death by winter

Hi

So I got home this morning to find my tank that is placed in our lapa outside to be a temp of 10!!!

Added another 2 heaters and then had to shoot off to work.
Just got a call from dad, 2 bala sharks are dead, 2 are on their way out and the other 1 missing.

Luckly my tinfoil barbs are perfect no signs of stress.
Not something good to start my day!

I have tried all sorts of methods to keep this temp at a constant yet no luck, what now?

 

i heard of ppl covering the whole tank in polystyrene to keep temp in the tank? only when u want to take a look or during the day do you take the polystyrene off?

 

I almost went the same road today
Cleaned my display tank yesterday and only plugged one 300W
heater back instead of both. Temp dropped to 25 over night and my
discus were not happy this morning.

Cover the sides and back of tank with thin polystyrene and throw a blanket
or something over the tank at night to stop that wind factor.

 

or even a nice thick wollen blanket will help a bit

 

Forgive me, am I missing something here, koi and goldfish ponds are designed for outside, while tropical fish tanks are designed to be kept inside, especially in cold winter climates with great temperature variations ! It would seem suicidal trying to keep Tropicals outside in a cold Highveld winter, no matter how many heaters you try and use...confused ?

 

O just to be clear mine ain't outside

 

My wifes relative also has a tank outside in the entertainment area. She says she has seen them cover the tank at night with a specially made cover. Tarp\tent like material on the outside. fluffy like aerolite on the inside and it cover the tank with the corners being zipped up!

Maybe look into something like that for your tank.

 

Although my tank is inside the temp also dropped by 4-5 degrees, placed a blanket over it and made sure any gaps in the hood are covered really well, and make sure the air pump is off at night, the disturbance of the water causes a lot of heat to get lost, made all the diff for me. For outside I suggest a proper Polystyrene cover all round though, much better insulation, also turn up the temp on the thermometers. I also heard from someone that a layer of bubble wrap on the water helps keep the heat in, similar to the pool covers. Never tried this before though.

 

Putting bubble wrap on your tanks water is the worst thing you could do. You will literally suffocate your fish within a few hours!!!!


Sent from my Tablet using Tapatalk

 

Hi dude.. I'm Sorry but keeping bala sharks and tinfoil barbs in an environment Where they are subjected to regular temperature fluctuations is only ever gonna result in them dying. A place like a lapa May just not be sufficiently insulated to keep the temperature stable. I would suggest moving the tinfoils and bala sharks inside your home. If you are serious about keeping a tank outside i would suggest keeping tiger barbs and rosy barbs or something like that.
Best of luck dude and keep us posted

 

Not the smartest move - i remember as kid in PTA the dogs water would freeze at night....

 

And in jhb the birdbath and outside ponds would freeze up. Remember, more water means less chance of freezing. Last year people were claiming they found ice floating in their pool, havent seen any pics yet.

Last night was the first time i started covering my tanks. Just as well. First frost of the season has hit. Bye bye grass.

 

A friend of mine who live in Northcliff had ice on the pool one winter, we use to float Lego ppl on the tiny sheets, was lots of fun

 

Here its so cold if you put a bowl of boiling water outside it
freezes so fast the ice still steams

 

Thats pretty cool, at my place if only once seen a thin sheet of ice on the fish pond

 

Okay just to be clear, the tank is placed under a lapa. The lapa is covered at the back and both sides by a wall. Only open side is the entrance to the pool.
Meaning wind is minimum thus generaly not as cold as it may seem.

Also, on closer inspection the heaters were unpluged due to someone stealing my 2 point plugs. Then put them back but didnt push the 2 point plug in hard enough.

Death toll was only 2 bala sharks (Larger ones) the other 3 lived. All 5 tiger barbs died, 2 are still missing.

Temp kept a 26 through out the day once temp was back to normal, added a 300w before 7 last night. by 12 am temp was at 25, this morning was at 27.
So that has been solved.
Also have covered both sump and tank with towels and blankets.


Thanks for all the suggestions but will still keep these fish together.

The tiger barbs i had in there all died. Obviously this proves the other fish i had in there can with stand tempreture drops like that.

They have been outside for over a month with no problems until now (beside the little heat problem which i sorted out)

Thats what happens when you run out of space INSIDE your home lol


Also guys note that this isnt a glass tank.

 

i'm sorry dude, but to me this still says that the tank will be subjected to big temperature fluctuations, even with heaters, and if your tiger barbs died then i cannot imagine what your poor bala sharks have been going thru.

its your tank and no one can tell you what to do, but i think you may be putting those fish under undue stress.

and the cold snap thats nailed the whole country started this week? i think there may be a connection as well.

i wouldnt bet all my pennies on that one. sometimes a type of fish that is known to display a certain trait does the exact opposite, but i think you need to take note of the fact that there have been deaths across various species in your tank and that says something, bala sharks and tiger barbs have died (if i rememebr the thread correctly). i would take that as an alarm bell and move the rest to somewhere more sheltered from temperature fluctuations. but again, its your tank due, at the end of the day, we are here to give and get advice but we dont always have to take it..best of luck with it and keep us posted.

 

@mydummyname
Please excuse me if what i said came out a little harsh lol

I understand where you getting at. Makes a little more sense now.

Maybe i can make a plan to move it, but the thing is it can only be done once there is space otherwise they will be moved twice in a short time.
Not easy moving a 360l tank + 100l sump by myself lol Plus i work all day.

Going to watch the temp carefully until this weekend....my old man is going to kill me when he gets back and this tank is in the house lol

Thanks again for the advice

 

I would still suggest you move your fishies indoors asp !