# cold water fish - list



## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

hey guys, would be interested to know any odd types of cold water fish?
i.e. tank without uv

i have a 3 foot tank with lid and have a huge pond with goldfish in, and partner has comet tails, but was wondering if there was anything sort of unusual i could put in it without the need for a uv? (as i don't know how on earth i would attatch it as lid is home-made)

would be intrigued to know what people suggest, and if people only come up with comet tails and goldfish varieties, then that is indeed what will go in it hehe <3

Cari x


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## Berber King (Dec 29, 2007)

I dont understand why you need a UV? Any fish can be kept without them,only needed to clear algae in ponds,or pathogens on sensitive set-ups (some marines and so on).Regarding unusual species,its quite limited these days,with many of the more interesting species banned from import.Weather loach are good,some of the commonly seen "Butterfly Plecs",do well in cooler water with good flow.Paradise fish-with nothing long-finned like fancy goldfish.White Cloud Mountain Minnows,small and pretty.Im sure someone will suggest more,but all the ones i used to like and keep are not available anymore-Myxocyprinus,Bowfins,Bitterling.


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

oh! was under the impression i would need one, but that's fab, i will do some research on the ones you mentioned. and obviously will have a filter, that's easy enough to put in, was just worried about uv sort of attatchment, thankyou that was a v informative post, learn something new every day! xxxx


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

KOI ftw : victory:


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

how are koi in tanks babe, not heard of them in aquariums before, is it common? because we've just lost 3 in our pond in the frost, the goldfish were fine, but had 3 massive koi (the only koi we had left) and they died 

obviously warmer indoors, are they ok in tanks or...? xxx


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Koi shouldnt be left in the ponds in winter as its too cold for them

this is what Koi look like in a tank :2thumb:


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Am I the only one who can't get _Egeria/Elodea densa_ plants to grow? :bash:


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Trillian said:


> Am I the only one who can't get _Egeria/Elodea densa_ plants to grow? :bash:


I will let you know, in the pictures is "Cabomba Caroliniana" but I have just replaced it all with "densa" as the the last didnt do too well in cold water with no CO2 or plant food.


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## Trillian (Jul 14, 2008)

Doh, I always get mixed up with those two...:blush:


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## Berber King (Dec 29, 2007)

alpharoyals said:


> Koi shouldnt be left in the ponds in winter as its too cold for them
> 
> Is that a joke?


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

NO!

if its not heated they should be bought indoors when under 8 degrees (i think)

some may survive the winter but will usually get ulscers or fin rot.


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

doh!  well we have had many survive winters before luckily which we gave to my grandpa, but had bought this from a different aquatics store, i will be sure to bring them inside

we have always done the ball in the water to make sure it didnt freeze entirely but now i willl know what to do when it gets cold! feel so bad now ! xxx


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

elliottreed said:


> we have always done the ball in the water to make sure it didnt freeze entirely but now i willl know what to do when it gets cold! feel so bad now ! xxx


the tennis ball will just let the gas exchange happen but the water will still be the same temp.

dont beat yourself up hun, its an honest mistake, atleast you admitted you were wrong :2thumb:


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## Berber King (Dec 29, 2007)

alpharoyals said:


> NO!
> 
> if its not heated they should be bought indoors when under 8 degrees (i think)
> 
> some may survive the winter but will usually get ulscers or fin rot.


Thats a very sweeping statement.If a ponds deep enough,and the fish are healthy going into winter,shouldnt have a problem.I certainly havent,and my koi grow into fantastic fish.I doubt the japanese bring all their koi indoors every winter,and they have some harsh winters.


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

Berber King said:


> Thats a very sweeping statement.If a ponds deep enough,and the fish are healthy going into winter,shouldnt have a problem.I certainly havent,and my koi grow into fantastic fish.I doubt the japanese bring all their koi indoors every winter,and they have some harsh winters.


 
Im just going by what the "experts" say.


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

As mentioned, if its deep enough (3 foot being the bare minimum - 6 foot deep being the minimum in my eyes) it will be fine, and maybe you should bring in young koi, but adults should be fine.


As for interesting coldwater fish - how about sun fish - they look like cold water cichlids!


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

our pond is 6 foot deep, my dad fell in once when cleaning the filter so can vouch for that bless his soul lol

haven't had problems before, but i did make a post about the shop we bought them from their koi were in very bad ways, we did take 3 larger ones hoping that they would be ok, but i would put it down to the fish themselves not koi in general, will be happy to give out the name of the shop to anyone in the are who want to go have a look. we chose 3 but the shop person had said "oh that one's about to die can you choose another?" we bought them in the summer, and will fill up around spring again on koi so hopefully by then they should be hardy enough, and obviously from a different shop 

but if it goes below freezing will bring them in
will just pop and take a pic of the pond, it is in disrepair at the moment since my dad died, the liner has torn so we're going to have to rehouse everything in the spring when we redo it lol !! will be a massive job

maintaining the waterlevels well and topping up regularly
it's a very " natural " looking pond

would appreciate criticism on things that we could do with the pond as it was my dad's line of work bless him xxxxxxxxxxx


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## johne.ev (Sep 14, 2008)

I didn't think koi were suited to living in aquariums. I always thought they were pond fish. I have also heard/read they do better in heated ponds in very cold weather.


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## alpharoyals (Nov 21, 2007)

johne.ev said:


> I didn't think koi were suited to living in aquariums. I always thought they were pond fish. I have also heard/read they do better in heated ponds in very cold weather.


 
They are pond/lake fish purely due to there massive size!!!
But you can keep anything in a tank until your tank becomes too small or the fish becomes too big :lol2:


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

in a 3ft tank. Your not looking at much, and defferiently not koi:lol2:

you could fit:

6 X Zebra Danios

6 X Whit cloud mountain minnows

2 X Fancy goldfish - with good filteration, and small types I.e Black moors

And a couple of Hillstream loaches, only with good filteration and plenty of oxygen.


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

thanks guys!
will see what my local fish shop gets in
and have a browse for info on those species
xxxxxx


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## Mujician (Mar 7, 2007)

Sunfish are more interesting than goldfish and fancy goldfish. They will breed readily and are easily sexed (males and females are different colours) There are many different species of Sunfish. They're north american cichlids


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## xyra (Apr 26, 2007)

alpharoyals said:


> NO!
> 
> if its not heated they should be bought indoors when under 8 degrees (i think)
> 
> some may survive the winter but will usually get ulscers or fin rot.



Koi should be fine in ponds over the winter. Recommended pond depth is ~6ft for koi iirc. Make sure the filters are turned off, so the cold water doesn't circulate down, and critically don't feed them as they can't digest and the food will rot in their stomachs and kill the koi when the water warms up again to digesting temporature. If you want to feed all year round (and presumably get better growth) you will need to bring them in however.

unusual cold water fish... (I assume by cold you mean room temperature)

Bitterling (maybe a bit delicate, and are expensive these days)
Shiners are beautiful
Hillstream Loaches
Various barbs
Minnows


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

Thanks for this! Did know about the non feeding in winter so didn't do that, poor blighters  And filters were off, I don't know what happened which is a shame xxx


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## reptilephotographer (Jan 19, 2009)

golden tench are lovely fish and grow to a nice size up to a few pounds ifs well feed
golden orfe are another one to have very slim fish can grow same sizes as koi and move more also get them in blue and multi colours
golden rudd far smaller but eat ant algea and insect larva which can cause harm tothe bigger fish so there very good to have
if your looking at bigger fish how about sturgeon they ofden come to the surface and can be quite tame also catfish if you can find the right species both can be in albino forms
as for tank species theres alot fo natrual species like bullhead, sticklebacks and minnows all have lovely colouring and have the added bonus of being free!


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

i'd loveeee to have catfish
they have such beautiful faces
would they be ok in a normal tank without anything but filter?
i was always under the impression anything more than a goldfish would need allsorts? xxxxxxx


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## _jake_ (Jul 3, 2008)

NO, they need a big tank or a pond. You could look into Hillstream loaches, but they need high oxygen and fast flowing water.


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

Hehe I think i'm going to stick with maintaining my pond and selling the tank to someone who would have more knowledge and use for it. I'll stick with my pondlife for now i think hehe ! xxx


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