Forgot to plug heater in...now what?

[Josie12012]

Hey everyone! I have two sets of platy fry in a 10 gallon tank 14 fish total about 3 weeks old. The last time I did a water change I forgot to plug the heater back in. Currently the temp is 68 degrees when usually I have it set to 77. My question is should I remove some of the cold water and add some warm to help speed up the process of heating the water? I currently have a 100watt heater in the tank now plugged in. The fish seem to be surrounding the heater now that it’s on. I’m concerned it’s going to take too long to heat the poor fish up. I only noticed the water to be cold when I saw the fish being very sluggish. I don’t want to lose my fry so any help would be appreciated!

 

[BigManAquatics]

I would just plug it back in so it heats up slowly. Adding warm water may warm it up too quickly causing stress and/or shock

 

[Josie12012]

I would just plug it back in so it heats up slowly. Adding warm water may warm it up too quickly causing stress and/or shock

Yeah that’s what I was concerned about shocking them... so I haven’t but I sure do feel bad that their currently in such cold water. Boo. Rookie mistake!

 

[DoubleDutch]

I would just plug it back in so it heats up slowly. Adding warm water may warm it up too quickly causing stress and/or shock

Agree

 

[Deku-Cory]

Just let the heater warm things up. If you increase the temperature too quickly, they could go into shock and you may have an even bigger problem on your hands!

 

[mattgirl]

You are not the first and I feel sure you won't be the last to forget to plug the heater back in. I agree with the rest. Just let the heater gradually warm the water back up. Sudden changes are more harmful than water too cool.

If you are going to forget something it is better to forget to plug it back in than to forget to unplug it if it is going to be exposed to air during a water change.

 

[SotaAquatics]

Yeah, don't add warm water, temperature changes should be gradual. Tropical fish can handle cooler water for a little bit of time. I would say to be as safe as possible you don't want more then 2-3 degree temperature swings in an hour. Faster then that is still probably ok but def don't want to shock them by going up 10 degrees in minutes with adding warm water.

 

[Josie12012]

Yeah, don't add warm water, temperature changes should be gradual. Tropical fish can handle cooler water for a little bit of time. I would say to be as safe as possible you don't want more then 2-3 degree temperature swings in an hour. Faster then that is still probably ok but def don't want to shock them by going up 10 degrees in minutes with adding warm water.

Thank you!

 

[RayClem]

A 100 watt heater is somewhat oversized for a 10 gallon tank. If you had a 50 watt heater, I would suggest just plugging it back in. A 100 watt heater may increase the temperature faster than desired. If the heater has an adjustable thermostat, plug it back in and turn the thermostat down until the heater turns off. Then turn it up slowly until the heater turns back on. Come back every hour or two and turn the thermostat back up a little more until you get the temperature back to 77 degrees. That will insure the temperature does not increase too quickly.

You might want to put your heater and filter on a power strip so that when you do water changes you can turn the power strip off, shutting down both the filter and the heater. You are far more likely to notice the filter being off than the heater.

One thing I try to make a habit is placing my hands on the glass of each of my aquariums when I walk by them for observation, maintenance, or to feed the fish. If the temperature changes by more than a degree or two either way, you will be able to feel the difference. Sooner or later, all heaters will fail. There are two failure modes. In the first the heater will no longer heat and the temperature will drop slowly to room temperature. The other type of failure is if the thermostat sticks in the on position and the heater won't turn off. The water temperature can get high enough to kill your fish, especially if your heater is oversized. Thus, make sure you check water temperature often.

 

[ZachG]

Hey everyone! I have two sets of platy fry in a 10 gallon tank 14 fish total about 3 weeks old. The last time I did a water change I forgot to plug the heater back in. Currently the temp is 68 degrees when usually I have it set to 77. My question is should I remove some of the cold water and add some warm to help speed up the process of heating the water? I currently have a 100watt heater in the tank now plugged in. The fish seem to be surrounding the heater now that it’s on. I’m concerned it’s going to take too long to heat the poor fish up. I only noticed the water to be cold when I saw the fish being very sluggish. I don’t want to lose my fry so any help would be appreciated!

If you try to warm the water up quickly it’s likely you’ll loose all the fish. Just plug the heater back in and let it gradually heat the water up. A lot of times it looks like the fish are dead but once you get the temperature up they’ll start swimming again. Just make sure you keep the water very stable for the next few days as the fish calm down.