- Joined
- Mar 3, 2008
- Messages
- 23
Hey all,
Having a GREAT time watching my new S. Bandensis couple (bought from Shipposhack) become comfortable in their new tank. They arrived just over a week ago and are now venturing out from behind the live rock for longer and longer periods of time and enjoying eating mostly live shore shrimp that I'm getting from aquaculturestore.com and keeping/raising in a 5.5 gallon tank below the main tank. They're getting along well and seem to keep each other company (no fighting, ever) probably because they were raised together from birth.
However, yesterday when I got home I noticed the digital thermometer read 84 degrees!!! I panicked and threw open the windows, opened the lid on top of the tank, and turned on an aeration pump to cool off the water. This happened after my compact fluorescents had been on for most of their 8-hour cycle, and that's what I trace the cause to (although my tank always seems to run warmer than I'd like and it's not even summer yet). The male cuttle was grasping at the glass tank walls while swimming kinda frantically, and "breathing" very quickly (probably hard to get enough oxygen at that temp) while staring at me quite disapprovingly. The female was mostly sitting on the sand while staying white (her color matching the sand, but I read it as a stress response as well, since she wasn't changing colors at all). By the time I went to bed at 1am, the tank had reduced to 77 degrees, where it remained until I woke up this morning. The cuttles had calmed down and seem to have eaten some shrimp overnight (a good sign). I've cut the lighting cycle in half (4 hours/day now instead of 8) to help keep the heat down (no corals to worry about in my system).
I'm getting a chiller for my system before the weather heats up any more!
So, finally, my question is that although S. Bandensis come from warmer tropical waters (I know 84 is high for even those systems), I was curious what temperature range everyone who raises S. Bandensis keep their tanks at. What temperatures so they seem to prefer breeding at? Also, how much damage might I have done to my poor cuttles? Does anyone know from experience what a one-time shot of high temperatures will do long-term to their health or life-span? While it clearly wasn't immediately fatal, did I do irreversible damage to them? Anything I need to do to help them out besides making sure it never happens again?
Feeling guilty,
Bender
Having a GREAT time watching my new S. Bandensis couple (bought from Shipposhack) become comfortable in their new tank. They arrived just over a week ago and are now venturing out from behind the live rock for longer and longer periods of time and enjoying eating mostly live shore shrimp that I'm getting from aquaculturestore.com and keeping/raising in a 5.5 gallon tank below the main tank. They're getting along well and seem to keep each other company (no fighting, ever) probably because they were raised together from birth.
However, yesterday when I got home I noticed the digital thermometer read 84 degrees!!! I panicked and threw open the windows, opened the lid on top of the tank, and turned on an aeration pump to cool off the water. This happened after my compact fluorescents had been on for most of their 8-hour cycle, and that's what I trace the cause to (although my tank always seems to run warmer than I'd like and it's not even summer yet). The male cuttle was grasping at the glass tank walls while swimming kinda frantically, and "breathing" very quickly (probably hard to get enough oxygen at that temp) while staring at me quite disapprovingly. The female was mostly sitting on the sand while staying white (her color matching the sand, but I read it as a stress response as well, since she wasn't changing colors at all). By the time I went to bed at 1am, the tank had reduced to 77 degrees, where it remained until I woke up this morning. The cuttles had calmed down and seem to have eaten some shrimp overnight (a good sign). I've cut the lighting cycle in half (4 hours/day now instead of 8) to help keep the heat down (no corals to worry about in my system).
I'm getting a chiller for my system before the weather heats up any more!
So, finally, my question is that although S. Bandensis come from warmer tropical waters (I know 84 is high for even those systems), I was curious what temperature range everyone who raises S. Bandensis keep their tanks at. What temperatures so they seem to prefer breeding at? Also, how much damage might I have done to my poor cuttles? Does anyone know from experience what a one-time shot of high temperatures will do long-term to their health or life-span? While it clearly wasn't immediately fatal, did I do irreversible damage to them? Anything I need to do to help them out besides making sure it never happens again?
Feeling guilty,
Bender