Light fell in tank

[danwil77]

Hello everyone, I've had a major tragedy today. I came home from work to find that one of the legs on my power compact light fixture had broken (i assume the cat was sitting on it) and the lights were submerged in the tank. At this point I've lost all three of my clown loaches (they meant so much to me, i'd had them for so long) and my siamese algea eaters were dead too. At this point my two discus and all 7 cardinal tetras seem ok but since all the scaleless fish in the tank seem to be dead now I'm thinkin somethings going on.
The water temp in the area where the lights were in the water was very hot to the touch while the rest of the tank seemed to still be around the normal 86F, the light fixture looks like it may have been on fire, some of the wires are melted clean through.
This is a total disaster. So far I've changed most of the water and added a pretty sizable amount of StressCoat, I guess I wont know until tomorrow morning if the rest of my fishies are going to be ok.
Right now there are 2 discus, 2 Bolivian rams, 2 Apistogramas, and seven cardinal tetras, plus a clown plec and a common plec.
Any thoughts from anyone on what caused the death of the scaleless fish? they all seemed to have a spotty white film all over them but I'm not sure how long they were dead...
Thanks...
Depressed in NewYork,
Dan

[G-1000]

Well that sucks when that happens mate :(

I would at a guess say that electricity does not affect fish with scales as much, since the scales provide an insulating effect.

However, in those fish with scales, you will need to carefully observe them to see if they have any defects. Abnormal heart rates etc can result from electrical shocks.

Keep an eye out, but should be ok

G

[discus000]

Dan,
I'm so sorry for your loss.

It's never a good feeling when you lose a fish(es).
Hang in there.

:(

[sammigold]

It may be that when the light fell in the ones you lost were in close vicinity and were electrocuted..(We had that happen with a heater once.. all the fish that were around the heater died but the others were all fine)
Maybe the plastic melt caused a toxin to be released into the water that affected your scaleless babies...

I think you have done all that you can by doing the large w/c.... maybe do another one tomorrow (not so large though).....

Observation is about all you can do now I think and hope for the best.... We are all thinking of you and wishing you the best of luck.. hope all works out for the rest of your fish... I am so sorry for your loss...

[Bill T.]

Some time ago there was a guy on this site who was getting an electric shock from his quarium water whenever he turned his U.V. steriliser on - we haven't heard from him for a long time now! But his fish all seemed to be fine.
The way electricity works, there has to be a grounding influence for the charge to flow & thus cause damage - birds can sit on top of high voltage power lines with no effect, for instance.
I think the toxicity theory holds more water.

[Inspiringfish]

Sorry for your loss Dan. I hope everythings OK with the others.

[danwil77]

Hello again all, just an update. First let me thank you for all the well wishes, i really appreciate them all.
All the other fish seem fine, even my pair of discus (and with my past luck with discus that's amazing to me)...
I've taken the light fixture apart now, there was definately an underwater fire of some sort, lots of melted plastic and one of the bulbs was melted open and full of water.
I assume that the fumes or chemicals or whatever given off by the fire is what killed my little buddies since all the scaled fish seem just fine.
I'm still a bit depressed - over fish! But now i've learned my lesson, I have to have a more secure hood on my aquarium. It's just too bad it had to be my 3 favorite and oldest fish...

Thanks again, and secure those light fixtures! :wink:

[Bill T.]

I know what you mean! Despite my slightly hard & cynical approach to life in general (I turned 51 yesterday!), when I have a sick fish, I feel sick too, and a dead fish (especially a favorite) really gets to me!
That's one of the things I like about keeping fish - especially discus. Even my friends get attached to them - you should see these 50+ year olds sitting there talking - to fish!

[G-1000]

Yes Bill,

Even for 22yr olds like myself - I am quite happy to sit at my fishtank and oggle for hours on end.

G

[Merrilyn]

Hey Bill, you kept that very quiet. Happy birthday. Fifty one is nothing. Like fine wine, we just get better as we age (well that's my story anyway LOL)
and I must be very fine indeed, and so are you. :P

and no Ro and taksan, I didn't ask for comments from the peanut gallery :?

[Bill T.]

NEWSCOOP:
DISCUS FISH PLUGS GENERATION GAP!

[sammigold]

Some time ago there was a guy on this site who was getting an electric shock from his quarium water whenever he turned his U.V. steriliser on - we haven't heard from him for a long time now! But his fish all seemed to be fine.
.

LOL... well at least his fish seemed fine.... (of course, he may have received one shock too many and thats why we havent heard from him :wink: )

Sorry I am being very evil!!!!! :twisted: :twisted: :P :P :lol: