Re: [RML] Fish House Designs

Mach T. Fukada (fukada at hawaii.edu)
Mon, 11 May 1998 04:45:43 -1000

I sent M. bosmani and P. furcatus to my mother in law. She lives at about
4000 feelt elevation. Over the winter it gets down to 40 F (4C) in the
house. They aren't growing fast, but they haven't all died yet. I suspect
that they will be OK as long as it isn't for extended periods of time. I
need to figure on some of these problems also as I hope to one day move
there. I think killies would be OK and P. connieae and P. furcatus. I
don't think the P. signiger Ross River will be happy without a heater.
They don't look happy at 60-65F (16-18 C).

MTF

At 01:40 PM 5/11/98 -1000, you wrote:
>On Tue, 12 May 1998, Chen Leong wrote:
>> At 07:18 11/05/98 -0700, Peter wrote:
>>
>> Thanks for the suggestions. By the way, how cold did your tanks get to in
>> your unheated fishroom ? What were some of the fish you kept ?
>
>I was afraid you would ask that....
>
>I don't remember exactly. My guess would be probably no lower than
>~14-15oC though I wouldn't bet my life on it. Once the sun hit the room
>in the winter time for ~20 minutes air temperature would pretty quickly
>hit ~25oC or so. A lot will depend upon the aspect of the room relative
>to the sun in the winter versus summer. I doubt there isn't a rainbow
>that wouldn't be ok at 15oC although several don't like it at 13oC.
>Typically the Aussie fish have broader cold and warm tolerance than their
>northern counterparts. You won't get much growth and maybe colour at
>those temps, but then you won't need to feed them as much which means they
>don't poo as much and hence there is less need to change water. Plus, if
>it is likely to get cold you can put a little heater in the room on a
>timer. If you are really worried about temperature during the winter and
>you only have a few tanks I'd drop a heater set to 18oC in them.
>
>I had mostly fish like Mogurndas, the various fishes from Dalhousie
>Springs, a couple different desert goby species, some eel tailed catfish
>and a few other odds and ends and probably a couple of rainbows.
>
>The only problem with having a polycarbonate roof, aside from getting too
>hot in summer and costing a few $$ is that with all the light algal
>problems can be a hassle. I was too lazy to shade mine so I had lots of
>algae.
>
>Cheers
>
>Peter J Unmack peter.unmack at asu.edu
>---------------------------------------------------------------
>DESERT FISHES RULE: To boldly thrive where no other fish can make it!
>
>Australian desert fishes pages at http://ozdesertfish.base.org (don't
>forget to visit the Desert Fishes Council pages too)
>Native Fish Australia pages at http://www.nativefish.asn.au
>North American Native Fishes Association at http://www.nanfa.org
>Aquatic Conservation Network at http://www.acn.ca
>
>
Mach T. Fukada, Web Master
fukada at hawaii.edu
Honolulu Aquarium Society
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Meadows/2948/HASF.html