Could a 5° rise in temp in 3 hours kill my fish?

[runway1]

I set up my MH and turned them on and left the house. A few hours later, I returned and noticed the temp rose from 77 to 82. That evening, my tang (only fish) died.

Could that have been the temperature change that did him in?

 

[BDAWG]

How old is the tank? How did you cycle it? How long was the Tang in the tank?

Did you do anything different except add the MH lights?

 

[runway1]

8 week old tank and tang was in for 3-4 days.

 

[lando]

Given the timeline it is difficult to blame the temp increase. However, in a more mature tank I would say it would be a culpret. How did the tang look the last last three or four days. Water parameters?

 

[runway1]

everthing is stable. NO3's are about 30-40ppm. All inverts are fine.

 

[lando]

Then I would contribute it to a bad fish or an acclimation problem. How did yo acclimate the fish?

 

[runway1]

Given my string of bad luck (I've lost several fish), I acclimate painfully slow. I float for about an hour as I add tank water, slowly with a shot glass.

 

[lando]

Given my string of bad luck (I've lost several fish),

This is not coinsatince, you really need to find out the cause. Floating the bag for an hour is a bit exteme. I recommend a drip acclimation for best results. What else have you lost and what was the timeline with those?

 

[runway1]

Timeline is two days to two weeks+. I've lost 1 flame angel, three clowns, 2 LM blennies, 2 tangs, 3 chromis. Each was introduced one at a time except the chromis. They went in as a trio.

Each death had the same MO. Fine for a while and then for no apparent reason - 1-2 days of swimming in the same place and then death. I'm convinced I have some kind is parasite. Water is fine and so are my inverts.

Regarding the last one....she seemed fine and one day, first day with the MH lights, temp went up and she never looked the same. Died that evening. i'm wondering if the temp nailed her.

 

[lando]

I've lost 1 flame angel, three clowns, 2 LM blennies, 2 tangs, 3 chromis. Each was introduced one at a time except the chromis.

Are you sure you did not have an ammonia/nitrite spike? That is a lot of fish to add all at once, especially in such a young tank. It is likely that the fish created too much of a bioload for the biological filtration to handle. You may want to get anew test kit.

 

[JPloman]

Were they eating when you put them in the tank? I got a clown when I first started from a lfs (Panhandle Pet Supply) and the fish was not eating. Everything else seemed fine. Then bam the fish was dead. I thought maybe it was eating when I was not looking. When I went to another lfs (Suncoast Aquarium) they told me what had happened.

If this is the problem, it could just be the supplier of the fish.

 

[runway1]

Lando, I said I added the fish one at a time. My post covers a period of several weeks with no success. NO3's have always been 0, as tested by three different people.

I can only surmise that I have a parasite I'm unaware of.

 

[Edmonton Eskimo]

I may be wrong but I haven't heard of any parasite that will kill fish that quickly. As far as temp my tank swings 4-5 degrees from morning to night and I have had no problems with anything dying so I doubt that is it. Usually when a fish dies within a coulpe hours of introduction it is quite often acclimation. Test your lfs water and test yours if they are more than a little different you might want to drip acclimate your livestock. Listen to Lando he is a very experienced aquarist.

 

[klam]

IMO 82 degrees is not that high. But the quick increase in temp could of added to the stress level of tang and just pushed it over.

If you got these fish from the same LFS you might want to try a different store.

 

[klam]

If you think it's a parasite you can go fishless in your tank for several months so the lifecycle of the parasites will starve and die.

 

[lando]

NO3's have always been 0, as tested by three different people.

Are you sure? In a previous post you said NO3 was 30-40ppm. I do not think this is due to parasitic infestation as well. Honestly, I think you are just adding too many fish too fast in such a young tank. Add a fish and wait four or six weeks before adding another one. Take it slow and see if this helps your situation.

 

[runway1]

Lando sorry, I meant NO2's always 0. NO3's have been 30-40ppm as you noted.

Let me try to be more clear....the tank rarely has had more than ONE (1) fish in it. The list I post is over a period of weeks. The only time I've had more than a single fish was when I introduced three very small chromis. There's no way it's an overstocking problem unless....the previous death reacts as if the fish were still in the tank??

 

[lando]

Anything in the tank now? What inverts do you have? Can you list current water parameters like ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, SG, Temp, Ph. What type of water are you using to top-off for evaportation?

 

[malkore]

along with SG and pH, how about alkalinity? calcium shouldn't matter much for fish, but a lack of alkalinity could cause stress and a very bouncy pH. add a 5 degree temp change and that could push a fish over.

And I think I missed where you told us the size of the tank?