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Goldfish tank temperature


fievels007

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I have a 75 litre tank with one (small) goldfish, a dozen white cloud mountain minnows, two borneo suckers, and hopefully by this weekend also some peppered corydoras. I'm also looking at maybe danios, and I hear cherry barbs can also handle the lower 20's. My tank heater is 100 watt and set at 22. The tank temperature varies from 19-21 usually.

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I have goldfish in a half barrel outside that's been freezing over consistently for weeks now. The fish are still doing fine. Just hanging out near the bottom.

So don't get a heater on account of them :) I believe they don't do well at consistently higher temps that some of the real tropicals would need.

I've got some coldwater fish and am considering adding some suckers. My house gets real cold though and my tank's been down to 12. I'm currently looking at buying a Jager heater. The one I looked at said the temp could be set around 18 which is warm enough for some of the 'cool water' fish that Janelle mentioned. (If you're in well insulated house you might not need a heater.. buy a thermometer and keep an eye on on the coldest mornings)

I could be wrong but I think bristlenose fish eventually get really big. Borneo suckers are smaller and won't outgrow your tank.

I think I fancy some Odessa barbs myself :) !! But it I was going to have a purely goldfishy tank I think I'd have blackmoores and some type of sucker. (I have shubunkins in 2 ponds and comets in another).

I probably wouldn't have more than 2 goldfish in a 70L. They get so big. With decent filtration and some hardy plants I'm sure you can have some type of 'suckers'. Any small fish are likely to get eaten once your goldfish are big enough! But maybe a few barbs too.

See the thread: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom/corydo ... 22940.html

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I could be wrong but I think bristlenose fish eventually get really big. Borneo suckers are smaller and won't outgrow your tank.

Dont worry about bristlenose getting too big, they max out about 10-15cm, and are OK with temps around 20C. Just make sure it IS a bristlenose, the other common plecos we see here in NZ all grow to over 30cm long. The hillstream loaches (borneo suckers) prefer cooler tropical water anyway, so 20 is good for them, but they need plenty of aeration and clean water too.

Cheers

Ian

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Hi again, my last post was actually only half finished since it was bedtime and I just got to a point where I closed my laptop and went to sleep.

Anyway, I also meant to say that my goldfish seems happiest in the 18-22 range (as in, most lively and colourful), and that the borneo suckers/hillstream loaches do need some special care. I don't know anything about bristlenoses myself. The heater in my tank is especially for the borneo suckers since the cold killed my first two.

My goldfish was also happy in what was probably 12 degree water. As long as they don't actually freeze they're fine, they just sort of slow down and semi-hibernate and don't need as much food. Mine's a hungry little bugger now the temperature is back at 20 and so are the white cloud mountain minnows who now think that the cold water I pour in from the taps (Chch tapwater) is a cue to spawn.

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So Ianab what you're saying is that a BN would be better suited to the water quality in your typical goldfish tank? That's good to know :)

and thanks for clearing up the BN vs. pleco size thing too!

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So Ianab what you're saying is that a BN would be better suited to the water quality in your typical goldfish tank?

As long as the tank is clean and not overstocked you should be able to keep either OK.

Bristlenose are more adaptable than hillstream loaches and should handle the dirty water that goldfish seem to create a bit better. Their minimum temp varies with the different species, but the common ones we see here will handle down to about 21C.

Hillstreams like cooler, clean fast moving water, they would be OK living with goldfish as long as you can keep your filtering up and water clean. Around 20C is ideal for hillstreams, with an extra powerhead to move the water around.

In many ways it's better to decide on what fish you want, then set up the tank to suit. Easier on the fish than keeping them at one extreme of their range. But plecos and goldfish are commonly kept together as they are both hardy and adaptable.

Cheers

Ian

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I have a large gold fish tank sitting beside a tropical tank of the same size. There is little heat transfer with the golfish tank sitting at 22 degrees. I have in there some koi swords. I am thinking of getting some more because they are diong really well. I might look at a BN too help keep the tank algae at bay.

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  • 1 month later...

I have a 100 litre tank at 24 degrees. It has two goldfish, a pleco, clown loaches and some small tetras and SAE's. It has been setup like this for over a year and a half with now problems other than my pleco chasing my goldfish when the goldfish trys to eat the plecos food. Will eventually need to get a bigger tank as goldfish, plecos and clown loaches can grow quite big (good excuse to by a larger tank heheh).

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