How Overstocked Am I?

[donny7]

I had a 30 gal with 2 silver mollies 2 marble mollies and 2 swordfish. Im gonna move them to my 20 gal cause the 30 gal heater broke and the 20 gal heater isn't that strong. The 20 gal long tank has 6 platies 5 tetras 3 silver mollies 1 marble mollie aand 1 swordfish. With very mature media proper filtration and frequent water changes will it be ok til I can afford a heater?

 

[karin]

Can you get anyone to loan you the money for a heater? What is the wattage of the heater in the 20 gallon tank?

 

[3l3ctric]

I could be wrong, but if your 30 gallon will stay anywhere close to 75 degrees, it might be worth just waiting until you can get a heater. Hopefully someone will correct me if I am totally off, but I'm pretty sure that in normal circumstances a 30 gallon tank won't have extreme temperature fluctuations so your fish should be fine at a reasonable room temperature. Most fish like yours can handle slightly higher or lower than ideal temperatures, as long as the change is not drastic.

If it were me, I wouldn't want to risk the stress of moving the fish (on them or on your current 20 gallon inhabitants) unless your house gets very cold.