OldMan
Oct 25th 2009, 05:05 PM
Well yesterday it turned warm enough for me to work outdoors in my shirt sleeves. I decided my Xenotoca eiseni had probably had enough of fall weather so I drained their tub and brought them indoors. First I moved some of their tub water to my tank so it could be water they were familiar with. Then I caught as many as I could before draining the tub too far. The fish went into a half filled bucket of tub water. By the time I hand scooped the leaves out of their water and got it drained most of the way to the bottom, the more elusive of the Xenotoca were getting caught in the net. I finally caught the last one when I was down to about a litre of water in the tilted tub. The net did not leave any place for him to avoid it so he moved ahead of it and ended up stranded on the tilting plastic bottom above the water line. I just picked him up and he joined his mates in the bucket.
When I started to move the bucket of water into the house it occurred to me to measure the temperature in the bucket. It was at 9C after sitting in the sun while I was catching all of the Xenotoca. It was probably a few degrees cooler when I started. The filter from the tub moved indoors with the fish and is now running on their tank. I have already done 2 large water changes. One last night and the next this afternoon. I can almost see the fish in the tank water now that most of the green water is gone.
They are looking pretty good but I may not push quite that far with fall weather next year. It was a real challenge to bring them indoors without causing them a temperature shock. I basically left their cold water in the tank and let it come slowly up to near room temperature, then added the coldest water I could get from my faucet to finish the first fill of their tank. Both water changes were done in much the same way with the coldest water that I could get. It was a bit warmer than their tank water but they tolerated it well.
When I started to move the bucket of water into the house it occurred to me to measure the temperature in the bucket. It was at 9C after sitting in the sun while I was catching all of the Xenotoca. It was probably a few degrees cooler when I started. The filter from the tub moved indoors with the fish and is now running on their tank. I have already done 2 large water changes. One last night and the next this afternoon. I can almost see the fish in the tank water now that most of the green water is gone.
They are looking pretty good but I may not push quite that far with fall weather next year. It was a real challenge to bring them indoors without causing them a temperature shock. I basically left their cold water in the tank and let it come slowly up to near room temperature, then added the coldest water I could get from my faucet to finish the first fill of their tank. Both water changes were done in much the same way with the coldest water that I could get. It was a bit warmer than their tank water but they tolerated it well.