Water temps for my tank

[Priest]

So yesterday night I noticed that my tank was at 72F, when I noticed it was that low I took the heater and raised the temperature to 75F. When I did this the Mollies, Guppies and Catfish were all acting very weird, the Mollies were still when they were active before, the guppies all hugged one corner when the were moving at the top of the tank and the Catfish were constantly going to the top and then to the bottom when they used to just stay at the bottom. In the process of doing this I lost one of my Guppies and ended up lowering the temp to 74F but I seem to have noticed that they were fine in 72F. My heater slowly raises the temp so I know that the temp raise wasn't fast. Anyway my question is is having the temp at 72F okay for my fish because I know that that temp is borderline to their minimum but don't want to raise it anymore because even at 74F they didn't enjoy. Thank you.

 

[Agua]

Are you sure the thermometer are using is accurate? It could be off and the tank may actually be warmer than it indicates. I would check with another thermometer just to rule it out.

 

[Priest]

Yeah I have 2 thermometers, one that is on the tank and one that hangs inside, both had the same temp.

 

[siva]

What kind of catfish?

 

[Priest]

I knew I forgot to add something the Catfish are Pepper Cory, the Mollies are Dalmatians and the Guppies are a mix (Fancy, Sunrise, Turquoise and Yellow). I just want to know if 72F-74F is good for all three kinds of fish to live comfortably in.

 

[GodFan]

Do you have an airstone? They (and especially their fry) will enjoy the warmer water. From your discription of their behaviour I would say they were low on oxygen. Warmer water does not hold oxygen as well as cold water so if youy filter doesnt disturb enough water and you dont use an airstone then they probably need oxygen!

 

[Priest]

The craziest thing happened, I've had these Catfish for 2 days so far and I wake up this morning to see about 4 babies, so now I need to make sure that the temperature is correct.

 

[siva]

Those fish should be fine at 72, but I agree that's a little cold for the fry. I've never kept livebearer fry under 76.

 

[Priest]

Right now the temp is at 74F and I'm thinking of not using the heater because the temperature has been pretty stable without it (Between 72F-74F). I will be using it when it gets really cold here in New York but until then I'll just leave it out. I forgot to mention this but will the Guppies or the Mollies eat the frys, I'm counting 5 frys right now and don't want to end up counting 0 later on.