Bristlenose In Cold Water Tank?

[fishnovice]

Hmmmmm I was hoping to avoid the heater, as wanted minimal input.... any alternatives?

I don't suppose there are any small loaches/catfish that anyone has tried at cooler temps?

I once had a african bumblebee that lived and fed for a year in cold water (thought it had passes away, survived sitting in a tree root!).. But thats too predatory for what I'm after....

A weatherloach is fine in an unheated tank. Mine lived with goldfish for 3 years before I got it. It is good fun to watch when it literally ties itself up in knots around plants .

 

[nurglespuss]

Hi there I love weather loavhes and have kept them previously unfortunately the tank is open topped, and not big enough! If' only khuli sized weather loches existed!

 

[JenCliBee]

The tank is small, but is filtered by 2 HOB filters. so a decent current generated! I also do 10% weekly water changes.

Oh and I was wrong about the white clouds, no.5 has returned from whichever extra-dimmensional place he disapeared to!

How big is the tank?, if you say small im presuming it will be like the arc/aqua one 28-35 litres tanks?... in this case it will be to small for a bristlenose anyways long term.

I cant really be any help on colder watered fish, i know peppered cory's will tolerate temps as low as 15 but weather this is ideal long term i couldn't be 100% sure but if i remember correctly they should be fine. Stay reasonably small aswell so should fit into the tank size ive mentioned above, if this is actually the sort of size the tank is.

 

[nurglespuss]

Hi there,

Yes its 40l tank so pretty darn small!!

I'm thinking of picking up one of those flat-thin black thermostatically regulated heaters (as for some reason the 25w heater I do have, just refuses to stay stuck to the glass (weird) plus it looks so unsightly in the small aquarium.

I will probably bring the tank up to 20 or 22'C gradually (to let the fisha nd plants adjust) and then consider something small to add... perhaps a few pygmy cories instead? (although 22 may be a little too cool for them (24'C better?))).

Or I could keep a baby bristlenose in there for now until he grows on, then move him to the big ctafish tank (with the hoplos, and another bistlenose) when he/she gets bigger....?

 

[JenCliBee]

Hi there,

Yes its 40l tank so pretty darn small!!

I'm thinking of picking up one of those flat-thin black thermostatically regulated heaters (as for some reason the 25w heater I do have, just refuses to stay stuck to the glass (weird) plus it looks so unsightly in the small aquarium.

Completely agree, taking everything possible out of small tanks really does give a slighter bigger feel to them

I will probably bring the tank up to 20 or 22'C gradually (to let the fisha nd plants adjust) and then consider something small to add... perhaps a few pygmy cories instead? (although 22 may be a little too cool for them (24'C better?))).

I think 24 is probably more ideal but 22 i think would be the very lowest i would consider keeping them in.

Or I could keep a baby bristlenose in there for now until he grows on, then move him to the big ctafish tank (with the hoplos, and another bistlenose) when he/she gets bigger....?

That's seems like a completely viable option, as i mentioned earlier the tank long term is to small for a full grown BN but is perfect for growing him/her out in untill you move it.

For me either pygmy's or peppered cory's would work better than a BN, you will be able to have a bottom dweller that also will clean up any uneaten foods and be able to keep them in there permanently aslong as the temp is within there range .

Good luck with whatever you chose

 

[Carlovel1]

Hi there,

Yes its 40l tank so pretty darn small!!

I'm thinking of picking up one of those flat-thin black thermostatically regulated heaters (as for some reason the 25w heater I do have, just refuses to stay stuck to the glass (weird) plus it looks so unsightly in the small aquarium.

Completely agree, taking everything possible out of small tanks really does give a slighter bigger feel to them

I will probably bring the tank up to 20 or 22'C gradually (to let the fisha nd plants adjust) and then consider something small to add... perhaps a few pygmy cories instead? (although 22 may be a little too cool for them (24'C better?))).

I think 24 is probably more ideal but 22 i think would be the very lowest i would consider keeping them in.

Or I could keep a baby bristlenose in there for now until he grows on, then move him to the big ctafish tank (with the hoplos, and another bistlenose) when he/she gets bigger....?

That's seems like a completely viable option, as i mentioned earlier the tank long term is to small for a full grown BN but is perfect for growing him/her out in untill you move it.

For me either pygmy's or peppered cory's would work better than a BN, you will be able to have a bottom dweller that also will clean up any uneaten foods and be able to keep them in there permanently aslong as the temp is within there range .

Good luck with whatever you chose

AFAIK, Peppered Corys shouldn't be in a 40 litre tank.The best corys (and the only suitable ones) in your aquarium are:
Corydoras hastatus/Dwarf Tail-spot Cory
Corydoras habrosus/Dwarf Salt & Pepper Cory
Corydoras pygmaeusPygmy Cory
HTH

 

[JenCliBee]

AFAIK, Peppered Corys shouldn't be in a 40 litre tank.The best corys (and the only suitable ones) in your aquarium are:
Corydoras hastatus/Dwarf Tail-spot Cory
Corydoras habrosus/Dwarf Salt & Pepper Cory
Corydoras pygmaeusPygmy Cory
HTH

They would be quite comfortable in a lowly stocked 40l tank and them been the only bottom dwellers. Obviously i wouldn't have more than 4 but considering they stay quite small in cory terms, they will be completely fine. Infact some cory breeders only use 40l tanks permanently for breeding.


There will be conflicts all over the net and in books on 'actual correct conditions' for all fish. I tend to go with what works and personal experience and other people's experiences and i and many others have had nothing but perfect experiences with smaller variety cory's been in a 40l tank and them been extremely happy enough to enable them to breed in them .

 

[Carlovel1]

My Peppered corys were like 7CM before I sold them. TBH I'd never add a group of Peppered Corys (which grow up to 10CM EACH) to a 40 litre aquarium, they were way too active in my 200 litre tank, let alone in a 40 litre tank, where they would be quite cramped.
Please expand on the ' Infact some cory breeders only use 40l tanks permanently for breeding' bit
Carl

 

[JenCliBee]

My Peppered corys were like 7CM before I sold them. TBH I'd never add a group of Peppered Corys (which grow up to 10CM EACH) to a 40 litre aquarium, they were way too active in my 200 litre tank, let alone in a 40 litre tank, where they would be quite cramped.
Please expand on the ' Infact some cory breeders only use 40l tanks permanently for breeding' bit
Carl

Sorry to say but 7 cm... nearly 3 inch is extremely large for any cory never mind a peppered and not to call you a liar (i really am not), i think that is a little exaggerated for your run of the mill standard lfs peppereds. There's a 'man-made' variety (well i think it's man made lol) of peppered that occasionally goes around as 'jumbo' peppered cory's but the typical peppered you will gain from your lfs/breeder will only grow 2 inch max and from the many ive owned even this is a big one. So basically given the average size of a normal peppered cory, they would be perfectly fine in a 40l tank.

Not entirely sure how you want me to 'expand' on the comment i made?, given that big tanks for breeders that breed a fair few cory's/ plecs or any like for like fish take upto to much room, they keep smaller groups of (lets say cory's for this instance) becasue they get more tanks, more species and generally can fit more growout tanks.

I think even Ian fuller (coryman) and frank falcone (coryologist) use very similar size tanks for the breeding of there fish also (frank, correct me if im wrong ).

So to expand on my comment, there you go, not entirely sure if this is what you ment by 'expand' but there is my interpretation lol.

Like i said, im far from calling you a liar on the size of your cory's and apologise in advance if you think either i am or was but i think you will find 9 out of 10 peppered cory owners will tell you theres are far from anything that size.

Would love to see a pic of your old peppereds at that size.

Quick search came up with a thread with a comment made by coryologist about keeping peppereds in a 10g tank....HERE!!

There is a few post's im sure he has commented on only using 40l(ish) tanks, have a search im sure they can be found.

 

[nurglespuss]

Cheers all for the great input

Much appreciated!!

I think i have 2 options really, keep the tanks as a cold water setup and add more white clouds and leave it at that, or, add in the heater (I'm thinking the one for the fluval edge) and get some pygmy cories...

Will let you know what I decide at a later date!

Just added some nice pebbles to break up the sand, and some small java fern from another tank tied to one of the pebbles (an experiment to see how well it grows in the coldwater tank).

Will post some more pics when things have matured a bit more.

the whiteclouds seem happy and far more active than in previous heated tanks... hmmm I really wish I could find a chinese hillstream loach!!