Heater!

[Ro Bow]

My heater completely broke, the wires are flaying. I removed it, and a new one is suppsoded to come Monday. How long can my fish (Occ. Clownfish, YWG (baby), Tomini tang, and 2 PJ cardinals) and my coral (xenia), survive with everything they need - but a heater? The temperature dropped 5f, and has been steady at 73F right now for a while.... Lights on, skimmer on, everything's fine otherwise. I read that they can survive a few days around 60F but then I also read they will survive 3 hours at that temperature. I'm mainly concerned about my fish.

If you have any "DIY" ideas to heat it im all ears. I am currently heating some kitchen water and will put it in a plastic bag and float the bag in the water for a while.

Thanks so much have a good day..

 

[Notsolostfish]

My heater completely broke, the wires are flaying. I removed it, and a new one is suppsoded to come Monday. How long can my fish (Occ. Clownfish, YWG (baby), Tomini tang, and 2 PJ cardinals) and my coral (xenia), survive with everything they need - but a heater? The temperature dropped 5f, and has been steady at 73F right now for a while.... Lights on, skimmer on, everything's fine otherwise. I read that they can survive a few days around 60F but then I also read they will survive 3 hours at that temperature. I'm mainly concerned about my fish.

If you have any "DIY" ideas to heat it im all ears. I am currently heating some kitchen water and will put it in a plastic bag and float the bag in the water for a while.

Thanks so much have a good day..

Out of curiosity there's no fish stores near you? you can buy a heater even if it's not a good one meanwhile? beside that keeping the temperature room higher would help as well, you can't do nothing beside that to be honest.

 

[Unitylover]

bag trick is nice, you could also use a siphon to put it in a pan and heat the pan

 

[I.AM.MR.MIKE]

I have an idea - go buy a cheap heater somewhere that ends in MART...
Walmart
Petsmart
or
Petco
LFS
Many others

 

[Sharkbait19]

I think 75 is the minimum that coral can tolerate, although the fact that it is only Xenia, it can probably hold out, as long as the water doesn’t dip any lower.

My heater broke too and I’m awaiting a new one. In the meantime I’m just using an old aqueon heater I have. They’re relatively cheap, and could probably buy one of those or even a top fin from petsmart.

 

[JachPot]

Go buy a $20 heater from petco/petsmart, it's nice to have for water changes anyways.

 

[Ro Bow]

Thanks everyone

 

[KeepSwimming]

I wouldn’t worry about going a few days without a heater if you keep the room temp at 70. I’ve done this to combat bacterial blooms with no fish or coral loss. Seahorse keepers prefer cooler tanks and keep a variety of fish and coral between 74 and 76 long-term. Just avoid sudden/drastic changes.

 

[Ro Bow]

Ok I asked my parents about getting a temporary heater and they said that tomorrow I can get one because right now where I am its dark... The fish will be ok by then right? I will have to get it around 1pm WST...

 

[Sharkbait19]

They should be fine.

 

[artieg1]

Fish will be fine. Lowish temperatures not nearly as problematic as high temperatures.

 

[EricR]

You're in Washington so it's 6:30pm, right?
You mentioned 73 degrees -- if your house stays that high overnight, then I wouldn't worry too much about it.
If your house temperature falls MUCH lower at night, then I'd look at post #4 -- it's not too late.

 

[Ro Bow]

Thanks everyone! Everyones doing fine this morning, Xenia is opened and so is my feather duster. Dropped to 70F though, same temperature as the house currently. I wrapped the tank in a blanket and have the fire place on right now