territerri
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I'm re-posting my question in the General Hardware category out of curiosity & just in case...
"Did New Top Fin Heater Kill My Platys?" (Thread Title as posted in Freshwater - Unhealthy Fish yesterday)
2 weeks ago I acquired 6 blue platys & moss ball from a LFS, all of which were healthy, happy, horny and hungry. I placed them in a 5G QT tank w/ filter but no heater.
2 days ago, I placed a brand new, fresh-out-of-the-package, Top Fin 50 watt aquarium heater in the QT tank (so they could get used to a higher temp in the community tank), switched the temp to approx 82F (3F > current temp).
Next morning, all platys were huddled at the bottom of the tank, appearing to be "gasping" & not moving around like before. They also weren't interested in food. I turned the heater temp down by 1F, thinking the water may be too warm, too soon. 2 fish were sideways & died shortly thereafter. I immediately purchased & added an air pump to better oxygenate the water yesterday evening. By early this afternoon, the 4 remaining platys had perished, i.e. all 6 died w/in 24 hrs.
When I smell the rubber-like bumpers on the heater, they still have a nasty, strong "new plastic" odor emanating from them. It seems too much a coincidence that the fish died only over the last 2 days when the heater was placed. Before that, they had shown no signs of illness, i.e. irregular swimming, lack of appetite, etc.
(Feedback from "Freshwater - Unhealthy Fish" included: poss. skewed parameters, tank over capacity, etc., which I'll definitely take into consideration for next time!)
Your thoughts / experience on smelly plastics in tanks? I also have plastic aquarium plants that have a slightly less strong odor but it worries me whether the fish would be sensitive to them?
"Did New Top Fin Heater Kill My Platys?" (Thread Title as posted in Freshwater - Unhealthy Fish yesterday)
2 weeks ago I acquired 6 blue platys & moss ball from a LFS, all of which were healthy, happy, horny and hungry. I placed them in a 5G QT tank w/ filter but no heater.
2 days ago, I placed a brand new, fresh-out-of-the-package, Top Fin 50 watt aquarium heater in the QT tank (so they could get used to a higher temp in the community tank), switched the temp to approx 82F (3F > current temp).
Next morning, all platys were huddled at the bottom of the tank, appearing to be "gasping" & not moving around like before. They also weren't interested in food. I turned the heater temp down by 1F, thinking the water may be too warm, too soon. 2 fish were sideways & died shortly thereafter. I immediately purchased & added an air pump to better oxygenate the water yesterday evening. By early this afternoon, the 4 remaining platys had perished, i.e. all 6 died w/in 24 hrs.
When I smell the rubber-like bumpers on the heater, they still have a nasty, strong "new plastic" odor emanating from them. It seems too much a coincidence that the fish died only over the last 2 days when the heater was placed. Before that, they had shown no signs of illness, i.e. irregular swimming, lack of appetite, etc.
(Feedback from "Freshwater - Unhealthy Fish" included: poss. skewed parameters, tank over capacity, etc., which I'll definitely take into consideration for next time!)
Your thoughts / experience on smelly plastics in tanks? I also have plastic aquarium plants that have a slightly less strong odor but it worries me whether the fish would be sensitive to them?
