Too hot?

[cashemin44]

Well, we've been doing good up until today. Two years, some errors and learning lessons, we've had a pretty good tank. We had an emperor angel for 8 months and she up and died the other day without any signs of problems. We've heard from some people that angels will do that from time to time.
Well, here's the problem. Our 56 gal is empty. We have one shrimp, 2 clowns and a goby left. We went down to the LFS and dropped a few hundred on a small blue hippo, a coral beauty, a diamond goby, a cleaner shrimp and 3 turbo snails. Well, we thought about it on the way home that we may be in for some trouble with introducing so much at one time. I figure I'll combat that problem with frequent water changes. The problem at hand is I'm concerned that the temperature is too high. It's between 84.5 and 85.2 degrees right now, after I acclimated and dropped them all in. How bad is this? I don't have AC in room their in so it's hot right now. We're having a semi-heat wave. Also, I am wondering if my 2 year old heater is not working right.. How can I tell?

 

[undulated guy]

i think you need to either get a chiller or ac in that room. im pretty sure that no fish just up and dies. if the temp is 84 or 85 this is probably what killed your angel

 

[undulated guy]

also a 56 gallon tank is insanely to small for an emperor angel, i wouldnt be surprised if tank size contributed to his death.

 

[lion_crazz]

That temperature is definitely a bit hot. Do you have a fan running on the tank at all? If not, this would be the first thing I would try to lower the temp a little bit.

 

[koi lady]

Yes, with temps that high fish will die. No oxygen in the water. My tank got up to around 85 and I had my blenny die.

I have a fan blowing in on the water during the day and the lid propped up so the heat can escape. My water temp is now between 79 and 81 and what is left of my tank is much happier. I have a 14 gal nano and there are no chillers made yet for them that I know of. So prop the lid and get a fan on the water until you can get a chiller.

 

[lion_crazz]

Originally Posted by Koi Lady
Yes, with temps that high fish will die. No oxygen in the water. My tank got up to around 85 and I had my blenny die.

I have a fan blowing in on the water during the day and the lid propped up so the heat can escape. My water temp is now between 79 and 81 and what is left of my tank is much happier. I have a 14 gal nano and there are no chillers made yet for them that I know of. So prop the lid and get a fan on the water until you can get a chiller.

Not to be off-topic, but Koi lady, JBJ has come out with the mini arctica 1/20 HP nano chiller skimmer that is made for tanks no larger than 25 gallons. It costs about $270.

 

[cashemin44]

I took the heater out to see if it's malfunctioning. If so, then I narrowed down my problem. As far as the large increase in fish stock, I'll know over the next few days if it sends my two year old established tank into a cycle because I put so much in at the same time. What can I do if that starts to happen???

 

[murph]

Keep an eye on ammonia levels. I doubt you will see a rise and any ammonia detoxifier and or water changes will head off this problem if it arises. Depending on the LFS introduction of parasites to the system would be more of a worry to me since there was no QT period.
You are at the upper limit as far as temp. Since you bought an emporer angel I assume no corals are in the tank. Remove the fixture and run a fan over top of tank. Should reduce temp a few degrees. Be prepared with extra top off water as this will increase evaporation.
You can get a stand alone or window a/c unit for the room for half what a chiller would cost and they are much more dependable IMO. If no window in the room a stand alone A/C unit will offer options as far as venting the A/C system and the local HD will have them for around 3 to 4 hundred. If there is no AC in the house other wise you will probably find that the cooled down fish room will become a congregation point making it that much easier to show off all your hard work on the tank at least during the summer months.