Lowering temperature for Takifugu Ocellatus
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CarmenH
- Fahaka Puffer
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- Joined: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:01 pm
- My Puffers: Doug, Takifugu Ocellatus RIP :-(
Frankie, Monotrete Turgidus
Zephyr, ???Tetraodon nigroviridis??? - Location (country): Ontario, Canada
Lowering temperature for Takifugu Ocellatus
Just posted my intro and was guided to this area, and have now read through it all, lots of good, though alarming info. I just acquired a T. Ocellatus. I'm clear about the need and time frame I have to follow in order to raise the salinity for him, but at what rate should I lower the temperature? He's 2 years old and has been kept in a heated tank (mid-seventies) for his entire life with his 2 previous owners...
Carmen
Frankie, Monotrete Turgidus
Zephyr, Giant mutant Tetraodon Nigroviridis???
Odie, Tetraodon biocellatus RIP
Doug, Takifugu Ocellatus RIP
Frankie, Monotrete Turgidus
Zephyr, Giant mutant Tetraodon Nigroviridis???
Odie, Tetraodon biocellatus RIP
Doug, Takifugu Ocellatus RIP
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Myaj
- Tech Team
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- Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2005 12:27 pm
- Gender: Female
- My Puffers: Bubba, turgidus
Paris, lined burrfish - Location: SE Wisconsin
- Contact:
Re: Lowering temperature for Takifugu Ocellatus
Well, for one, lowering the temperature isn't exactly easy. The lowest you'll be able to get it to go without buying an expensive chiller is room temperature or slightly higher (lights, filter pumps, etc all add a few degrees as the water passes near them).
That may seem like its not a big deal in winter, but come summer, if you live in a hot climate, it can be very very hard, so think about how you're going to do it now. If possible, set up the tank in the coolest part of your home (a basement would be ideal), or at the least, in a room you know you'll have air conditioning.
Other things you can do is reduce your lighting (both time the lights are on and amount of bulbs if you can), lift the lights up off the tank and use fans to blow the hot air away or even on the water surface (but puffers tend to jump so an open topped tank wouldn't be a good idea).
As far as how fast to do it.. I don't really think thats too much of an issue if you just turn your heater down a bit and let it stablilize. Just don't try to drop it drastically by putting in ice packs or cold water. The fish will adapt to the change pretty well, as long as it happens over a period of hours. So depending on how far you want to lower it, I'd turn your heater down a bit every few days until you either reach the temp you want, or the water just won't get any cooler due to room temps and/or equipment warming it up.
This exact scenario is why I gave up my dream of owning seahorses.. they need cooler water and I just couldn't guarentee I could keep my temps down.
That may seem like its not a big deal in winter, but come summer, if you live in a hot climate, it can be very very hard, so think about how you're going to do it now. If possible, set up the tank in the coolest part of your home (a basement would be ideal), or at the least, in a room you know you'll have air conditioning.
Other things you can do is reduce your lighting (both time the lights are on and amount of bulbs if you can), lift the lights up off the tank and use fans to blow the hot air away or even on the water surface (but puffers tend to jump so an open topped tank wouldn't be a good idea).
As far as how fast to do it.. I don't really think thats too much of an issue if you just turn your heater down a bit and let it stablilize. Just don't try to drop it drastically by putting in ice packs or cold water. The fish will adapt to the change pretty well, as long as it happens over a period of hours. So depending on how far you want to lower it, I'd turn your heater down a bit every few days until you either reach the temp you want, or the water just won't get any cooler due to room temps and/or equipment warming it up.
This exact scenario is why I gave up my dream of owning seahorses.. they need cooler water and I just couldn't guarentee I could keep my temps down.
