Unheated tank
- Thread starter KaraJo
- Start date
KaraJo;1162789; said:
The only Cory I know that prefer cool water is C Barbatus but if the goldfish are large enough they may try to eat them, and that wouldnt be good for either the cory or the goldfish tbh.
KaraJo;1172137; said:
6 goldfish will be OK if they are fancy varieties that dont grow to big, or you can re-home them if they do get too big.
Many corys are fine at the lower end of tropical - which your tank really is because of your warm house. But be aware that any fish that can fit in a goldfish's mouth will usually end up there
A Gold nugget pleco would want full tropical temps, 75F+. It MIGHT survive, but not an ideal choice. Bristlenose Plecos should be OK down to 70C, but again take care with baby ones in with goldfish. Once they are a couple of inches long they will be fine.(Well with any goldfish you should have in a 55gal tank anyway)
Another thought is to put a small heater in there, but set it at a low temp, 72F or so. It wont run most of the time, but it will switch on if the tank temp drops to much. Goldfish and other true cold water fish can survive down to 40F fine, but even the 'cooler' tropicals will be floaters at that temp. Just gives you a backup if your central heating fails one winter day.
Cheers
Ian
Ianab;1172525; said:6 goldfish will be OK if they are fancy varieties that dont grow to big, or you can re-home them if they do get too big.
Many corys are fine at the lower end of tropical - which your tank really is because of your warm house. But be aware that any fish that can fit in a goldfish's mouth will usually end up there
A Gold nugget pleco would want full tropical temps, 75F+. It MIGHT survive, but not an ideal choice. Bristlenose Plecos should be OK down to 70C, but again take care with baby ones in with goldfish. Once they are a couple of inches long they will be fine.(Well with any goldfish you should have in a 55gal tank anyway)
Another thought is to put a small heater in there, but set it at a low temp, 72F or so. It wont run most of the time, but it will switch on if the tank temp drops to much. Goldfish and other true cold water fish can survive down to 40F fine, but even the 'cooler' tropicals will be floaters at that temp. Just gives you a backup if your central heating fails one winter day.
Cheers
Ian
Thanks. The goldfish are small right now, about 1" long. No worries with them eating tankmates. Only 1 is a fancy goldfish, but I will have proper housing for them when the time comes. Good idea with a heater though. I may just do that. What would be a max temp. for goldfish?? I was also thinking about a small school of giant danios. That way they wont get eaten, but I dont think they would outgrow a 55 either. How bg do the bristlenose plecos get?? I'm guessing they stay small around 6-8" range.
An unheated tank will flucuate with the ambient (surrounding) air.
Get fish that are adaptable to your conditions instead of fish that make you adapt to them.
Get fish that are adaptable to your conditions instead of fish that make you adapt to them.
ercnan;1173258; said:
I'm not trying to adapt troical fish to cooler temps. I just wanted to know what fish can be kept in a room temperature tank of around 70 degrees. If is it a risk to the fish, then I'd rather not try it. The cories seem to be doing great. I may avoid a pleco all together and just add some danios to complete my setup.
KaraJo;1173265; said:
Not saying you are, just saying to get fish that live in the temps. of your environment without needing extra heat.
No harm meant.
Research fish that are comparable to the temps. of your tank, keeping in mind the highest and lowest points it will reach.
Without an "artificial" heat source to keep it semi-regular/constant, it will rise or fall with the surrounding air temp.
When I think coldwater I think unheated tanks here, it never gets REALLY cold, so we dont have central heating. So an unheated tank might drop to 50F in the winter if no one is home and the house is unheated. If your tank isn't dropping below 70F it's not really coldwater.
Common Bristlenose only grow to 4-5", makes them a good choice for most tropical tanks. They will handle 70-75F water fine.
Danios might be a good choice if you are only keeping small goldfish, likewise they can handle the lower end tropical temps. Many barbs could too, rosy barbs are best kept around 70F and tiger barbs are fine with that too. If you get Tigers, get a bunch of them. 6 is good.. 1 or 2 will just cause trouble.
What I've realy told you is to call your tank a low temp tropical tank, your goldfish will be fine with that 70-75 range - they are already living in it. Drop in a heater to make sure it wont drop below that range and pick your fish carefully and they will be fine.
Cheers
Ian
Common Bristlenose only grow to 4-5", makes them a good choice for most tropical tanks. They will handle 70-75F water fine.
Danios might be a good choice if you are only keeping small goldfish, likewise they can handle the lower end tropical temps. Many barbs could too, rosy barbs are best kept around 70F and tiger barbs are fine with that too. If you get Tigers, get a bunch of them. 6 is good.. 1 or 2 will just cause trouble.
What I've realy told you is to call your tank a low temp tropical tank, your goldfish will be fine with that 70-75 range - they are already living in it. Drop in a heater to make sure it wont drop below that range and pick your fish carefully and they will be fine.
Cheers
Ian
