BulldogWrestler

Ok, everything in my tank was normal yesterday. 0,0, 5-10. My pH is very high (7.8ish), but the fish seem to do well in it regardless, and I've considered trying to find ways to lower it, but everyone says its best to just let the fish adjust.

Anyway, noticed yesterday that my temperature had climbed to 84 degrees (*this is according to a "stick on" thermometer placed above my heater in the tank*). So I turned the heater down a notch (it was on 79 degrees). Temperature went down to 80ish degrees throughout the night and cooled off to around 78 this morning.

One of my glassfish died this morning (this tank has been the tank of death ). All the other fish have been absolutely fine (including the Angels, who are supposed to be susceptible to ph levels). Should I assume that glassfish either can't handle the high PH, or is this a temperature problem?

California, where I live, regularly goes through heat waves where the temperature gets absurd (example it was in the mid 90s yesterday), which I assume would effect my tank's temperature. Could a drastic change like that be what is killing the glass fish?

I'm soooooooooo tempted to just say "screw it" and take the glass fish I have back to the LFS and just get gold skirt tetras to be with the other ones in the tank.

jdhef

I think turning your heater down may due more harm than good. Your tank will get as warm as it will get, the heater just stops it from getting too cold. So by turning the heater down, the temperature fluctuation may become greater since it will have further to drop.

BulldogWrestler

Excellent point, and I feel like an idiot for not thinking about that.

Well then...hmmmm. Every other fish seems to have withstood it with no noticeable problems. Just one glassfish died (the other ones are ok). So maybe I should just assume that the glassfish can't handle the ph or temp flux and send them back.

they're probably a bit out of place (biologically at least) in this tank anyway.

pepetj

Jdhef: I believe the high end temp should be of concern. I mainly use heaters for treatment reasons (e.g. ick) but have used them to speed up fishless cycle. I live in the Caribbean, warm weather all year 'round.

I believe your statement of ""tank will get as warm as it can get" overlooks something dangerous for fish survival: if the wattage per gallon stays in a safety zone (e.g. using a 100W heater for a 10gal tank, not a 200W) there should be no problems, otherwise (my case) I have registered tank temperatures of 38C (100F) which as far as I know might harm most fishies -to the very least levels of dissolved, bio-available oxygen might drop dangerously low.

I happen to have one thermostat to accurately control a 300W heater upper end temp (got it for my mid-term plan of Discus keeping).

Pepe
Santo Domingo