Cold Water Tank!?

[gmac]

Hey there, I was just wondering what the deal is with cold water set ups? In my LFS they are giving away small plastic tanks with hoods etc for around £10... I was under the impression the likes of goldfish etc don't need filters etc etc etc... is this the same with all other fish listed under the "Cold Water" section of the store? If so I could set up my little brother with an affordable easy to maintain tank. Thanks.

 

[Regen311]

All fish need filters, from what I've read, ESPECIALLY goldfish, as they're on of the more "messy" fish you can get.

 

[mandi]

A couple of thoughts here:
First you said "small tanks" -- goldfish are all too often stuck in small tanks or even bowls when what they really need is room/space -- imo anything under 10 gallons is not appropriate for even one goldfish (not to mention that the smaller the tank the mores on top of water quality you have to be).
Goldfish are EXTREMELY messy buggers -- filtration is a must for them (again, jmo) -- and especially if they are in a small tank as their high waste production will quickly foul the water and send things into the danger zone.

White Clouds (also sometimes called White Cloud Mountain Minnows or some combination thereof) and danios are two that are sold as tropical (warm) tank fish but that can withstand cooler temps (in fact whiteclouds seem to prefer cooler temps than the standard trop tank). Feeder guppies are hardy little fellows -- they aren't as pretty as their fancy-tailed counterparts but the males have interesting markings/colors.....and they are fairly inexpensive. If you DO go with f.g.'s just be choosy about where you get them -- many shops don't spend much time/effort on maintaining their feeder fish as healthily as the other stock.

 

[gmac]

Ah right, cause I've seen soooo many people with goldfish in bowls etc and they appear to have had no filters etc so I was curious. I have a 27 gallon Tropical Tank myself and I know the costs of filters, heating, etc etc, so I was looking for a small, low maintenance set up for my little brother. Any suggestions?

 

[Regen311]

I don't know much, anything, about white cloud minnows, but I've heard a lot of people talk about them in small tanks on here. Could you put them in a large bowl without a filter if you did water changes every week?

 

[swanandmokashi]

i have 7 white cloud mountain minnows in a 15 Gallons tall cold water aquarium (effectively 10 gallons surface area)

They are the hardiest fish I have known and very easy to breed too.

I have this tank in my office , and could not have a tropical one, as they won't allow me to put a heater in becuase of fire hazard (DON'T ASK ), so just have a filter and the white clouds could not be happier.

They have even bred once

 

[Jaxom_Ruatha]

Perhaps you should look into soe invertabrites like ghost shrimp, or frogs or something. With a few plants and it might not require a filter.

 

[Mazdaman]

interesting that someone would consider a large container of water with a "small" heater - a fire hazard. How coulde a tank full of water start on fire...... Found that a little strange, sorry no info on orig. post

 

[Blucat]

Maybe a male betta, or multiple female bettas? I know female bettas are not as fancy as males but they still look stunning.

 

[mandi]

Ah right, cause I've seen soooo many people with goldfish in bowls etc and they appear to have had no filters etc so I was curious.

Yes - the difference, though, is surviving and thriving. Additionally, without filtration and in a small container the goldie will quickly foul the water meaning there would have to be frequent water changes done just to avoid killing him off.....is that something your little brother would be up to doing and remembering (not sure how old he is - just know how quickly the "fun" goes out of that for kids and they taper off on keeping up w/it).
I would invest in a small filter and go w/the white clouds.......

 

[swanandmokashi]

interesting that someone would consider a large container of water with a "small" heater - a fire hazard. How coulde a tank full of water start on fire...... Found that a little strange, sorry no info on orig. post

Yep - beats me they had "meetings" to decide if I can have a heater and I had the tank cycled and everything. Finally I gave up on them and decided to go cold water and got the fish. One week or so after that , they informed me that I can go ahead and have an aquarium ..I was like "I know that ! I want to know if I can have a heater " ..then later on they informed me I can't have a heater ..the white clouds had already become comfortable in the tank and also had the ghost shrimps for dinner
A classic "DILBERT situation