heater went haywire

[supafreak]

I woke up this morning and found out that sometime throughout the night my heaters thermostat had stopped working. The water was sooo hot it was off the scale on the thermometer, but my guess would have been around 92-96. The fish were under stress, obviously, and not eating. I immediatly began to float large ziplock bags full of ice in the tank in an effort to bring down the temp. This is a slow process, and i don't want to alter the temp to quickly in fear of doing more harm. Has any one been through this? Is there anything i can do for my fish in this stressful time until i get the temp back to ideal? at last check it was down to 85.
oh ya, and it is a 55g tank with calvus, and julies, and two tanganyika cats, and a pleco. I'd say the calvus are doing better than the julies, and the cats don't even seem to notice the temp change!

 

[Cafe Jeff]

Hmm.
I was sure I had replied to this.
Lower the water level some to increase aeration. Add a little salk. (I have heard that this helps fish breathe) and all should be fine.
I'd also buy a smaller heater next time. Jeff

 

[supafreak]

already have salt in there. I'll lower the water lever though. Thanks

 

[Cafe Jeff]

Another thought: can you place a fan so that it will blow air across the tank's surface. This would help to cool the water and help with o2 absorption. Jeff
One thing I would be wary of is the use of any chemicals as these can impair fish respiration.

 

[treedae]

if you're already down to 85, I would take care to let it continue to drop on it's own w/o any more interventions. No need to make the fish go through more stress.

 

[Voodoo Chilli]

I agree with Treedae.

I'd also suggest purchasing a quality, submersible heater to replace the defective one. You can't go wrong with an Ebo Jager.