Cold Water Guppies

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FisheyAsh

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hi im wanting to start up a large 6foot tank outside
it will not be heated and i live in a relativly cold country
anyone had any experiences with this type of thing?
will it be possible? and what will i have to do to convert some guppies into cold water??

thanks
ashley
 
Guppies will live in water temperatures between 22C-30C - although the average temp for them is 26C..
 
I keep mine on cold water, well above 18C, they take longer to grow but they are much stronger fish and have a better life span.

I keep them out door's in the UK over the summer as well, but if the temp drops below 14C then your risking loosing them all.
 
Yes it is not a good idea keeping guppies outside because in the winter you will probably loose all of them. Or if you wanted have a HUGE :hyper: heater!
 
well i think keeping any tropical fish without any heating is cruel i dont like the idea of this
 
well i think keeping any tropical fish without any heating is cruel i dont like the idea of this

Crazy Aussie, you are right in part, but not all of the 'tropical' fish are actually tropicals. Some of them are sub-tropical for instance. Knowing where the fish hail from in the wild gives you a good pointer as to whether they will survive (or indeed do better) in aquaria which are cool. Danios or White Clouds for instance are temperate species.

A massive generalisation, but fish from Africa (for instance) generally need heated water; some fish are from Uplands (high altitude) or from areas such as Uruguay and Argentina which naturally get a seasonally cold period. These fish are often OK in unheated tanks in centrally heated rooms.

The problem with your use of the word cruel, is that nobody on this forum would be willing to admit that they are cruel to their fish and it is quite an emotive word which people tend to react badly to. Many fish do well outside during an english summer and many fish do far better if given a period of cool time which makes them rest and recouperate.
 
dunchp
most fish you buy from your pet shop would be tropicals would you like to be sitting outside in the cold if you were adapted to the warm water i wouldint like it and i dont think any tropical fish would
 
the fact of the matter is, no you cannot keep guppies OUTSIDE without a heater, inside without a heater is more acceptable, but as they are largely categorized as a tropical fish, they need a heater. Although tbf they have a shorter life span when a heater is present, but they live a happier life.

Also, temperature fluctuation leads to stress, and inevitably white spot IF the parasite is present.
 
Crazy Aussie, I suggest you read my post again, as I didn't advocate keeping guppies outside in the cold in my post. We have different opinions which is fine. I have kept guppies outside very successfully during an English summer and helterskelter has too but I would not recommend it to others.

Angel of Death, it is not temperature fluctuations which cause whitespot, it is a temperature which is too cold which causes whitespot. Temperature fluctuations are a natural part of life for a fish, even in thermostatically heated aquaria there will be some temperature fluctuation. These fish are not kept in heated aquaria in fish farms?

The whole point of my post, since you have all emphatically answered the guppy outside thing, was to introduce the fact that other species would be better suited to a 6ft outside aquaria and the idea is not a dead duck, you just have to look at other species.
 
dunchp
most fish you buy from your pet shop would be tropicals would you like to be sitting outside in the cold if you were adapted to the warm water i wouldint like it and i dont think any tropical fish would

But here is the thing, We are NOT fish and fish of course do not get feelings or thoughts like we do. so saying because we wouldnt like means they wouldnt like it is wrong.

we are two seperate species. Have you even asked the if it is fish is cold? how do you know they dont like the colder water? the answere is, you dont know.
 
dunchp
most fish you buy from your pet shop would be tropicals would you like to be sitting outside in the cold if you were adapted to the warm water i wouldint like it and i dont think any tropical fish would

Paradise fish, Mountain Minnows, and Zebra and Peal Danios are all commonly sold as tropical species but they are all from cooler climates so in reality keeping them in warmer conditions is just as bad,

We are NOT fish and fish of course do not get feelings or thoughts like we do.
were you a fish in a previous life then? I haven't but i have enough common sense to realise that a purely tropcal species such as a discus would not appreicate being kept in a 12C coldwater tank outside for example. The most likely outcome for any purely tropical species that is kept in extreme conditions would be death.


To answer your question fishyash then it would depend on exactly how cold it gets but the most likely answer is that the guppys would not survive
 
I do agree with you Davo86. There are other examples in the livebearer group of fish which don't do very well at tropical temperatures.

It is quite often easy to spot when it is too cold for your fish. If it gets drastically and suddenly too cold then obviously they will die but if the water gets cold gradually then the fish will show signs of distress and you have a bit of warning. This is why I would not recommend keeping warmer water fish outside unless you are sufficiently experienced to spot signs of distress in your fish; especially from above.

I have said previously on this subject in this forum that there have been studies on this sort of thing in Denmark and the results are quite surprising. Again I am not advocating keeping fish at these temperatures, but it is an interesting alternative view of some authority.

http://www.goodeiden.de/html/temperatures.html
 
the fact of the matter is, no you cannot keep guppies OUTSIDE without a heater, inside without a heater is more acceptable, but as they are largely categorized as a tropical fish, they need a heater. Although tbf they have a shorter life span when a heater is present, but they live a happier life.

Also, temperature fluctuation leads to stress, and inevitably white spot IF the parasite is present.
temperature fluctuation does not lead to stress and inevitably white spot If fish are kept correctly
 

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