I'm so mad at myself!

[Blu3Shyft]

I did a 50% water change last Thursday, trying to bring my Nitrates down. I unplugged everything, so I wouldn't get zapped, just to be safe. Did the water change, and all was good, until today, when my wife realized the fish were all hanging out down at the bottom of the tank and not begging for food like usual. She thought it was a water quality issue. I told her to check the temp (I was at work at the time). 69° F! I never plugged the heater back in!

Long story short, we got the water back up to temp (80°F) over the course of the rest of the day. Everybody is fine now, except one little girl. My juvie German Blue Ram girl isn't doing well. Her partner is back to his old self and swimming around and being friendly, but she's staying dark (blue showing up more or less) and laying on the bottom, only moving around the one end of the tank, and always at the bottom. Even her eyes are dark, the red barely showing up.

I'm kicking my self so hard right now. On the one hand, I'm glad we caught it before we lost anyfishy. On the other, I'm so worried about the one who's not recovering yet. Is there anything else we can do? Lights are off, tank is warm. My tank's numbers are mostly good. I need to do another water change tomorrow to try and drop my Nitrates again, but Ammonia and Nitrites are holding steady at 0.

I'm hoping she's just stressed, and will calm down and be ok, but I'm worried the cold may have caused some internal damage... Maybe if I knew how to read GBR color emotions... The male is staying pale, his spots a light gray against his fleshy body tone, blues showing up now and then. The female is dark dark brown, her spots solidly black, and blue showing up darkly over it...

tl;dr My tank got too cold, all but 1 fish is ok now. Is she stressed or damaged?

 

[Mebbid]

She is most likely just stressed from the rapid temperature changes. I would give her a few days before trying anything drastic.

What are your nitrates hovering at?

 

[Masha]

I'm sure most of us have done that at some point. Hope she recovers.

 

[Mebbid]

I'm sure most of us have done that at some point. Hope she recovers.

Agreed, I left the sump for my reef tank turned off for a day and my heater is in the sumo. Thankfully I only lost 1 coral through the process.

 

[JRcichlids]

i have forgot to plug my heater back in before and that tank was full of discus but i didnt have any deaths thank god

 

[aquandrew]

my girlfriend and i went away for 2 days and when we got back the power strip was turned off for some reason on one of my community tanks. no heat and no filter for whoever knows how long. there was a layer of protein on the surface and i did an immediate water change, thank god no casualties.
also i definitely agree about it might have been too drastic of a change in temperature, and it could've stressed out your fish. some people say 1 degree an hour is fine for FW and some say no more than 4-6 degrees per day.

 

[Blu3Shyft]

Yea, we did about 1°/hour more or less. She seems to be the only one bothered though. My Otos are swimming around a lot more though...

Morning update: The Female GBR is swimming around more. Still seems a little off balance, and is still pretty dark, but she's moving a LOT more than she was.

 

[huma-huma]

I cant even begin to count how many times ive left either my return pump, skimmer, heaters, etc off. all my equipment is in my sump so once the door closes...I forget about it.

 

[trkchezz]

I have a check list i use before I leave the room, every time just to make sure. I haven't had any problems YET..I know it's just a madder of time.

 

[huma-huma]

I have a check list i use before I leave the room, every time just to make sure. I haven't had any problems YET..I know it's just a madder of time.

I probably should post laminated warnings signs on the inside of each door.

 

[trkchezz]

Haha, I just don't want any problems. Because I do or don't do something stupid.

 

[Blitz]

I Put everything on a multi-strip and just kill the single switch, this way you cannot forget just one component.

 

[Rivercats]

I also have each tank on a power strip and the 220g on 3 power strips so I too only have to flip the button. Since the lights are on the strip you tend to notice if they aren't on when they should be which draws your attention to the fact you didn't turn the power back on.

 

[Nicnet]

I'm sorry for what happened to you, but I'm so thankful I saw your post last night! I just switched my heater to my other tank recently, and when doing so I must have lowered the temperature a little! My tank was 76ish instead of 81-82. I think you helped me solve my slightly lethargic new fish problem! As soon as the temp started going up I started seeing a perk in behavior and color of my bland looking female blue ram! Thanks! & I hope all yours are now doing well too!

 

[trkchezz]

I also have each tank on a power strip and the 220g on 3 power strips so I too only have to flip the button. Since the lights are on the strip you tend to notice if they aren't on when they should be which draws your attention to the fact you didn't turn the power back on.

How you control the lights if they are in the same strip?

 

[Blitz]

I'm sure everyone has different setups depending on their equipment, but I have the Digital one pictured below on one of my setups. For my Planted tank, the timer is built into the light.

Coralife Power Center

 

[Rivercats]

I don't have lights on timers except on the 220g so when I do a WC the lights are off. If I want lights on in a tank while doing a WC I just unplug them off their power strip and into a wall socket. Only my 220g has a built in timer and own power strip since it has both metal halides and T5HO bulbs in the fixture. I also have a supplemental LED fixture on the tank which is off when the strips are off.

EDIT: I also use big office power strips that can handle big loads on all my larger tanks.

 

[trkchezz]

I'm sure everyone has different setups depending on their equipment, but I have the Digital one pictured below on one of my setups. For my Planted tank, the timer is built into the light.

Coralife Power Center

Are one of those really worth the price? Or is it just makes things easier?

 

[Blitz]

Are one of those really worth the price? Or is it just makes things easier?

There are much cheaper alternatives, but my schedule changes a lot and I want to keep things consistent for the tanks, plus, this one has a battery back up so for me, yes. both easier and worth it. The mechanical ones work fine too, but I've found them to need constant adjusting, I had an issue a while back where I moved the mechanical one and must have pushed some of the pins. I was away from home and my wife called me freaking out that someone was turning the tank lights on at 3 am for an hour. ... Then shutting them off. I told her it was a ghost, and that I'll do cleansing when I come home. I bought the digital one. .. The Ghost never returned...kept her on her toes for a week.

 

[trkchezz]

I have one strip for every tank, but one timer for all the lights. I'm kinda on the fence if I should spring for one....