How Critical

[brian1]

Hi all,How critical is water temperature, would I be right in thinking, if it rises slowly or drops slowly it's ok, that it's sudden change that would harm them.............

 

[onidrase]

It is critical. Fish are coldblooded, too much fluctuating will kill them, regardless of how slowly if happens. It also depends on how drastic it is. some fish also have their lifespans drastically dropped by being kept in water that's too hot or cold, even if acclimatized to it.

 

[brian1]

Thanks for that onidrase, I will keep a check on that now.......

 

[fish48]

fluctuating is good for fish if it's slowly like a few degrees drop over night will do no harm to fish

 

[aquariumart22]

What onidrase said is completely right. I just wanted to add an experience I had that taught me about temperature fluctuation. When I got my first tank it was already set up (I moved into an upstairs apartment and they didn't want to move it) and it had a heater that was set to about 80 degreesF, but since it was upstairs it got so unbearably hot up there in the summer sometimes over 100 degrees. Sometimes the tank would get that hot too. I knew it was bad but I didn't think too much of it as I had just started fishkeeping. Needless to say I battled ich so many times and couldn't understand why it kept happening. Fish were dieing left and right, after thinking about it and once I got my other 30 gallon that was downstairs It was perfect, with no casualties I figured out it was the drastic temperature fluctuation that happened everyday. I definitely learned the hard way

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

My indoor tanks have all shot up to at least 27C today, the best I could do for them is ensure loads of water surface rippling to maximise oxygen levels, tonight I will be leaving all the windows and doors open to hopefully get some sort of cooling breeze blow through during the night.

The irony is that my quarantined garage 5x2x2 (sitting at 24C) has two species that would be in fish heaven at such high temps, namely my four Leopard Bushfish and my single African Butterfly Fish, but that tank is in lockdown and the biggest free tank I have is my 620T which would be far too cramped for four 10-12cm bushfish.

Indoors, I'm most concerned about my Chaetostoma milesi plus my sub-tropical Ilyodon xantusi (8 parents and ~40 youngsters after another recent birth of ~12), thery are showing no obvious signs of stress so far, but I might have to consider moving another tank down to the garage for them to get the slightly cooler temps down there.

 

[fish48]

the Ilyodon xantusi will be fine althouth they may suffer if kepet high temp- long tarm.

aquariumart22 in a way onidraseis is right. but completely right he is not as i have said a fluctuating is also good for fish if it's slowly

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Thanks for that fish48, I hoped you might come back with your experience on the Ilyodon

 

[fish48]

Thanks for that fish48, I hoped you might come back with your experience on the Ilyodon

some usesful info

cooling off period
i give most of my goodeids a winter resting or cooling off period it is beneficial for them In the summer months the temperature in my tanks can very between 70f -74f.. I have 3 racks of tanks
in the winter months the bottom rack of tanks are about 62f and top rack about 68f as I space heat the fish house. the temperature fluctuates a few degrees fluctuation is also very beneficial to there health. in the winter I can move the adult fish down to bottom rack of tanks for resting them, The fry/young are then left on top racks to be Grow on to adults.

When giving them a resting /cooling off period it will help encourage them to stop breeding it will give the females a rest giving them a chance to build up there strength also gets them back in to good breeding condition. If it’s not possible to lower the temperature it can help by separating male and females.
Although soeme goodeids can be kept at the same temperature for many years with out a resting /cooling off period I believe they will Eventually suffer.

 

[aquariumart22]

the Ilyodon xantusi will be fine althouth they may suffer if kepet high temp- long tarm.

aquariumart22 in a way onidraseis is right. but completely right he is not as i have said a fluctuating is also good for fish if it's slowly

Yes you are right lol, I would have included you although your post didn't show up until after I posted mine. I agree with you didn't mean to leave you out!

 

[onidrase]

the Ilyodon xantusi will be fine althouth they may suffer if kepet high temp- long tarm.

aquariumart22 in a way onidraseis is right. but completely right he is not as i have said a fluctuating is also good for fish if it's slowly

I don't see how it can be particularly beneficial to most fish. While it might be beneficial to your goodeids, I know if I lowered the temp in my tanks for a while for a "cooling off" period, they'd all end up dead, not being goodeids or even livebearers. Especially if they're fish from large lakes where the water in the lake stays totally consistent year round, plus or minus a degree. Those kinds of fish wouldn't benefit at all for having a time when they're out of their natural temperature range.

 

[Peter C]

My 90L is in the conservatory which means in summer (if we ever get 1) or at least the 2 weeks of warm weather we had, my tank was going upto like 30 odd degrees if not warmer and I lost a lot of fish

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

the Ilyodon xantusi will be fine althouth they may suffer if kepet high temp- long tarm.

aquariumart22 in a way onidraseis is right. but completely right he is not as i have said a fluctuating is also good for fish if it's slowly

I don't see how it can be particularly beneficial to most fish. While it might be beneficial to your goodeids, I know if I lowered the temp in my tanks for a while for a "cooling off" period, they'd all end up dead, not being goodeids or even livebearers. Especially if they're fish from large lakes where the water in the lake stays totally consistent year round, plus or minus a degree. Those kinds of fish wouldn't benefit at all for having a time when they're out of their natural temperature range.

fish48's fish house (of about 120-odd tanks) is like the Mecca of the livebearers in the hobby for the UK, he has been known to have the last remiaing pairs of rare livebearers and get them to breed, his methods work for him very well.

There is still so little known about what actually goes on in fish species wild environments regarding temperature. The problem is that temp ranges suggested in fish profiles are not put together after having a thermometer kept in their habitat for years on end to monitor the highs and lows, for instance when Heiko Bleher goes wandering into the back of beyond in Asia, someone in his team takes a few basic stats from the area of capture of a given species at the time of capture.

Thanks for the cooling period info, fish48, it rings a bell now from what you said back in May. Now the birth numbers are getting bigger as the females get bigger, it would be nice to not worry about trying to save and raise numerous fry, I was already contemplating isolating the males and females to differennt tanks for a while... ~40 youngsters is plenty to be dealing with for now!

 

[minnnt]

'goes wandering off'

 

[Moby-Krib]

'goes wandering off'

yup.

A fish in the wild would have had temp swings all its life, no big deal.
A fish that has seen stable temps forever may be a bit miffed, but likely not damaged by a large, not radical, swing.

As long as it stays relatively within reason and you don't put its tail in ice or boiling water I would say not a huge deal..