Winter Aquarium Temps? How low do you go?

[Egon]

I'm just curious what some of you guys think about winter water temperatures for your tropical set ups? Do any of you drop the temps for the winter? I have a 450 SA Amazon set up and a 360 SW Asia Dat set up. I think I’m going to let both tanks drop to 77 maybe even 75. Any opinions?

 

[KNH]

My tank fluctuates as we keep the house at 67-68 in the winter. The tank drops a few degrees with no noticeable issues. I think you will be fine.

 

[F1 VET]

They can go as low as 50, so I've heard, there was a show that lowered a pygos tank to 53, they died after that, much less active. Not tropical but still, whatever you do just make sure its not fluctuating a lot!

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*Go S. Vettel #1 rb8--2 MORE RACES LEFT! SEE YOU IN TEXAS BOYS! LET'S MAKE IT 3 BACK TO BACK WDC!* :beer:

 

[Egon]

My tank fluctuates as we keep the house at 67-68 in the winter. The tank drops a few degrees with no noticeable issues. I think you will be fine.

Yeah I understand what your saying. I want to just set my temps to 77 to save $$$ on electricity, food, and the damn fish grew too much this summer. My Niger cat put on 8 inches in 4 months at $50 a month in Massivor. I just want to slow the growth and save a little $$$ in the process. Of course I don’t want to hurt the fish.

Edit: I have Temperature controllers on all my tanks, it's supper easy to change the temps. I don't even get my hands wet

 

[Egon]

They can go as low as 50, so I've heard, there was a show that lowered a pygos tank to 53, they died after that, much less active. Not tropical but still, whatever you do just make sure its not fluctuating a lot! QUOTE]

Good point! Maintain a constant temp is good.

I have African cichlids (Feeders) in my Goonch tank and it's at 65 and the Africans are fine.

 

[krichardson]

I try not to let my tanks temps drop below 77 at any time of the year.


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[Egon]

I try not to let my tanks temps drop below 77 at any time of the year.

Any reason? I was thinking 77 too but I might go to 75 if it wont hurt the fish

 

[duanes]

I always try to find out what the temps in nature do, even in parts of the tropics there is a seasonal shift. And some fish are healthier with a cool down, due to monsoon or mountain runoff in their home waters.
My Uruguayan fish are in a room that gradually drops into the low 60sF and water temps slowly reflect that change. After a cool down like that their colors are quite impressive.

My northern Mexican cichlids such as carpintus and beani are allowed to drop into the high 60sF, and my beani spawned in those temps. A little research can sometimes be quite surprising.

 

[Egon]

I always try to find out what the temps in nature do, even in parts of the tropics there is a seasonal shift. And some fish are healthier with a cool down, due to monsoon or mountain runoff in their home waters.
My Uruguayan fish are in a room that gradually drops into the low 60sF and water temps slowly reflect that change. After a cool down like that their colors are quite impressive.
My northern Mexican cichlids such as carpintus and beani are allowed to drop into the high 60sF, and my beani spawned in those temps. A little research can sometimes be quite surprising.QUOTE]

I was thinking the same thing, thank you for your input! I think temperature fluctuations are healthy and normal even with tropical fish.

 

[F1 VET]

I always try to find out what the temps in nature do, even in parts of the tropics there is a seasonal shift. And some fish are healthier with a cool down, due to monsoon or mountain runoff in their home waters.
My Uruguayan fish are in a room that gradually drops into the low 60sF and water temps slowly reflect that change. After a cool down like that their colors are quite impressive.
My northern Mexican cichlids such as carpintus and beani are allowed to drop into the high 60sF, and my beani spawned in those temps. A little research can sometimes be quite surprising.QUOTE]

I was thinking the same thing, thank you for your input! I think temperature fluctuations are healthy and normal even with tropical fish.

They still cause stress in fish, maybe for some species its minimal, but I've always been told fluctuations are bad, in the winter it drops slowly and the ambient temp of the water doesn't change drastically, meaning you'd have to adjust your heater everyday or unplug it unless your house gets real cold at night.

I guess changes that occur over hours aren't bad, but when doing wc and you drop or raise the temp 5 degrees that's when it becomes negative, that rapid drop is bad.

I wouldn't say its healthy but nature is always harsh on animals anyways, a healthy fish should be fine regardless, but if its already stressed then that's just more stress

_________________________________________________________________________
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?504763-Cheap-plants-less-nitrate!-POTHOS

*Go S. Vettel #1 rb8--2 MORE RACES LEFT! SEE YOU IN TEXAS BOYS! LET'S MAKE IT 3 BACK TO BACK WDC!* :beer: