i live in LA,CA,USA... the temp is REALLY hot... i tried to put in ice pack to cool down the water temp. but the ice pack freaked out my barbs n platys.. and... how can i tell when my fish is awake or asleep when it stay in a place? when they r sleeping,...will they move their fins like 10000 times per second?!?!? but they stay in the same spot... arr.. when i pat the tank, it can swim away pretty fast without hitting n e things... why r they moving their fins like that??? r they hot n tryin to cool itself by doing that? :-/
stress? or just sleeping??
- Thread starter tinylittledice
- Start date
Re: stress? or juz sleeping??
Err, first of all , take a deep breath and breathe out. I live in California too and my fish are not fried yet. So long as you have good aeration and filtration your fish will be fine in the hot weather. Unless, your tank is small, like a 5 gallon, you should worry about the temp and maybe put one or two ice cube in the tank if it gets too hot. If your fish seems sluggish, maybe they are not getting enough oxygenation in the tank and would need an airstone or need more circulation in the tank. If my fishes don't seem right, usually they stop eating or stop swimming around like hell when they are near me because they anticipate food is coming. Can you tell me how big your tank is? How many fish? What filter?
Err, first of all , take a deep breath and breathe out. I live in California too and my fish are not fried yet. So long as you have good aeration and filtration your fish will be fine in the hot weather. Unless, your tank is small, like a 5 gallon, you should worry about the temp and maybe put one or two ice cube in the tank if it gets too hot. If your fish seems sluggish, maybe they are not getting enough oxygenation in the tank and would need an airstone or need more circulation in the tank. If my fishes don't seem right, usually they stop eating or stop swimming around like hell when they are near me because they anticipate food is coming. Can you tell me how big your tank is? How many fish? What filter?
R
At higher temps, it is important to monitor your ammonia because it is more toxic. Higher temps also have less oxygen content so be sure that it is well oxygenated. Be sure also to feed your fish at little more because their metabolism increases. Be sure that any uneaten food in taken out. At what temp is the water? Remember, do not change the temp drasticly. It will stress the fish out and promote disease. Water changes help also.
There was a thread about the summer on the board somewhere. There were suggestions on actions that you could take to help keep the water temp down(for peeps w/o airconditioning.
Like leave the lights off during the day, drill airholes to help keep the light cooler,make sure the blinds or shade is drawn to keep the room from getting sun.
If the temp is in low 80's you are still ok(unless you have plants) but start to think about what you should do to help.
Did you throw the ice in the water? I am sure in an hour the fish would not be scared of the ice bottle/pack.
Be more worried if your fish's gills are moving fast.This could mean a low O2 content in the water, which means additional aeration is needed.
Like leave the lights off during the day, drill airholes to help keep the light cooler,make sure the blinds or shade is drawn to keep the room from getting sun.
If the temp is in low 80's you are still ok(unless you have plants) but start to think about what you should do to help.
Did you throw the ice in the water? I am sure in an hour the fish would not be scared of the ice bottle/pack.
Be more worried if your fish's gills are moving fast.This could mean a low O2 content in the water, which means additional aeration is needed.