Wanted: big fish without heater

[twentyleagues]

that’s surprising, down here German discus and angelfish are regarded as very high quality and cost a lot. I would have assumed your goldfish would be the same high standard

I've seen a lot of YouTube "stars" talking about and going to places in Germany with such great fish compared to here. I would have thought the same. I've often thought that'd be nice, what a great selection, lucky people to have that kind of availability.

I would do a stream setup with more smaller fish but then you need increased flow rates and there you go with electric again. I know the fish are smaller but there are great looking fish color wise and just cool looking and interesting behavior.

 

[GermanDude]

Ok, that is funny, there are good and not so good places to buy fish from and goldfish are not so popular as fish kept in tanks in Germany.
They are considered as pond fish mostly, except the fancy ones.
And these are seen as unethical, because some of them lack fins, the body is as short as the organs cannot grow properly and so on, mostly.
So almost all vendors have them in stock when the pond season starts.
I ordered goldfish online twice.
Never got good ones, don't want to do it again.
And I think even if there are quality fish breeders in Germany, they are in Cichlids, especially africans , mostly.
That's where the best profits are made.
Discus are more expensive, but in upkeeping costs too, so they are not wanted by many fishkeepers.
Most people don't spend money on rare barbs, denison barbs were an exception, so there are not so many choices, just no demand.
When browsing the german version of craigslist, you'll see livebearers, corydoras, bristlenose plecos and african cichlids.
Some american cichlids once in a while.
Add some tetras and you know what an average LFS looks like.
There are no wakins or golden dojo loaches from indoor facilities, at the moment, nor alternative, colorful, active fish growing to 8 inches that can live in cooler water.
But are there any at all?
I like big ear sunfish, but have read they need an annual very cool period to thrive and they are quite aggressive too, aren't they?
Hard to find, of course
Pumpkinseeds are not my favorite fish btw.

 

[Hybridfish7]

Consider Japanese fish.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Highfin banded shark

Edited: nvm, silly suggestion for that tank size.

 

[Dégatdeau]

Denison barbs thrive in lower temperatures, but get to only about 6 inches or so

 

[GermanDude]

Hello, thanks again for your help!
When searching for " japanese ornamental fish" koi and medaka are the only fish shown to me, but maybe there are some more?
Zacco platypus are great fish, but they need a real seasonal temperature drop unfortunally.
Denison barbs are great, no doubt.
But I saw six- inchers just once, at the Berlin Zoo ( great public aquarium, by the way).
Filament barbs are from the same area, as some more interesting fish are , but none of them reaching 8 inches.
Very fast swimmers that size might be cramped in 60 inches length too.
Looks like I will have to manage with an empty tank till april or may

 

[Niki_up]

Hello, thanks again for your help!
When searching for " japanese ornamental fish" koi and medaka are the only fish shown to me, but maybe there are some more?
Zacco platypus are great fish, but they need a real seasonal temperature drop unfortunally.
Denison barbs are great, no doubt.
But I saw six- inchers just once, at the Berlin Zoo ( great public aquarium, by the way).
Filament barbs are from the same area, as some more interesting fish are , but none of them reaching 8 inches.
Very fast swimmers that size might be cramped in 60 inches length too.
Looks like I will have to manage with an empty tank till april or may

If you find local stock that is in way cooler water outside like you stated you can bring them inside and slowly acclimatize them to your warmer water easily. There’s no shock if done slowly.

 

[Dégatdeau]

Denison barbs are great, no doubt.
But I saw six- inchers just once, at the Berlin Zoo ( great public aquarium, by the way).
Filament barbs are from the same area, as some more interesting fish are , but none of them reaching 8 inches.

There are six inchers in a pet store near me, and not an especially good pet store either. As well as two 6-7 inchers filaments.

I'm not saying they will get to that size in a year and a half but hey, it's about the journey, not the destination!

Good luck with your project !

 

[GermanDude]

Hi, the vendor's websites clearly advice not to put their outdoor fish in fishtanks, because of the different temperature.
And I can't provide a slowly rising temperature for at least some days. I am not a friend of "plop and drop" anyway.
But I think it takes longer than just some hours to adjust fish from winter mode to 68°F, without risking a significantly higher chance of occuring diseases.
And I am impatient and don't want to wait three years, before fish size is nearly at what I like, but thank you!

 

[jjohnwm]

I have brought fish indoors from outside stock tanks or wild collecting trips many times, usually from water temps that are much colder than the indoors tanks. I just fill a large bin or other container, preferably something around 50 gallons or so, with water of the same temperature the fish are in, and then let it warm up naturally to the ambient room temperature; the greater the temp difference, the larger a container I prefer to use. Might take a day or two for the temperature to stabilize; literally never had a problem with the fish doing it this way, with temperature changing as much as 15-18C. I've even tried this a couple times with fish being brought back from ice-fishing expeditions; as long as you can get them home alive (tough to do because of extreme and rapid temp changes both in the field and also during the actual transit, and because fish in water that cold seem to be very susceptible to physical trauma) this method will work.

Assuming that water parameters are not wildly different, it is indeed just a "plop and drop" to transfer the fish to the aquarium a day or so after temps stabilize. Yes, the whole procedure is a bit of a PITA, especially if you are doing it in your house rather than a basement fish room; but the alternative is to wait until next spring/summer, and you are impatient, so...