Oscar help!!

[Ch1ef Br0dy]

Hello everyone.
I have been away with work for the past week.
On returning home my Oscar seemed very withdrawn and listless.
To my horror I noticed my tank heater was not working and the temp was reading 19.5 C.
I immediately installed a new heater and the water has returned now to 26C after about 24 hours.
Oscar does still not seem happy, mainly staying still, nose to the floor. Only occasionally swimming about for a few seconds if disturbed.
Will he survive? I have no idea how long my heater was not working for.
Should I do a big water change? I don't want to stress him out further.
Is there anything specific I could do to help him?

 

[Deleted member 149562]

You might have brought the temperature up too fast.

Returning to normal in stages over a day or three might have been better for him, afterall, the reduction in temperature would have been very gradual and not in 24 hours (unless there was 6ft of snow outside and no heating in your home, but even then the water temperature would take a bit longer than 24 hours to reduce that far)

Many assume that the only heat shock is when you add cold water to a warm aquarium. It can be the other way around too, which is why its always a good idea not to put really cold water or overheated water into an aquarium when doing water changes.

Having his water climb back to normal relatively quickly (as in within 24 hours) won't have shocked him per se but probably wasn't appreciated by him very much. Doing water changes now after the event is probably not going to be helpful...especially if the water going in doesn't match whats already there in temperature. His internal thermostat will flip flop and cause more stress than he has currently

I would be inclined to just let him rest and rebalance in peace and quiet, maybe lights off for a few days and let him reacclimatise. You may lose him but then you might not. Let him rest and get himself together quietly....the fish will tell you when its feeling OK or not. Watch him, rest him and leave him in peace.