HELP! Tank overheated!

[nillan00]

Ok, so I accept all blame for not owning a chiller, but seeing as I live in chicago I didn't think one was necessary. Well, the past few days have been scortching hot and for some reason our AC didn't kick in like it was supposed to and yesterday I realized that my aquarium was at 86 F! My xenia didn't look too great but worst of all my otherwise super friendly copperbanded butterfly was hiding and breathing very rapidly. Everyone else was acting normal.
We lowered the temp slowly to 78 F but today she is still not back to her old self (hiding/ignoring food). Please, does anyone know of anything I could do to help her, she's my favorite fish and I would be so upset if my mistake cost her her life.
Thanks for any advice,
Nilla

 

[robchuck]

The best thing to do now is to keep the tank parameters steady.

 

[robchuck]

Also, you could use a clip-on fan blowing across the surface of the water to help with evaporative cooling. I also live in Chicago and I use this method. We barely run our AC, I run dual MH, and with the fan blowing across the water, I never have problems with high temps, even the past few days. The one thing to be prepared for with this method is the increased need for freshwater topoff.

 

[thedogofwa]

heres an interesting article about temperatures and salanity. Does the hobby make too much out of swings?
http://web.archive.org/web/200202091.../1/default.asp

 

[bang guy]

86F is OK as long as you don't bring the temp back down too fast. Don't let the temp drop more than 2 or 3 degrees per day. It's the rapid temp drop that kills, not the high temp. If you can keep your temperature from climbing then just accept it. Raise you heaters to 84F to avoid any rapid cooling. If you find yourself hitting 89F or more frequently then you need to do something about it.
As suggested earlier, fans blowing air across the water surface can cool the water several degrees or even more.

 

[jake7g]

as far as your fish not eating you should try garlic exteme by Kent. When fish are sick or are new and are not eating they will eat if you you put a few drops on their flake food. You can get a one ounce bottle for about 10 to 20 dollars and it lasts a very long time because you can only use two drops per feeding. I use it a few times a week as a treat to my fish. They go right to the food like it is crack.