Advice would be great!


And yes I learned my lesson to make a count before I start to clean my aquarium!

[Cliff]

I would think if he was hurt badly, he would either hide a lot, stop eating, or both.

It might just be best to keep a close eye on him for the next week or two and complete a lot of extra water changes. As it sounds like he had some of his skin damaged, lots of fresh clean water will help that heal up faster

[Cermet]

The major danger is something that was brought up yesterday - bubble 'disease' . That is, when a fish is expose to hot water oxygen in their blood stream can come out of solution and form bubbles causing minor to massive damage (so, it isn't a disease at all but the name of the problem.) If it is massive damage it will show very quickly and the fish will very likely die. Minor damage will distress the fish to th extent the damage has occured but they should recover - consider extra air. Gill damage may also be part of it and I'd suggest some aquarium salt for regular fish but 'rope fish' might not tolerate such a treatment. Others might know more on that issue.

[Honey Badger 1]

Yikes!
If he doesn't look stressed or act stressed I think he is probably alright. Like Cliff said, keep a close watch on him, or all of them since you aren't 100% which one it is now, and keep the water clean with extra water changes.

[NIN8185]

Little Update.. He is still swimming around no problem and is not skittish at all so he seems to have no stress , His eye's show no signs of wear and tear which i would assume is a very good sign seeing as that is probably their most sensitive area. He opened his mouth and it all looked good in there too! (just a lil red around its mouth). Like said I will defiantly keep a close eye on them and do a few changes a week!

[Cermet]

Sounds liike he is fine - in order for the hot water to create the bubbles in their blood stream, the oxygen levels in the the fish's blood need's to be near saturation, which is not common for most aquarium situations. I believe the fish is in the clear.

[NIN8185]

Update... Rope Fish are doing Great! Dancing around at night time and eating their krill..

IMG_2217.jpg

[fishmommie]

so glad he's okay. I'm sure you've been horribly worried.

[mermaidwannabe]

Judging from the vigorous bubbling I see in the background, it's clear your tank has plenty of oxygen from surface agitation. Sounds like your fish is fine. The water couldn't have been that hot, or he would have been scalded. The abrupt change in temperature would have been the greater concern here, I would think. Looks like he's none the worse from the experience, but as others here have advised, keep an eye on him for awhile.

[Berylla]

That's a beautiful fish! I love their downward facing fins. Is this a type of goldfish?