Just looking for some feedback or tips here. I've kept fish for well over 20 years, but never an unheated tank, so there's a lot of second guessing going on. The plan is for a 75gallon unheated tank with gymnogeo balzanii or labiatus. Other community fish would include salt & pepper cories, serpae tetra & wild type swordtails if they can handle the temps(these seem to be the most common recommend fish to keep with gymnos from the articles I've read.) I'm guessing my temp range will be 68 in winter & up to 76 in summer. Does this sound ok? Anybody see any issues with the community fish not handling the temps? In the lower water temps do I feed the fish as usual or do their metabolisms slow down & I feed less?
75gallon gymnogeo setup
- Thread starter decoy50
- Start date
From what I've read hear that sounds right.
Gymnogeophagus definitely need seasonal cooling temperatures and your selection of species should be fine.
duanes
will know for sure he's kept a few Gymno species.
Gymnogeophagus definitely need seasonal cooling temperatures and your selection of species should be fine.
duanes
will know for sure he's kept a few Gymno species.
I appreciate the feedback. My plan sounds good from everything I've read, both on here & from online articles, but years of keeping tropical fish has lead to panic when my thermometer reads 68 hahaFrom what I've read hear that sounds right.
Gymnogeophagus definitely need seasonal cooling temperatures and your selection of species should be fine.
I have kept balzani, in a room temp tank, with a number of cool water tolerant species.
Above with Corydorus erhardti, a cool water Cory from southern Brazil and Uruguay.
I've also used high altitude Mexican live bearers that easily tolerate (and so best in ) temps in the 60s,and low 70s, these are Xenatoca eiseni.
If your not averse to mixing continents, the Roseline barbs from cool fast flowing waters in India prefer lower temps, as do rosy barbs from China, and weather loaches from all over Asia.
Of course other Gymnogeophagus, Australoheros, and other southern South American variant cichlids like Cichlasoma, and Crenicichla also work if the tank is spacious enough.
The thermometer below is from the tank above, in winter
Cichlasoma dimerus is another cichlid that does well in cooler temps
Above with Corydorus erhardti, a cool water Cory from southern Brazil and Uruguay.
I've also used high altitude Mexican live bearers that easily tolerate (and so best in ) temps in the 60s,and low 70s, these are Xenatoca eiseni.
If your not averse to mixing continents, the Roseline barbs from cool fast flowing waters in India prefer lower temps, as do rosy barbs from China, and weather loaches from all over Asia.
Of course other Gymnogeophagus, Australoheros, and other southern South American variant cichlids like Cichlasoma, and Crenicichla also work if the tank is spacious enough.
The thermometer below is from the tank above, in winter
Cichlasoma dimerus is another cichlid that does well in cooler temps
Last edited:
This will make for an interesting tank from which you should get a lot of enjoyment. I got the same idea from reading the posts by
duanes
on the fish he mentions above, and when I completed my last tank construction project it went into my basement workshop rather than the heated fish room. Temps are running about 61-64F now, and topped out around 72F at the height of last summer. Two species of Gymnogeophagus (balzani and rhabdotus), two species of Goodeid livebearers, a group of Scleromystax catfish, a school of Odessa barbs and a few other odds and ends are doing terrifically well together.
Feed them like any other fish, i.e. little enough at a time for them to finish it all in a very short time. I sometimes think they would probably eat somewhat more if the temps were 10degees higher, but the difference isn't dramatic.
And you're right; it takes a long while of looking at mid-60's temperatures in your aquarium before it stops seeming weird...
duanes
on the fish he mentions above, and when I completed my last tank construction project it went into my basement workshop rather than the heated fish room. Temps are running about 61-64F now, and topped out around 72F at the height of last summer. Two species of Gymnogeophagus (balzani and rhabdotus), two species of Goodeid livebearers, a group of Scleromystax catfish, a school of Odessa barbs and a few other odds and ends are doing terrifically well together.Feed them like any other fish, i.e. little enough at a time for them to finish it all in a very short time. I sometimes think they would probably eat somewhat more if the temps were 10degees higher, but the difference isn't dramatic.
And you're right; it takes a long while of looking at mid-60's temperatures in your aquarium before it stops seeming weird...
Thanks a lot for the tips & encouragement! The scleromystax cats was definitely a good idea - theyve been on my radar for a while as a nice alternative to a cory, but so far the price has kept me away. The money I'll save from no heater might be well funneled back into a new kind of cat!This will make for an interesting tank from which you should get a lot of enjoyment. I got the same idea from reading the posts by
Feed them like any other fish, i.e. little enough at a time for them to finish it all in a very short time. I sometimes think they would probably eat somewhat more if the temps were 10degees higher, but the difference isn't dramatic.
And you're right; it takes a long while of looking at mid-60's temperatures in your aquarium before it stops seeming weird...
Thanks for the feeding info as well. Change in feeding amount was not something I had seen mentioned, but was a concern - good to hear its business as usual.