Is 25degree Celcius water too cold?

**tangyp** · 18th Jun 2004, 07:28

Hello all. I have cardinal, neon and black tetras in my aquarium. My water temp was at 31degrees celcius. Yes...too hot as most people at LFS has told me, so yesterday I bought an aquarium fan and placed it blowing into the water. At night the temperatures fell down to 25. Supposed to be alright according to some websites I checked for the fish species I have. Also I wanted to keep some Yamato shrimps and was told that 25 should be perfect for them.

Unfortunately, this morning, I woke up and all my fishes have more of less lost their colour. My cardinal and neons have lost their blue and red and look quite pale indeed. The black in my black tetra is more of less gone and the fishes look lethargic and swimming weird. They are still alive however. What's happening? Is the water too cold or is this quite normal?

I was told to leave the fan on 24/7 but now I'm thinking otherwise. Would appreciate any advise.

Thanks & regards.

**Simon** · 18th Jun 2004, 08:20

[quote:8df5789b84="tangyp"]Hello all. I have cardinal, neon and black tetras in my aquarium. My water temp was at 31degrees celcius. Yes...too hot as most people at LFS has told me, so yesterday I bought an aquarium fan and placed it blowing into the water. At night the temperatures fell down to 25. Supposed to be alright according to some websites I checked for the fish species I have. Also I wanted to keep some Yamato shrimps and was told that 25 should be perfect for them.

Unfortunately, this morning, I woke up and all my fishes have more of less lost their colour. My cardinal and neons have lost their blue and red and look quite pale indeed. The black in my black tetra is more of less gone and the fishes look lethargic and swimming weird. They are still alive however. What's happening? Is the water too cold or is this quite normal?

I was told to leave the fan on 24/7 but now I'm thinking otherwise. Would appreciate any advise.

Thanks & regards.[/quote:8df5789b84]

I think 25 degree is fine, even for fishes.. some parts of the amazon where cardinal are caught should be even lower than that. Plants also do better at a lower temperature. When you noticed your fishes losing colour, does it occur when the lights just came on?

kc · 18th Jun 2004, 08:35

You are a few lucky people who can keep their tank at 25%C.

Fish loss colour or fades at night when they sleep and I think when you found them earlier in th morning, they were probably not fully awaken.

There could be other reasons for your fish death.

**tangyp** · 18th Jun 2004, 08:53

[quote:db987e64b7="kc"]You are a few lucky people who can keep their tank at 25%C.

Fish loss colour or fades at night when they sleep and I think when you found them earlier in th morning, they were probably not fully awaken.

There could be other reasons for your fish death.[/quote:db987e64b7]

No...none of the fishes died. I just paid more attention to them this morning as I wanted to see if the fan did anything to the fishes, and noticed the loss of colour. Pardon the newbie here!

So both of you are right about the fishes losing their colour when they sleep. The fishes are pretty lively now. Probably just groggy from being woken up earlier than usual. ha ha

Thanks to ALL for replies. It's been a relief. It's now time to add a few Yamatos to the tank to see if they stay alive this time because in the past, they always died after a day or two...due to the high temp in my tank I believe.

Regards.

**juggler** · 18th Jun 2004, 10:37

Your fish must be thanking you for keeping the temperature lower. Generally all the plants and fish do well at that kind of temperature you are keeping.

BTW - colder water holds more CO2. Just to take note. But I don't think this is a case of CO2 poisoning.

**ah tong** · 18th Jun 2004, 12:27

I would be happy to achieve a 25C temp for tank. With this hot weather this few weeks, i'm afraid my moss wil die off. Always hit 29 degrees these few days.

**prec** · 19th Jun 2004, 20:53

u are just one fortunate guy who can hit 25deg. mine's always lingering at around 27-29deg. sigh. not very good for my plants.. bt that's the best i can do. the loss of their colors may be due to just being woken up. well fishes do slp and during the process, they lose their color. nth to be worried.

**sherchoo** · 19th Jun 2004, 22:53

My best guess why the fishes react different is because there is a sudden change in condition. Imagine you being used to S'pore's hot tropical climate travelling to another country much colder. It will take awhile to adjust yourself to the climate. However 25 deg is difinately not too cold for fishes.

Actually, I noticed my fishes loses the colour almost immediately after lights out. I think it's natural for them during resting time (not too sure abt this though).

**d2hpeter** · 22nd Jun 2004, 11:52

[quote:23ecb3e726="ah tong"]I would be happy to achieve a 25C temp for tank. With this hot weather this few weeks, i'm afraid my moss wil die off. Always hit 29 degrees these few days.[/quote:23ecb3e726]

agree, agree...I am also struggling to keep the temp down to below 30C, my moss just won't grow

now i am suspecting whether it was due to the heat dissipated from my over-powered canister filter for my 2ft tank???, plus the hot weather.
Only able to bring it down to 26C with the air-con on at night in my rm.

btw, bros, what should be the max temp for moss eg java, christmas etc?

**Desewer** · 22nd Jun 2004, 21:55

I tried 27-29 degrees in my home tank for java moss, without results. I moved the driftwood with moss to my air-com office, the tank temp is about 24-25 degrees. In a week I saw new moss growing, and in a month the moss has covered the entire driftwood.

I guess 25-26 degrees is the max temp then.

**d2hpeter** · 23rd Jun 2004, 11:59

[quote:990e72b368="Desewer"]I tried 27-29 degrees in my home tank for java moss, without results. I moved the driftwood with moss to my air-com office, the tank temp is about 24-25 degrees. In a week I saw new moss growing, and in a month the moss has covered the entire driftwood.

I guess 25-26 degrees is the max temp then.[/quote:990e72b368]

what is the lighting and co2 level that you used at this temperature ie 24-25C at your office? and do u add liquid fertiliser?
I guess the temp factor is very important...i hv a small tank of riccia and java fern in my office and the temp is 27~28C. It is so lush and green even though i gv a very slow co2 rate using DIY with Nutrafin canister, no TMG etc and with one big block of the riccia floating on the surface as well blocking about 70% of the light. I was using this method to slow down its growth so that don't hv to maintain frequently but it still grow [at a much slower and managable rate] Now i hv just put in a pc of my Xmoss mesh taken from my home tank and see if it works here.

**Desewer** · 23rd Jun 2004, 15:58

The tank in my office is a super-low-maintenance tank. It's about 24x12x12.

I'm using about 1 inch of 1-2mm gravel, no base fert, a hang-on-tank filter, two Dolphin 2-ft lamps (about 15W FL each, I think, from Luohan era) from 7am to 7pm, no ferts of any kind, no co2 at all. I keep about 11 cardinal tetras, 5 lemon tetras, and 4 golden algae eaters.

I'm looking for a small driftwood with Xmas Moss next to keep in the office. At this kind of temperature, growth is almost always guaranteed.

**d2hpeter** · 23rd Jun 2004, 17:03

[quote:e9deec624d="Desewer"]The tank in my office is a super-low-maintenance tank. It's about 24x12x12.

I'm using about 1 inch of 1-2mm gravel, no base fert, a hang-on-tank filter, two Dolphin 2-ft lamps (about 15W FL each, I think, from Luohan era) from 7am to 7pm, no ferts of any kind, no co2 at all. I keep about 11 cardinal tetras, 5 lemon tetras, and 4 golden algae eaters.

I'm looking for a small driftwood with Xmas Moss next to keep in the office. At this kind of temperature, growth is almost always guaranteed.[/quote:e9deec624d]

no co2

my goodness!!
looks like if we could keep cool, all the high tech co2 system, fertilisation...blah, blah, blah would be a waste of $$

btw, tangyp, how do u manage to keep so cool ??? i am using 6 mini-fans in a row blowing my 2ft tank at home and only manage to go down to about 29C.

**Desewer** · 23rd Jun 2004, 17:10

Hahaha... we wish! Anyway I'm only keeping Java moss and Java ferns in the above-mentioned tank. Both these plants are slow growers, so co2 is not a necessity.

Of course, with added co2 growth will be accelerated, but I'm not going to spend so much on a small tank. My 4ft at home needs more maintenance...