# Fish in a tank without a heater



## Horse and Hound (May 12, 2010)

Hi, everyone.

I've got a corner tank in my room that has been up and running now for about 6 weeks with no deaths/no probs. Water tests come back brilliant.

In it, at the moment I have 2 x Calico Orandas, 1x Black Moor 1 x teeny, tiny gold fish (that'll be in a mates tank soon, though) and 4 x danios. I'm looking to add a few more to it and would like to give it some more colour.

Anyone got any advice on what types of fish I could add to the tank? I heard that tetra's can live in an unheated aquarium. Anyone know if this is true?


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## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

what sorta size is the tank you have, and what type if filtration do you have? whether you can add any more fish to the tank really depend on the answers to these two questions. bare in mind though that the three fancy goldfish alone (oranda and moor) will require about 150L in total, so unless you have a huge tank, space may be limited.

and just to point out, the fish you currently have in there are pretty incompatible. i know you say it will be move anyway, but the little goldfish will need to be moved on pretty soon, as it will out compete and stress out the fancy goldies, leading to poor health in them. it will also get huge very quickly, so the quicker you move it the better. such fish require a bare minimum of about 90-100L per fish, and preferably should go in a pond, so make sure your friend has a tank large enough to handle it. 
id also keep a close eye on the danios. keeping them with any type of goldfish is very risky. goldfish have surprisingly big mouthes, and a goldfish will quite easily and happily eat the smaller danios depending on size. they may be ok for now if the goldies are small, but eventually you will find a lack of danios, and a very happy looking goldfish.

oh, and no, tetras will not live happily in unheated aquariums, they require heaters to live happily


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## Horse and Hound (May 12, 2010)

Fishyfins said:


> what sorta size is the tank you have, and what type if filtration do you have? whether you can add any more fish to the tank really depend on the answers to these two questions. bare in mind though that the three fancy goldfish alone (oranda and moor) will require about 150L in total, so unless you have a huge tank, space may be limited.
> 
> and just to point out, the fish you currently have in there are pretty incompatible. i know you say it will be move anyway, but the little goldfish will need to be moved on pretty soon, as it will out compete and stress out the fancy goldies, leading to poor health in them. it will also get huge very quickly, so the quicker you move it the better. such fish require a bare minimum of about 90-100L per fish, and preferably should go in a pond, so make sure your friend has a tank large enough to handle it.
> id also keep a close eye on the danios. keeping them with any type of goldfish is very risky. goldfish have surprisingly big mouthes, and a goldfish will quite easily and happily eat the smaller danios depending on size. they may be ok for now if the goldies are small, but eventually you will find a lack of danios, and a very happy looking goldfish.
> ...


The goldfish is going in the next few weeks or so. It's tiny at the moment, but it's going into a pond anyway, once its a bit bigger.

My tank is 240 litres, yes, it is massive, and has 2 filters in it. One is under gravel, the other is one that just sticks onto the side of the tank. Both recommended by they guy I bought the aquarium from.


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## Fishyfins (Feb 28, 2009)

then everything should be fine for you. so many people try to keep goldfish in stupidly small tanks, we naturally have to be cautious about any advice we give ^^

anyway, a 240L tank should be fine for the fish within it currently, with the removal of the tiny goldie. and as i say, the danios will eventually be eaten, so its best to keep an eye on them and be cautious.

as to what you can add, then your options are limited. there are 3 "categories" of coldwater fish - standard goldfish (shubunkins, comets and the like), fancy goldfish such as moors and orandas, and then the rest, including danios, minnows and paradise fish. sadly,the 3 types are all pretty incompatible with each other. as i say, the two types of goldfish dont live well together cos the standards out compete the fancies for food, and their fast nature can stress the fancies out leading to ill health. as well as this, many of the species in the other lot are pretty small, such as minnows and danios, and can and will be eaten by both types of goldfish. other coldwater fish such as paradse fish and american flagfins are both pretty aggressive, and not suitable for mixing with goldfish. there are some tropicals such as guppies, platties, corydoras and tetras that are touted as being suitable for coldwater, when really they are certainly not. 

the only fish you can truly safely add would be other fancy goldfish, of which you could maybe get another 2 into your tank. failing this, then it would be "safe" for you to add some more danios or white cloud mountain minnows, though as ive said, these will eventually become a tasty snack for your goldies.


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## aloevera (Jun 19, 2010)

I had a small tank with 4 cold water minnows in 

two which looked like this:
http://www.howtokeeptropicalfish.co.uk/White_Cloud_Mountain_Minnow.jpg

and
two which were slightly different, although, there's only one left on his own now . but its his own fault, as he was the pig and bullied the others to food :/ im thinking of adding some more to the tank again as he just looks so lonely


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## Horse and Hound (May 12, 2010)

aloevera said:


> thinking of adding some more to the tank again as he just looks so lonely


Post him to me! I'll rehome him!


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## aloevera (Jun 19, 2010)

Horse and Hound said:


> Post him to me! I'll rehome him!


Lol, I'll make sure I pack him a little water bottle incase he gets thirsty on the journey


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## Maiisiku (Feb 20, 2009)

I'll second the advice that Fishyfins has given. Fancies to fancies, danios will probably get eatten. If you want goldfish then you can only really keep them on their own. You could prob have 4 fancies or 2 single fins in a tank of that size. You could have 30 danios if it was just them. But they will become food to your bigger fish. You could also get whitecloud minnows, really pretty fish!


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## chazt10 (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi,do you mind me asking do you have any other fish tanks i could have thanks thats all Chazt10.


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## Guest (Jul 22, 2010)

chazt10 said:


> Hi,do you mind me asking do you have any other fish tanks i could have thanks thats all Chazt10.


Come again?


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