What temperature for tropical fish?

[Katymac]

Cos I think I boiled the goldfish

[Kelly1978]

err a goldfish isn't a tropical fish, it is a coldwater fish.

[Katymac]

I know - but the tank got hot - so if I get tropical and have a heater with a thermostat it won't get too hot (maybe?)

[Kelly1978]

oh right, 26c for tropical, but it depends on what fish. Mine has been on 27-8 lately which is too high but they seem ok. Strange how the tank got so hot. Is it a big tank? Bettas (siamese fighting fish) are very pretty, and cope well in water in between tropical and cold water. Only need a very small tank though as you can only have one.

[LilacWine]

our tropical tank is 25C normally but has heated up a bit more with this weather. it depends on the fish really.

[Katymac]

Bugger today it's 30

Back to the drawing board

Oh well a tank with plants in looks nice

my tank is 8x8x12 (or is it 10x10x12)

Do they come with coolers rather than heaters?

[Kelly1978]

I think chillers are only used by experts in marine tanks. I don't think you would get a little cheap one for a tank that size. U'd do better to use iceblocks to cool it. At 30c you want something like clown loach in there!

[Katymac]

What does that look like (& how much will it cost to keep the tank at that temp in the winter?)

[Kelly1978]

clown loach I wouldn't have thought it cost that much to heat a tank in winter neither, central heating prob does most of the work. I couldn't really guess at how mcuh as my tank is 4ft and costs maybe £2 A week to run.

[Gingerbear]

a heater with a thermostat will heat the water only. I fill a coke bottle 2/3 full of water and freeze it, then put that in the tank to keep it cool.
Goldfish max temp is 20 deg C.

A betta (siamese fighting fish) would be fine in that little tank, Does it have a filter?

[Gingerbear]

a 25 watt heater should do the trick - it costs pennies to run. (compare to a kettle = 1000watts)

[Katymac]

will the ice harm the fish (will it get too cold?)

[Gingerbear]

OOps, missed your post katymac. The bigger the tank the less temp fluctuations., with a small tank, use a few ice cubes in a plastic bag. (No harm to fish - they will melt before the fish freeze!)

[Katymac]

Thanks for that Gingerbear