So I notice that the temperature has been dipping down into upper 30s for a low and upper 50s for a high in southern Florida this week. I know cichlids live in the ponds and other waterways in that part of the country, so it got me to wondering what temps these fish can survive at and for how long. I see posts all of the time from people freaking out because the temperature has dipped below 70 degrees in their cichlid tank (bad heater or something else). I just wondered if anyone has a real estimate on what cichlids, generally speaking, can withstand temperature wise.
Cichlid temps
- Thread starter dent20
- Start date
the cold snaps down in florida do occassionally kill off some of the cichlids in the canals, but generally, theye tend to be pretty resilient
Cichlaholics Anonymous;3755481; said:
This is accurate. Life in general seems to always find a way to continue on.
If the OP has never been to FL before there are also a lot of lizards (and other reptiles) here. Normally the lizards are all over the place (and I mean ALL OVER THE PLACE!!!). Right now though I haven't seen a lizard in a couple of weeks at least. They will somehow make it through and return in a few months.
Also, just because the air temp got that low doesn't mean the water temp dropped that much. Water takes much longer to heat up and cool down than air does.
I keep 3 tanks in my patio in Miami. Saturday night the temp dipped to 38 degrees.
When I woke up the temp in the heated tanks was 52. In the unheated tank it was 40
The LMB in the 40 degree tank was fine, but 1 of the sunfish died.
The Jags in the heated tank were comatose, and I started boiling water. When I got the temp up to the 60's the Jags recovered.
Anyway, I now am putting more heaters on the tanks.
BTW: Pbass die below 60 degrees, If this cold spell lasts a while, the fishing is going to suffer. Unfortunately, the @#$% Mayans don't seem to mind!
When I woke up the temp in the heated tanks was 52. In the unheated tank it was 40
The LMB in the 40 degree tank was fine, but 1 of the sunfish died.
The Jags in the heated tank were comatose, and I started boiling water. When I got the temp up to the 60's the Jags recovered.
Anyway, I now am putting more heaters on the tanks.
BTW: Pbass die below 60 degrees, If this cold spell lasts a while, the fishing is going to suffer. Unfortunately, the @#$% Mayans don't seem to mind!
Interesting replies. I was just curious. I have a rainbow cichlid in an unheated tank (heater broke a while back) and he's been doing fine even with the temp down around 60. He's not as colorful, but I hope to get him in a new tank before long.
Rainbows are fairly hardy, and can handle a wide temperature range . . . some more sensitive fish might not have fared so well . . .
Texas cichlids are also known to handle lower temps, and so can some acara species . . . in my part of Florida (Palm Beach county), you can see lots of Mayan cichlids in the canals and lakes, pretty much year-round . . .
Texas cichlids are also known to handle lower temps, and so can some acara species . . . in my part of Florida (Palm Beach county), you can see lots of Mayan cichlids in the canals and lakes, pretty much year-round . . .
I had wondered the same as well. Went out of town last weekend and the house temp had dropped significantly (as expected when the high is 7*). My tank stayed warm enough, but my texas was definatly sluggish until I got it warmed back up.