Share your experiences with Fish & Water Temperature

[Lovin Fish]

Can fish acclimate to water temperatures outside their preferred temperature without any diverse effects?

Please share your opinions and experiences.

 

[Gboy66]

Can fish acclimate to water temperatures outside their preferred temperature without any diverse effects?

Please share your opinions and experiences.

Yes they can most of the time, but sometimes they cant. I was treating for ich a couple months ago, and put my temp to around 86. Well my peacock eel prefers 70's-82 degrees. He didnt like it at all and you could tell, so i broughtthe temp back down and treated with meds. Thats one instance where it hasnt worked out!

 

[Lovin Fish]

I had treated my tank for Ich with the temp held at 88.9 degrees for 4 days, lowered to 86 for 6 days and I noticed my Kuhli Loaches and Corydoras Catfish were a lot pinker than usual and swam around a lot more. The water was highly oxygenated to counteract the effects heat has on oxygen, but they still were NOT happy! The tetras, Pleclostomus and Glass Catfish didn't seem to mind at all.

 

[BHead707]

i have some white clouds that live in my tank with other tropicals at abut 79 degrees and they seem to do fine. when they are more of a cold water fish

 

[Lowryder]

Don't use heaters for my tanks and they run 70-74. I have cichlids, serpae, bloodfin and black neon tetras in one tank and a betta and neon tetras in the other. They are all happy and active.

 

[Scouser]

Fish can adapt but the big drops in temp that happens during the night can be way too harsh for the fish.

I had the problem of my tank dropping from 26°c to 21°c overnight whilst the heating was broken and in the morning the fish were lethargic and groggy.

Lower temps slow the metabolism while the warmer hastens it I believe.

 

[Hholly]

Do fish rely on temperature to be able to digest their food, the way reptiles and amphibians do? If so, I would imagine that they could more easily adapt to a warmer temp than a colder temp.

 

[Scouser]

I believe so, I have read that if you have a pond that you shouldn't feed after the temp drops to a certain number, think the fish not being able to digest the food is the reason don't quote me tho.

 

[jlk]

+1
You guys are correct! The lower the temp, the slower a fish's metabolism. With goldfish, around 50f you stop feeding or you risk some sick fish. The food will not be digested & will start to ferment in their digestive tract (bad news). The issue with temp & dissolved oxygen is important as well. The higher the temp, the less dissolved oxygen is available. Thats why its important to add some extra aeration if you are turning up the heat to treat ich.

 

[Scouser]

Very true about the O2!

Many people forget about that, me included

 

[Lovin Fish]

Don't use heaters for my tanks and they run 70-74. I have cichlids, serpae, bloodfin and black neon tetras in one tank and a betta and neon tetras in the other. They are all happy and active.

Wow! You must live somewhere quite warm. I wish I didn't have to bother with heaters, but I'm in Alaska and the tanks get pretty cool at night even with the heaters on.

 

[Lovin Fish]

Fish can adapt but the big drops in temp that happens during the night can be way too harsh for the fish.

I had the problem of my tank dropping from 26°c to 21°c overnight whilst the heating was broken and in the morning the fish were lethargic and groggy.

Lower temps slow the metabolism while the warmer hastens it I believe.

That's an interesting fact; about the metabolisms. Good to know. Our tanks flucuate day to night always. The fish seem alright. During the day the tanks are 70F, 74F, 78F, 80F,. and 82F (different tanks) then each drops between 3-5 degrees each night. I can't control it. I've tried many different themometers and nothing stabalizes it.

 

[Lovin Fish]

Do fish rely on temperature to be able to digest their food, the way reptiles and amphibians do? If so, I would imagine that they could more easily adapt to a warmer temp than a colder temp.

That's a really good question. I'm interested in the answer too. I am going to do some searching.

 

[Lowryder]

Wow! You must live somewhere quite warm. I wish I didn't have to bother with heaters, but I'm in Alaska and the tanks get pretty cool at night even with the heaters on.

I live in jersey but my house is a constant 72. During the day the tank runs warmer due to my light.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

As long as the water dosent move in temp too fast they will be fine. I only run my heater in the winter to make sure it wont fall under 72. I have an old drafty house or i wouldnt even have a heater haha.

 

[Hholly]

I would thing that a temp dropping a few degrees at night would follow natural fluctuations, and not be a problem.

 

[paytertot]

I have to keep a heater on mine because my house stays a consistent 70 degrees and my tank it set at 85.5 lol

 

[Lovin Fish]

I would thing that a temp dropping a few degrees at night would follow natural fluctuations, and not be a problem.

That's what I have been thinking too. So far so good! The fish seem just fine...I check them closely every morning and throught out the day and of course before I go to bed...what can I say? "I love them!"