I have 2 150 gal tanks that I raise minnows in. I am looking for a fish that can handle temps that range from 48-70 degrees Far. and can help with cleaning the bottom. I have tried goldfish but it seems they have only made the tank worse. I change the water every 4 days, but they are poop machines! Any one have any ideas?
Cold Water Bottom Feeder
- Thread starter swaugh
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Thank you, I will try that. Water gets cold in a large tank in the winter here, so I have to find something that will live. I found a small ghost shrimp in the last batch of minnows I had shipped in, but it has seemed to have went dormant due to the water temps. (read somewhere that they turn pink or red when they die) Maybe it will come back around and make it. I hope. Are they any good?
I wouldn't reccommend this, plecos are TROPICAL fish from the tropical amazon and do not do well at temperatures much lower than 75f, unless they're smaller species from higher altitudes. I also wouldn't class them as "slow growing", mine grew from 2 inches when bought to over a foot in less than a year. They also produce more or less as much waste as goldfish, if not more.
I'd reccommend chinese hillstream loaches if you can get your hands on them (they're fairly common in shops over here in the UK). They're small, flat-ish fish which are efficient algae eaters. A good group of those should keep you algae at bay and they do well at lower temperatures. Just make sure the temperature remains stable (fluctuations aren't good for any fish) and that it doesn't excede 73f for a long period of time. Hopefully you'll read this before buying plecos!
I'd reccommend chinese hillstream loaches if you can get your hands on them (they're fairly common in shops over here in the UK). They're small, flat-ish fish which are efficient algae eaters. A good group of those should keep you algae at bay and they do well at lower temperatures. Just make sure the temperature remains stable (fluctuations aren't good for any fish) and that it doesn't excede 73f for a long period of time. Hopefully you'll read this before buying plecos!
I have been all over the US and I have only a handful of times seen hillstream loaches, and they were never for sale. Good for him if he can find some! While plecos are normally a tropical fish, many have been found in local lakes near my home in new England. In Coventry Rhode Island someone caught a 4 foot pleco in a local lake that has been known to freeze over well enough to be driven on in winter.
In a cold environment, a pleco can survive, they will just grow slower than usual. I had a pleco in my goldfish pond survive 3 winters before I traded him in at over a foot long. He started off around 4 inches.
In a cold environment, a pleco can survive, they will just grow slower than usual. I had a pleco in my goldfish pond survive 3 winters before I traded him in at over a foot long. He started off around 4 inches.
HONG KONG PLECO/borneo pleco WILL survive cold water.. i have had one for 3 years in my goldfish tank,
They come under many names, such as those you mentioned, also borneo sucker, butterfly pleco, butterfly loach, stingray pleco as Newman said. They're relative newcomers to the hobby and are often mislabelled as plecos.
And though I'm sure they can survive, it wouldn't be fair to have one suffer cooler temperatures than it's used to. They also make a lot of mess for how much algae they clean up, I don't think they're suitable for this set-up at all.