Tank Heater Making My Fish Act Strange

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fishyquestions

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Jan 31, 2012
Messages
4
So I have a 20 gallon tank that I've had fish in since October. I haven't gotten a heater until 2 days ago and all of my fish were doing fine without it. Now that I have one activated the fish all just float without swimming and there are large clusters of bubbles all around the top of the tank. One of my fish is missing and my ghost catfish who is supposed to be nocturnal and always hides inside of an archway I have is out and swimming around at all hours. I feel like the heater is causing all of this but I am not sure what to do. Help please!
 
How fast are you raising the temperature? You need to do it slowly over a few days so you don't end up killing your fish.
 
Its one of the ones that adjusts automatically. There are no buttons on it or anything to change the temperature.
 
When is the last time you did a water change? DId you use dechlorinator? Have you tested your water parameters (ammonia,nitrite, nitrate)? Is the tank cycled.

The heater could be the cause or it could be a coincidence. First thing would be to do a water test and make sure everything checks out. What size heater is it (wattage)?

Do have an in-take thermometer so you can test what the actual tank temp is?
 
I did a water change on sunday but I only changed a little over 25% of the water and used dechlorinator. I havent tested my water because I don't have any way to do that. My heater is 100 watts and I don't have one of those thermometers. Also what does it mean for the tank to be cycled? I waited about 2 weeks after I first got my tank and put the water in it before I got fish. I also used aquarium salt after I did the water change.
 
To cycle the tank is to let the beneficial bacteria grow in the filter (and less so in the substrate and on decorations) that will convert ammonia from fish waste into the less toxic nitrite, and then to the even less toxic nitrate, which is then removed by plants and regular water changes. The cycle won't start without an ammonia source, so just running the tank by itself doesn't do it--you either start with fish, or with straight ammonia (fishless cycle). With how long you've had the tank, you're probably pretty much cycled, but without testing it, there's no way to know for sure.

The petstores will carry test kits--strips are almost useless but better than nothing; the liquid reagents are much more accurate and worth the extra initial pay out since they last much longer than strips.

Any pet store, or even walmart usually, will carry a cheap aquarium thermometer that uses a suction cup to fasten to the glass, or you can spend a bit more for a magnetic type or a weighted type that will sit on the substrate, depending on your aesthetic preferences.

It's possible the fast (and more than two or three degrees in a day can be fast for fish) increase in the temperature shocked them, or you got an ammonia or nitrite spike for some reason--if a fish vanished, that could cause it if he's dead.

What kind of fish do you have in there, and why are you using aquarium salt? That's ideally saved for certain illnesses, and many species are incredibly sensitive to it, especially if you added too much at one time.
 
Amazon has the cheapest test kits. You most definitely need that and a thermometer.
 
I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?!

Please read that...... your fish are most likely suffering from ammonia poisoning and the heater has nothing to do with it.

You can have your water tested at the store. Just have them give you the actual readings. We need the numbers in order to help you and your fish.

I would suggest you purchase the API master kit (liquid) for testing.
 
The guy at the petstore told me that I should use aquarium salt whenever I am changing the water. Three of my fish died last week so I suppose it was the sudden change of temperature. I have since unplugged the heater because I feel like that was causing all of the problems and now the fish are acting fine. I just don't know what the best way is to start using the heater again since it doesn't have a thermometer that I can adjust. It's self-adjusting.
 
fishyquestions said:
The guy at the petstore told me that I should use aquarium salt whenever I am changing the water. Three of my fish died last week so I suppose it was the sudden change of temperature. I have since unplugged the heater because I feel like that was causing all of the problems and now the fish are acting fine. I just don't know what the best way is to start using the heater again since it doesn't have a thermometer that I can adjust. It's self-adjusting.

I think id get a new heater, it could be malfunctioning.
 
fishyquestions said:
The guy at the petstore told me that I should use aquarium salt whenever I am changing the water. Three of my fish died last week so I suppose it was the sudden change of temperature. I have since unplugged the heater because I feel like that was causing all of the problems and now the fish are acting fine. I just don't know what the best way is to start using the heater again since it doesn't have a thermometer that I can adjust. It's self-adjusting.

I'd take that one back and get one that you can adjust. And grab a thermometer while you are at it so you can keep an eye the temp and adjust accordingly.

And the guy at the pet store just wants to make a sale. You don't need salt unless you are treating a disease. Certain fish and inverts do not tolerate salt well at all and plants for sure don't.
 
The guy at the petstore told me that I should use aquarium salt whenever I am changing the water. Three of my fish died last week so I suppose it was the sudden change of temperature. I have since unplugged the heater because I feel like that was causing all of the problems and now the fish are acting fine. I just don't know what the best way is to start using the heater again since it doesn't have a thermometer that I can adjust. It's self-adjusting.

No need for salt--he was wrong. I can find an article on the myths of using salt in FW if you like, but it's not necessary and becomes counter-productive since half it's use is to irritate the fish enough to produce more slime coat to fight whatever infection/parasite is there, which stresses the fish out, which over the long run screws with their immune system, which makes the fish more susceptible to the very thing you're trying to prevent. That, and any diseases/parasites in the tank will grow immune to the salt and make it useless for disease fighting.

How long was the temperature at where the heater is set for, again? If it was more than a couple days and the fish were still acting strange and stopped acting strange immediately after removal, I would assume the heater is faulty and get a new one.
 
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