I left for vacation a week ago and everything seemed fine with my three tanks (My betta tank, fry tank and 29 gallon) Well, sometime during the week the heater on my big tank gave out. The heat in the apartment was turned down and the temperature in the tank went into the 60s. I lost nearly all of my fish.
The survivors are as follows: Three black longfin tetras, three gold barbs, one lone neon and an otto (by a miracle- I've had this little guy for two years now)
On coming home to this very sorry sight I immediately did a massive
pwc, resisted the urge to pour in warm water, and slowly raised the temperature over a matter of hours. Water chemistry is about normal, ammonia ok now ( I didn't even test when I first came home, I knew it would be sky high, just did the biggest water change I could do w.o. emptying the tank) The remaining fish made it overnight. I didn't feed them yet. They seem better than yesterday though not all that lively, at least none of them appear to be swimming funny or acting strangely.
Now, I have some fry in my fry tank that I was going to give to the store. 4 1/2 inch mollies and 7 baby platys. Even though the fry are mostly big enough to escape being eaten, I'm not sure I should move them over just yet. The fish in the big tank seem stressed enough (Thank God I didnt' move them into the big tank last week like I was planning, I would have lost them too)
My questions:
1. I should feed my fish today, right?
2. Will having such a light bioload damage the biological filter and cause bacteria to die- if so, how can I prevent this?
3. When should I add more fish (the fry and possibly others)
4. What should/Can I add in addition to the fry? I want to replace the neons definitely, maybe get four or five. Do I have room for any more barbs or longfin tetras? I know three of each kind isn't very good, they need more. I had been planning on adding a clown or bristlenose pleco for a long time now. So I'm thinking: The pleco, the fry, four or five neons, and I'm up in the air about a couple more barbs and tetras. I'm leaning against getting ottos because they always die (except for Superotto that I have).
Please let me know what you think, the last thing I want to do is overstock and stress these fish out anymore.
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