When changing water...

[Aniistarr]

When changing the water with the tube to suck any dirty thing from the gravel do you turn off the filter? i usually don't, but was wondering if its better to turn it off or is it ok to leave it on?

Also its very hot here in my living room where i have my fish tank and i don't have an AC only a fan. So if the fish tank is over 86F is it ok? i have a 2.5G with a female swordtail i did PWC change earlier and the water was 86F, but now i think is higher.

 

[mohican]

U should turn off filter and any other electrical fixtures, heaters too. As for temp, since u have a tiny tank, just replace some with cold water to help u. Place a fan blowing over top to help too. Floating ice in a bag helps too.

 

[Aniistarr]

oh, thanks from now on i will turn it off when i change the water

And yes as of now i have the fan on blowing by the fish tank, but i don't know how to put the bag with ice, if i leave the top open is not good, because swordtail are fish that can jump

 

[tamtam]

Can you move the tank? It's a pretty small tank.. I wouldn't want to use ice or cold water as a long term solution on this.. that's going to leave your temp jumping all over the place and will stress out your fish.

I also unplug everything when doing water changes.

Are you planning to upgrade your tank?? A swordtail really should have more space than that.. a lot more

 

[Aniistarr]

I wanted to move it to my basement, but then is more work.

Yes i know 2.5G is too small for my swordtail and i will soon upgrade it to a 5G, i wish i could do more than that, but i don't have enough space

 

[mohican]

Fill a couple sandwich bags or even plastic grocery bags with ice , set them in the tank and close the lid to keep them in place. U don't have to put a giant 5lb bag in.

 

[tamtam]

I wanted to move it to my basement, but then is more work.

Yes i know 2.5G is too small for my swordtail and i will soon upgrade it to a 5G, i wish i could do more than that, but i don't have enough space

IMO 5 gal is not enough, if you absolutely can not upgrade bigger then maybe rethink your setup. Return or rehome your swordtail and get a more suitable fish. A betta is a great option, it would also probably have a better time with the high temp which would remove that worry.