e burna
Aquarium Advice Activist
I bought 5 of these to start cycling my tank... small ones... thought I'd give them at least a few weeks... they are literally the only thing (or I should say 'were') in the tank other than the sand/gravel at the bottom...I had them maybe a week... Wednesday evening rolled around and 2 of the 5 died... then Thursday 2 more died... leaving me w/1... I went to the lfs to have my water tested, and by Friday the final 1 was dead (I actually went after the last death)... the levels all read fine (I don't remember what they were, but the guy seemed to know what he was talking about) in regards to a new tank, aka the levels shouldn't have caused the deaths... the clerk suspected possibly my tank got 'too cold'... the thing is, it was in the mid 80's during the day, but did drop down to around 60 in the evening... that is the outdoor temp... the building the tank is in (my business) stays typically in the mid 70's overnight... now I did NOT have a heater in my tank... but after the 5 deaths I bought 2 heaters and a thermometer I stuck to the outside of the glass. I haven't put the heaters in yet because I've been curious as to how cool the tank will actually drop. The first night I put it on it read 76... the next day it was 78-80.... I just don't see even at the coldest (although there is a slight chance I could be wrong I suppose) that the tank water could've possibly at it's coldest gotten any colder than 74... I read up on damsels and they rated them at 75-82 degrees... would a temp this close possibly cause all 5 to die? Hope to hear more from you guys!