i screwed up really bad today

[jrustles]

i post this with a heavy heart. the aquarium overheated, brutally, and it was my fault.

i forgot to unplug this makeshift, interim water heater, and left the house.

came back and the thing was steaming- steaming. it must have gotten well over 130+ degrees F

4 small danios and one mature rosy barb all dead. not a major stock, but they were all very mature and very healthy

but the worst part of it all, was the positions they died in. one danio's mouth was gaping wide open, like i didn't know they could open up so big. locked open. another was locked in a curled up position to one side. i've seen them get distressed at a close call, maybe 90ish degrees, scooting around trying to find relief. and i can't imagine what a torturous few hours these last were.

sorry, just had to share. i'm really a moron for trying to play thermostat- after the last 2 chinese heaters died 6 month apart and waiting for a replacement.

they're just fish, i know. but i had a serious amount of respect for them. i'm really sorry.

 

[dave1251]

Live and learn my friend. I know that this is hard but do not beat yourself up too much over it. Everything happens for a reason.

 

[spasm3]

Its good that you respect life, these things happen.

 

[JAG]

I'm sorry that happened to you and the fish. I can imagine how I'd feel and it must suck. Try to get your mind on happier thoughts.

 

[yonyon]

I imagine this is part of why most fish live in larger bodies of water. Can you eat them?

 

[ARB1977]

It happens...don't worry I've killed two of my son's fish. I was cleaning the tank with soap.

 

[gregk24]

Originally Posted By: spasm3
Its good that you respect life, these things happen.


Yes, absolutely. There is hardly any respect for life anymore...especially human life. Sorry for the loss, live and learn.

 

[JTK]

Ugh! Being a mild tank-a-holic myself, I really feel for you JR!

Heater mishaps ending badly are somewhat common in the hobby. This is why I run the smallest heater for the tank I can get by with. If it sticks on, there's no way the temp would exceed the high 80F range.

FWIW, I've got 4 tanks. 10, 20, 55 and 75g.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I`m so sorry to hear about your fish :^( They become part of your family and you love them with all your heart. I`ve had Betta fish,and they were all so wonderful. One of my males lived to be 7 or so. He`d jump up and eat out of my hand. I miss him so very much :^(

I have two red eared slider turtles now. I have them so tamed,that they walk up in my hand and I also hand feed them every day. I`m gonna add an alligator snapping turtle to my collection one day. My gf won`t let me have a ball python that I really want :^P

 

[Kira]

I had a tank the beauty of which defied description. People with 10 tanks would see mine and their jaws would drop.
I took a trip and asked my brother to feed my fish. This is after doing tons and tons of stuff for him.
He completely forgot, got annoyed or whatever. He dropped by one time and dumped 16 pounds of food into my tank.
It was a horrid mess of rotted food and dead fish when I got home from my trip.
I could've hacked him to death with the back side of a machete. Kira

 

[mcrn]

Why do they design a tank heater than can get this hot in the first place? That makes no sense. I do not keep fish as pets so its a real question? Seems like an accident waiting to happen instead of having a max temp much lower? Im sorry for your loss.

 

[jrustles]

thank you all for the kind words. it's empathic displays like this that remind me what a great group of people we have on this board. after a nice dinner, some playoff bball and a shower, i feel a bit better- distracted. though the place still smells like aquarium steam.

jtk, smart move limiting the power of the heaters. that margin of protection can be critical indeed.

Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm

They become part of your family and you love them with all your heart. I`ve had Betta fish,and they were all so wonderful. One of my males lived to be 7 or so. He`d jump up and eat out of my hand. I miss him so very much :^(

bro, you're so right on about this. they do feel like family after a while. 8 years is an eternity for a betta!

my little guys taught me a lot. first, is that i'm not having anymore. most importantly, that fish are not stupid at all. eg. the tank was in a room, by a window, and the danios would always line themselves up by the front of the glass watching. the doorway to the hall was about 9 feet away. everytime i walked past the room door and glance inside, they'd go from lined up and watching to scooting around, waiting for some grub- from such a distance! the barb has been a bit depressed since his mate died years ago, from ick introduced by new stock. he used to chase his buddy all around the 20 gal tank, which he's outgrown since then. had wanted to give him away to someone with a bigger tank. right, they're 'just fish' but it feels like i've failed a good friend in the worst way possible.

kira, wow. i'm sorry to hear about your tank. isn't it just a horrible feeling, like your pride and joy gets ripped away with one mishap. you can't blame yourself for what happened there, though.

mcrn, it was my risky stupidity. it wasn't even a tank heater. while waiting for a replacement heater (second one), i 'd been using the element from a one cup coffee maker, which i would plug in for 5 minutes at a time. the thing is something like 1500+ watts. 5 minutes or so was good for about 5 degree increase. i was able to keep it up for a week, with only one close call, until the time it would be inevitably forgotten on like today.

also, if anyone is thinking of buying/using tetra branded chinese heaters- don't. they're terribly cheap and while they will fail 'off', it's not worth the hassle of trying to replace it and scrambling to find another heating solution

 

[HTSS_TR]

Next time when you intend to do something unusual for short period of time, set an alarm for that period on your cell phone so that you don't forget.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: jrustles


also, if anyone is thinking of buying/using tetra branded chinese heaters- don't. they're terribly cheap and while they will fail 'off', it's not worth the hassle of trying to replace it and scrambling to find another heating solution

jr, the thing with aquarium heaters is, even the high dollar ones can be hit/miss. Tetra is part of the United Pet Group conglomerate these days. Their stuff isn't any worse than anything else believe it or not. There's two conglomerates for all that is aquaria; United Pet Group and Central Garden and Pet. They make ALL the consumer grade tanks and accessories.

In regards to going away and relying on someone else for feedings, you're better off not feeding. Fish can easily go 2 weeks without issue. You're better off not feeding if you can't be there for your weekly water changes.

Don't give up on the hobby! Danios are great fish and don't require a heater at all provided the tank doesn't get much lower than ~66-68F or so.

 

[Mr_Incredible]

I did something like that once. I was dusting the cover and cleaning the filter, and somehow turned the dial on the heater WAY up. Didn't catch it until I got home that evening and all the fish were floating around in unnatural positions. They were a really nice group of guys and I felt terrible about it.

 

[leroyd92]

its nice to see someone caring about life.

my passion is catfishing, a few months back i caught a 9lb channel cat, let it go and when i got home my booklet said it was ~19/21years old. it makes you think twice about sports involving animals, i release most fish that are over 8lbs.

kindergardeners dont make babies

 

[SatinSilver]

About two years ago I noticed one of the fancy fantail goldfish at my parents house sitting at the bottom of the tank. His mouth wasn't opening and closing like it normally does. Then I notice a piece of gravel stuck in his mouth. So I pick him up and use a snub nose tweezers to gently pull it out. I put him back in the water and notice his mouth is now stuck open. Get him out again and gently try to close his mouth which closed it about 90%. Now his mouth works just fine and he's still alive and swimming around!

 

[Sam2000]

Originally Posted By: HTSS_TR
Next time when you intend to do something unusual for short period of time, set an alarm for that period on your cell phone so that you don't forget.


Could also have a wall timer or a wifi connected timer so you could turn it off remotely.

You could even get a wifi enabled thermometer and set up an alert.

 

[dlundblad]

Originally Posted By: leroyd92
its nice to see someone caring about life.

my passion is catfishing, a few months back i caught a 9lb channel cat, let it go and when i got home my booklet said it was ~19/21years old. it makes you think twice about sports involving animals, i release most fish that are over 8lbs.

kindergardeners dont make babies


a bit off topic, but we lost at least 8 catfish because of our harsh winter. they were about 20 years old and anywhere between 2-2.5 feet long. Got to talking to an uncle and he said if we shoveled the snow off the ice, which would allow light in, and used an ice auger to drill some holes, it may have been prevented.

Oh well. Live and learn.

 

[kkreit01]

I wish I could do this. We've had 1 red danio for > 5.5 years -- in a 2.5 gal tank. We bought a dog shortly after the fish -- since the fish kept dying. We told the kids, "since we now have a dog, once this last fish dies, we aren't going to replace it". They were OK with that. This stupid little fish may outlast the dog, and I'm stuck cleaning the tank. Our youngest daughter bought a Betta. He sometimes won't eat for days, and we think he's going to pass. Then, he'll start eating again. I like pet fish. I just hating cleaning the tanks. When we wanted fish, they always died. Now that we don't really want them, they live forever.

We don't even have a heater on our tank. The water temps range from ~68 in winter, to 80 in summer. Fish still swims on.

Sorry for your loss OP.