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26/08/2005 Entry: "Fish tank woes"
The past week has been a really busy one as far as fish tanks are concerned. As well as getting to grips with the new freshwater tanks at Victoria Hospital i have also had a few 'issues' with a marine tank thats in a local Chinese restaurant.
I only took the tank on a couple of months ago but the tank has been up and running for about 10/15 years and this has ultimately led to a few problems with it.
When i took it on the salinity levels (salt density) was very high, the ph was low (7.8) and there weren't very many fish in it, it's a main feature as you walk into the restaurant so this tank needs to look nice.
It also has a rather old style under gravel filtration system which i didn't mind doing the maintenance on but yesterday i had a phone call saying one of his new fish was looking very ill.
When i got to the restaurant a wrasse that was in the tank was looking rather skeletal, apparently it was still feeding but obviously it was losing weight..which i thought might be either intestinal parasites or worse a tumour.
Anyway, i sorted out a 7 day treatment course that they should add to the water and then left.
Today i get a phone call saying that nearly all the fish are dead..i race down to them thinking that i fucked up when calculating the water volume of the tank for treatment. When i get there sure enough all but 2 fish are dead and the 2 left (clown fish) are on their backs gasping.
Completely paranoid that i've messed up on the dosage calculations and that i have just killed this guys fish i stick my hands in the tank water to grab a fish for closer inspection.
It's at this time that i realise the the tank water is warm...i mean REALLY warm..it felt way into the 30's, i reach for the tank heater thats in the corner of the tank and as i inspect it i notice that its internals are badly damaged. The circuits are black with corrosion, the ceramic heating elements are in pieces and theres water inside the glass housing.
It turns out that its the original heater from about 10/15 years ago and that through complete neglect has got to the state it's in now..it's not 'new' damage, its' been corroding for years.
Anyway, the net result has been that last night at some point the heater has switched on to heat the water and not turned itself off again, causing the water to get warmer and warmer and the oxygen levels in the water to get lower and lower, thereby causing asphyxiation and death, it's just sods law that it's happened when i have done some work on the tank.
The 2 fish that were still alive made remarkable recovery when i took them out of the tank and placed them in a bucket with some of the tank water...as the water in the bucket began to cool they started to recover. They are now in isolation with the hope that they make a full recovery with no lasting side effects. It's a hard way to learn a lesson but fish tank electricals have a relatively short life...they work very hard at maintaining the right water parameters and heaters should be replaced after about 5 years.
Anyway, i have talked him into gutting his setup and going for a modern external power filter and obviously a new heater to boot...and i'm also trying to get a discount deal on some fish from my local shop so that once the new filter has matured we can start getting some new fish in.
Replies: 2 Comments
at least you got there in the end dude!, ohh and goo dnews on my little tank, i only lost one fish in the move, and this was down to a dodgy pump, which i have now replaced and they are all happy as larry, with the angel eating all the new spawn from the platties....isn't fish life bliss.
Posted by lee @ 09:18 AM GMT 30/08/2005
Must get my tank running again. Need those lovely fish to look at... Hmmm..... fish...
Posted by Chris @ 11:28 AM GMT 30/08/2005
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