Can any tropical fish live in colder water?

[OohFeeshy]

I am getting some goldfish and was wondering whether there were any tropical fish that can live with goldfish without a heater. Are there?
And can you keep ADF 's with goldfish?

 

[smithrc]

hill stream loaches - weather loaches... to name a couple

 

[corykitty516]

ummm No not really. I've seen you pop up in some other threads but havent gotten any good advice yet so let me give this a shot

1. you have a 5 gallon ... right? NO goldfish... they need a min. of 10 gallons each.
Anything you may have heard about goldish not needing filtration or only growing to the size of their bowl is not true. If they only grow to the size of the bowl its because they die. Goldfish can live for like 20 years and grow to nearly 2 feet long. NOW that being said... I admit I have 3 feeder goldies in a 10 gal (gifts...grr I hate that, anyway). It is heavily filtered and they are going to a 300 gal pond the minute the weather gets warm again.
Goldfish are very messy as well..it is just quite difficult to keep them indoors.

2. Goldfish need to be cooler, tropical fish need to be warmer so you really cant mix them.

3. if you want an ADF then get a small heater 25 watt for a 5 gal and get a pretty betta.

4. you could also get a betta and maybe 3 cory catfish (I have julii cories which have been quite hardy) or even some ghost shrip or a snail.

5. Do you have a filter? It makes waterchanges so much easier and helps with water quality.

hope this helps ... If your mom is pressuring you for goldies just do a google search and show her all the problems and tank requirements you come up with and she may change her mind.

This is not my busness so dont say if you dont want but how old are you? Highschool? grade school? college?

EDIT: Oh I almost forgot.... read up on the pinned articles on cycling and such.

 

[OohFeeshy]

corykitty, I know it might not sound like it but I think the same.... I have done a Google search but there are so many results and they all say different things. Also, I have a feeling no matter what I tell her she will still make me get goldies- she keeps harking back to the days when she had two goldfish in a tank smaller than the one I've got, and she says they grew to the size of the tank and lived for ages. Also, my grandparents used to have a pond with koi and shebunkins, and when we went round there she asked him whether goldfish grew to the size of the tank, he said yes. And mum seems to think he's a fish expert.
Sorry for my life story ( ).
Anyway, as to your other points..
Yes, I've got a filter (it came with the tank), I'm cycling at the moment, and I'm 13, but am very responsible ( honest), perfectly capable of looking after a fish (I have 3 cats, 2 hammies and a radioactive rabbit.)

 

[Tempestuousfury]

The betta, ADF, ghost shrimp combo is rather prevalent when it comes to small tanks.

Radioactive rabit, you say?

 

[KerriPaul]

White cloud mountain minnows are cool water fish and will live happily in an unheated tank (or even in a deep pond in mild parts of the Uk like the southwest)

When I was a kid I kept zebra and leopard danios in an unheated tank with goldfish along with guppies. All these are reasonably tolerant so long as it does not go below 16 centigrade

To be honest in a modern well insulated centrally heated house it is probable that most species will be ok. Thriving is another matter.

 

[yhbae]

Question - why do you not want to add a heater in your tank? Did you get your gold fish already? As mentioned, gold fishes grow way too large for that sized tank, so I think you might be better off to re-think on your stock...

 

[corykitty516]

I'm 13, but am very responsible ( honest), perfectly capable of looking after a fish (I have 3 cats, 2 hammies and a radioactive rabbit.)

I was super responsible at 13 too. I had a dog and a few horses and I showed on circuit (dog shows and horse shows) I just asked cause if you were like 16 or 17 sometimes your parents are more likely to lend credit to what you have to say.

Begging you ... pleading with you skip the goldies... you might be able to find an orange betta.... a child I babysit got one at Petsmart... it would be almost like a goldfish. And a frog or corys. If she saw some cute lil corys zooming around she'd be in love I thought I wanted to keep fancy goldfish until I got my first corys. *sigh* I guess I'm just addicted.

and lets just think about this "growing to the tank" nonsense. I just cannot think of any biology or logic that makes this true.

Oh and if the temp in your house stays stable and on the warm side you may not need a heater for a betta.

peer pressure: get a betta get a betta get a betta

 

[kaz petts]

Sounds like you might have the same tank I got my 7 year old for Xmas.

I am trying to talk her into getting a betta. I have managed to talk her out of getting goldies as I know about the problems of keeping them. I lost loads when I started fish keeping a year ago. I knew nothing about cycling or goldie requirements.
I managed to talk a friend out of keeping her goldies in a bowl and bought her a 10g tank with filter, light, hood, and light starter unit it set me back £60 altogether but was worth it now I see a fish that looks happy. She is now talking about getting a pond and is asking for my advice on what is best for the fish.
I am sorry to hear that your mum won't listen. She obviously knows nothing about fish and because ALL mums think they know better than their children won't accept that you probably know more about fish keeping than she does.
Sorry if this seems to be against your mum, I don't mean it to. The thing is that it is the other way in our family. I am the mum who used to keep fish in a bowl a few years ago and thought I knew alot about fish keeping, the truth is what I knew about it then I could have written on the back of a postage stamp. What I know now I could probably fill a page of A4. What I still don't know I could write a book!
This growing to the tank thing, perhaps you could reason with your mum and asked her if you put a baby in a box would it just grow to the size of the box or would it continue growing? The answer of course is that it will continue growing until it out grows it. Then tell her it is the same for a goldfish!
Good luck in persuading your mum to allow you to have a heater and possibly a pretty betta. Take your mum to your LFS and show her a betta, she might change her mind. Tell her that tropicals are no harder to look after than goldies. Tell her WE say so!

 

[Talleyrand]

Most Killifish thrive in cold water aquariums, they thrive in temperatures from 65-85 F, 19-29c

My favorite are these-
http/www.alfanita.com/fiskar/fp_gar_nig_lokoja.htm
This species alone has about a dozen color variations so you can get some very good looking fish

I have a 2 gallon bowl with two of the above killifish (a lokojo and a gold) and a few java ferns on top of my desk. They will do fine as long as they are kept in a heated room. And contrary to popular belief they eat cichlid chow flakes with the occasional treat of some brine shrimp.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Hmm... baby in a box.... I was trying to think of an example.....
When i went to the LPS yesterday they didn't have any betta's left... Although hopefully they will get a delivery soon, or the bettas are in quarentine (they just had a delivery of other aminals so I would assume fish came too).

Question - why do you not want to add a heater in your tank?

I do but my parents say it will melt the tank, and the label on the 25 watt heater box says a minimum of 12 litres, and mine is 11. I KNOW it won't melt the tank, they don't. I can see where she's coming from with goldfish, the tank looks far too big for one goldfish, you don't really imagine they grow without having them yourself.
to any poor fishes that have their guts exploded by living in an ickle tank.
Actually, Mum knows basicly nil about fish. I got a testing kit yesterday, told her i'd got some plants and a testing kit. She went, "huh? What for?". Well, to test the water to make sure it's suitable for fish to live in..... And Dad still thinks they do OK in just a bowl with some gravel in it with tap water in, because they didn't have all this fish keeping nonsense back when he had fish.... Yes, but the wheel was a new invention and fire was coming into fashion......
[EDIT It's not that I don't like bettas, I do, alot )

 

[sylvia]

Any chance you could send your mum over here? Then we could explain why keeping goldfish in 5 gallons isn't possible and explaint stunting to her. You simply cannot have a goldfish in that tank. That's it. If you want fish you'll have to go with something else (smaller) or nothing at all. If the temperature in your house doesn't get too low you can get an ADF or get a few shrimp. They can be surprisingly entertaining. Snails work too and some of the water snails are quite beautiful but watch it because some actualy get very large.

About the growing to the size of the tank thing...
That's called stunting.
What basialy happens (tell your mum ) is that the fish releases some kind of hormone that keeps it from growing BUT only the outside stops growing. It's internal organs keep growing until they out-grow the body and well you can imagine. A slow painful death results. I'm sure you (you do sound responsible ) and hopefuly your parents don't wan't this to happen to your fish.

 

[OohFeeshy]

If it comes to it, and I can't get a heater for price/whatever reasons, then I'll get a few Cloud Minnows, they had those at the pet shop. Although, if I can get a heater, I'll definately get a betta. I asked the people and they said they'd be ready to sell on Friday, when hopefully I will have finished cycling. How many minnows can I keep in my tank? The water isn't that cold, room temperature, I'd guess.

 

[Slyspy]

Ah another person from Pompey. Good to see!

I am currently cycling a small tank like yours and am intending to keep a couple of ADFs and a betta in it. In fact it is already cycled and waiting for the rest of the plants before I go hunting for livestock. I have a small heater and small internal filter in there to help the stabilise the temperature etc etc. It is relatively inexpensive. My tank is glass but a 25W heater, which is all you will need, will not melt an acrylic tank. Add a small filter and some lighting and go for it.

Good to hear you are putting live plants in but be aware of the light requirements. I have various bits and bobs planted in there at the moment to help water quality but have ordered some moderate/low light plants because I cannot get enough light for anything else.

Do not get goldfish. Better no fish than the wrong ones.

 

[OohFeeshy]

Hi Slyspy if you read this topic again can you reccomend any fish shops in Portsmouth (and I don't mean takeaways, fish and chips is nice but I wouldn't want it in my tank )
EDIT- I will try to go to the tropical fish shop tomorrow- It's a wonder I haven't gone there before . They have lots of tropical fish, and are probably far less diseased than Pets at Home, (although, the only problem i saw there was a larger goldfish stuck behind the pipe in there. It was alive) They also do reptiles, so I'm very hopeful .