Anyone here have cold water fish other than goldfish. we current have 2 goldfish in a 120litre tank and have found this maybe too small and we are already at max size tank we can fir in our small 2 bed house. Are there any other small coldwater fish we can have in this tank and if so how many can we have?
Cold Water Fish
- Thread starter Mr Mcgoo
- Start date
80cm x 40cm x 40cm. 500lph pump with aerator and standard sponge filters. larger gravel on the bottom so not to get stuck in the mouth as we have had that 3 months ago and thankfully caught it very early (within 5 minutes). Also a few plastic plants and a couple of hiding spots with 2 larger ornaments. Summer temp 22-26c winter 18-22c
Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Nov 2005
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- 9,830
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- Southampton, hopefully not too hot, or too cold
Forgot to ask in earlier post, how hard is your tap water?
With 80cm tank length, you don't want anything too active.
500lph filter will only be ~4x water turnover at best before flow is reduced by clogged sponges and media, so your stocking will will need to prefer slow to moderate water flow.
Gravel base realistically rules out Corydoras catfish and other fish that do far better on a sand substrate.
Room temp sounds similar to what I have, I've been keeping "tropical fish" without an active tank heater for just over 15 years, except when we've had extremely rare multiple consecutive subzero weather days.
Hopefully the other regular posters in the forum fish thread will chime in with ideas and thoughts too.
With 80cm tank length, you don't want anything too active.
500lph filter will only be ~4x water turnover at best before flow is reduced by clogged sponges and media, so your stocking will will need to prefer slow to moderate water flow.
Gravel base realistically rules out Corydoras catfish and other fish that do far better on a sand substrate.
Room temp sounds similar to what I have, I've been keeping "tropical fish" without an active tank heater for just over 15 years, except when we've had extremely rare multiple consecutive subzero weather days.
Hopefully the other regular posters in the forum fish thread will chime in with ideas and thoughts too.
upgraded to 800lph filter and water is moderate hardness. The filter has an aerator built in that we have put under the gravel. We clean every week with an additional pump to empty and fill with a spare 25 litre tank for the fish to stay in while we clean the main.
A full change every week?
Should be a maximum of 25% water change every 2 weeks & filter media/gravel cleaning every 3-4 weeks else you risk destroying the beneficial bacteria etc.
we do a 25% weekly water change with our old 25 litre tank. only just realised we don't need to move our fish as that adds stress to them. so will now be using the 25 litre tank for the 25% water change leaving the fish as they are. we use a small shower sponge with a handle to clean the glass and a gravel siphon to clean some of the excess mess from the bottom but not all for the reason you mentioned. i will now switch to 2 weekly water change and gravel cleaning if that helps best. my main issue is the water becoming slighty cloudy after a week being the reason for weekly water change and gravel clean. anyway to reduce the cloudiness?
I was advised to use an anti-algae and filter booster by my local aquarist.
I use NT Labs Liquid Filter & NT Labs Algae Gone. I also use NT Labs Aquarium Cleaner. All 3 get a weekly dose, which does a month's dosing of each (24ml/week for my tank)
Just a heads up though, when you dose the tank with these the tank goes very cloudy for about 30mins then slowly clears. It's normal and perfect fine for the tank residents.
Also check just how much you're feeding. Common mistake & one I fell foul of was overfeeding and the leftover food caused some of the issue
You can generally change plenty of water without issue. A hight light or highly stocked tank you’ll want to be changing 50%+ per week. Gold fish **** for England so you want to keep up on water changes.
As for other cold/temperate water fish, you tend to end up with much smaller fish.
I’m partial to white could mountain minos either in regular or gold varieties.
Betta fish also do fine in an unheated tank as long as the house is heated (this is seemingly controversial online).
cherry shrimp also do ok, they probably won’t breed as quickly and as above, as long as the house is heated.
As for other cold/temperate water fish, you tend to end up with much smaller fish.
I’m partial to white could mountain minos either in regular or gold varieties.
Betta fish also do fine in an unheated tank as long as the house is heated (this is seemingly controversial online).
cherry shrimp also do ok, they probably won’t breed as quickly and as above, as long as the house is heated.
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Soldato
- Joined
- 9 Nov 2005
- Posts
- 9,830
- Location
- Southampton, hopefully not too hot, or too cold
One option that has worked well for me in similar conditions is African oddballs, albeit in communty settings I've normally had them in tanks 120-150cm long. I've only used a heater if the water drops below 18C, which is very rare, as filter and lights plus tank lids keep the tank a bit warmer than the room. In summer heatwaves, room has been ~31C at times.
Surface (unless spooked): African Butterfly Fish, singleton safer but I had a bonded pair together in a 60x30x30cm. ~6cm body length plus long tail. Mine have lived 5-8 years.
Middle (mostly): Leopard Bushfish, singleton as I wouldn't risk 3+ in 80cm tank. ~12cm body length. My remaining one is ~16 years old.
Middle (especially in tank with midwater leafy plants and other decor): Upside Down Catfish, Synodontis nigiventris, social so I'd suggest ~8. ~6cm body length. My remaining ones are ~16 years old.
Base: Strictly singleton cichlid because a pair with eggs will kill everything else in a tank this small!!! Kribensis or maybe a Lionhead Cichlid. ~8cm body.
Surface (unless spooked): African Butterfly Fish, singleton safer but I had a bonded pair together in a 60x30x30cm. ~6cm body length plus long tail. Mine have lived 5-8 years.
Middle (mostly): Leopard Bushfish, singleton as I wouldn't risk 3+ in 80cm tank. ~12cm body length. My remaining one is ~16 years old.
Middle (especially in tank with midwater leafy plants and other decor): Upside Down Catfish, Synodontis nigiventris, social so I'd suggest ~8. ~6cm body length. My remaining ones are ~16 years old.
Base: Strictly singleton cichlid because a pair with eggs will kill everything else in a tank this small!!! Kribensis or maybe a Lionhead Cichlid. ~8cm body.
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