# Overheating emergency! Gasping at bottom of tank!



## elijahfeathers (Oct 15, 2010)

Housing 
What size is your tank? 2 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 90!
Does your tank have a filter? No
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

Food
What type of food do you feed your betta fish? nls betta forumla
How often do you feed your betta fish? 4 pellets once a day

Maintenance 
How often do you perform a water change? 2/week
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change? 100%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change? Prime

Water Parameters:
Have you tested your water? If so, what are the following parameters?
n/a
Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
pH:
Hardness:
Alkalinity: 

Symptoms and Treatment
How has your betta fish's appearance changed? Hasn't
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? sitting on bottom of tank, breathing rapidly
When did you start noticing the symptoms? just now, got off work
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? Had 1 gallon of water with 1 tsp aqua salt + prime getting to room temp since fish was lethargic
Does your fish have any history of being ill? n/a, got him two days ago
How old is your fish (approximately)? no idea, petsmart fish


So my new dragon, he's laying at the bottom of his tank, breathing rapidly. I think the tamp today shocked him some.... the water in all my tanks is 90 (we don't have ac) and he's just breathing pretty rapidly, his mouth opening and closing. I'm about to cup him and slowly start switching his water for the salted water. Any other suggestions are welcome, already unplugged the heater...


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## elijahfeathers (Oct 15, 2010)

Gah I feel bad. 8C He was living in the cool ac at petco and I guess going from whatever the AC was in the store to a heated tank, and then having it get so hot here must've been too much. 8C the gallon jug of water I had out was a bit cooler than his tank water, and he perked up when I poured a bit in his QT cup/stopped gasping as terribly. His water in the main tank is smelling bad, too... not sure what's up with that. Going to do a total water change in the morning, for now focusing on the QT cup. Maybe not a heat issue after all? The water smells... like dead snail? But I haven't had any snails in a month or so, bare bottom QT tank with plastic plants. o____o


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

The water will smell more when it's warm because the heat will kick up production of bacteria/algae etc. One poster on here suggested taking a water bottle and freezing it and adding that to the tank. Said it lowered the temp 2 degrees. I actually just put ice in a ziplock and was able to lower the temp in my tank about 4 or 5 degrees. 

Another option is putting a desk fan nearby to blow on the tanks.


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## elijahfeathers (Oct 15, 2010)

I'm thinking it's a water quality issue after all. the smell isn't in the other tanks and the temp doesn't bother the other fish. I made the call to plug the heater back in, as all it took was the fresh water to perk him up. I think maybe whatever was in the tank just grew like crazy in the heat. I'm gonna wash it out good tomorrow.


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## Sakura8 (May 12, 2011)

Sounds like a plan.


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