Recommended fishes for cool water tanks with pictures

What’s a “Cool Water Fish?” Naturally, our native fishes (sunfishes, catfishes, suckers, and minnows) can handle cool water quite easily. But since so few people keep these usually larger tank residents, we’ll just cover the “imports.”

Import Note. Although carps (koi) and goldfishes are cold water fishes, they are fairly recent immigrants to our country.

No Heater Necessary. Most cool water fishes live just fine in unheated aquaria. They don’t need heaters to live happily or to breed.

Temperature. Fishes from warm countries (tropical fishes) never see falling leaves much less falling snow. Cool water fishes have adapted to varying weather conditions – even ice on top their water. This doesn’t mean they like ice in their water, just that they can survive it.

Fish Bowls. Since fishbowls and those “executive aquariums” (with the emphasis on execute) have no heaters, the cool water fishes work better in them than tropical fishes.

Paradise Fish. Think of these guys as cool water bettas. Just slightly less colorful than bettas, these tough little scrappers can thrive in conditions that would kill most tropical fishes. We saw one pair kept outside in a bucket (in the shade) spawn and hatch eggs. Like bettas, they fare best when kept separate. (Males like to argue.) Mature males make excellent display fishes in those one-gallon crystal bowls you can occasionally find. We cannot recommend paradise fish highly enough. They will sometimes beat up on tank mates when crowded into smaller quarters -- especially other anabantids.

Danios. These schooling, darting fishes chase and flit thru any aquarium. They add action. Most of the danios:

   ● Zebras,
   ● Golds,
   ● Pearls,
   ● Blues,
   ● Leopards, and
   ● Several other "new" danios now coming out of India

all school together when in the same tank. Some people consider them “too active” because they want all the other fish to chase along with them.

Long-Finned Danios. We prefer our danio species in the long-finned varieties. Danios are excellent cool water fishes. They will pester slow moving fishes.

Black Skirt Tetras. Black skirt tetras develop their darkest colors when kept in the cooler ranges. This group includes a long-finned variety as well as the white skirt tetra (which develops no black colors). This group also contains the injected fruit-colored tetras. All these originally black tetras will school together quite happily.

Many Barbs. Gold barbs especially enjoy cooler tanks. These colorful (and peaceful) schoolers look good in tanks of smaller fishes.

White Clouds. Look at these guys when the sunlight hits them. Their white and yellow stripes and red-tipped fins flash very attractively in good light. A school of these minnows really makes a tank look great. Temperament-wise you couldn’t ask for a better fish. They will not hurt or chase their tank mates. These guys will even survive in those nasty mini-tanks.

Goldfishes and Carps. We’ve covered these species in other papers. If you need more info about this huge category of fishes, ask for more Fact Sheets on them.

Weather Loaches. Good scavengers and exotic looking. They work great in larger tanks.

Killifish. Even though many killifishes came from Africa and South America, many prefer unheated aquaria.

Feeding. Cool water fishes eat any food you offer them. They are always at the front of the chow line. Several small meals per day work best. Most respond very well to color foods. Color foods bring out their reds, oranges, and blacks.

Decor. Most cool water fishes enjoy swimming in well-planted tanks. Goldfishes and koi are well known plant munchers, but the others will leave your plants undisturbed. Anacharis and hornwort (U.S. aquatic plants) grow quite well in cool water tanks. LA.

Kevin Abercrombie, Rochester, NY, August 10, 2010
Good morrow! Long time fan, first time emailer, I've been visiting your webpage for quite some time. I've learned a great deal about fish for my aquarium from your website, I owe a great deal of my healthiest and happiest fish to you guys however, I have seen nothing about the most daunting task for a large population of the United states, how to keep to keep a tank cool? I only have a small 10 gallon tank with a sweaty pumpkinseed sunfish that requires colder water, and with the summer months here in Rochester, New York (yes, it does get mighty hot up here, 85 degrees is the average this month) the lid leaving, fan evapo, ice cube dunk tank method is not quite cutting it in my tank. Can you please add an expert's guide to cooling an aquarium on your website it would be more than greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Your #1 Fish Fan

A: I guess I did not include tank cooling info in my cold water fish page. First, I would not worry about any sunfish getting too hot. They rarely die from the heat. Obviously the "chillers" made for lobster and trout tanks are too expensive and really too cold (usually 45 to 55 F) for a 10 gallon tank. The fan method you're using is good. Forget the ice cubes. Ice cubes bounce your temperature up and down like a yo-yo and encourage ich infestations. In bait shops, they will trickle in continuous cold tap water or more likely use spargers for their minnow and crayfish tanks -- not really practical for civilians. Numerous airstones would function similar to a sparger. Or you could position your tank above your central air conditioner outlet. But the most practical solution for most people is to just move your tank into the basement. LA

	Some Recommended Cool Water Fishes Tough little cookies, good-looking, easy-to-keep survivors

Amphibians Axolotls Caecilian Worm Chaco Toad Mud Puppies Newts General Newts Eastern Newts Golden Newts Mandarin Salamanders Suriname Toad Tadpoles Terrarium I Terrarium II USA Toads Water Dogs Misc. Toads Frogs Bull Clawed Dumpy Dwarf Fire-Belly Floating Green Tree Leopard Pac Man Pipa pipa Pyxie Red-Eyed Tree Tomato Misc Frogs Misc Frogs II Misc Frogs III Misc Frogs IV Misc Frogs V Animals Bunnies Bunnies II Cat-N-Around Cat Club Cat-N-Around Cat Club 2007 Annual Show Hawkeye Cat Club 2004 Hawkeye Cat Club 2005 Chinchillas Degus Ferrets Ferrets by BOB Gerbils Ground Squirrels Guinea Pig Hamsters I Hamsters II Hamsters III Hamsters IV Hamsters V Hedgehogs Kittens Kids & Kittens Mice Mice Pets II Parasites Rats I Rats II Rats III Rats, Hairless S-T Opossums Siberian Chipmunks Sugar Gliders Sugar Gliders II Water Bottles Bugs Crabby 500 Crab 04 Results Centipedes Cray/Lobsters Crayfish II Crayfish III Cray, Yucatan Fiddler Crabs Shrimp, Algae Shrimp, Aqua Shrimp, Orange Bee Shrimp, Red Shrimp, Flower Shrimp, Ghost Shrimp, Rudolph Hermit Crabs Hermit Crabs II Madagas Roach Mantids Mini-Clams Mini-Crabs Patriot Crabs Giant Millipedes Red Claw Crabs Reiman Butterfly Spider, Black Widow Snail, Apple Snail, Colombian Snail, Land Snail, Malaysian Snail, Mystery Snail, Trapdoor Scorpions Tarantulas Tarantulas II Tarantula Night 2006 TarantulaWeen VII TarantulaWeen 9 Walking Stick Misc. 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Under Gravel Filters Sponge Filters Cloudy Water Cool Water Tanks Gravel Vacuums Preventing Disease Feeding to the Max Frozen Foods Green Water Nasty Chemicals Overfeeding Power Filters Rift Lake Salts Quarantine Tank Mini-Tank 2nd Av Bait Pet World Visit Dandelions Aquatic Plants Amazon Swords More Swords Sword Plants III Anubias Anacharis Aponogetons A. boivinianus A. fenestralis A. ulvaceous Aquarium/Bog Banana Plant Bolbitis Bunch Bunch Plants II Cryptocorynes Crystalwort Dwarf Lily Grassy Grassy II Hornwort Hygrophila Lace Java Fern I Java Fern II Java Fern III Java Fern IV Java Moss Moss Balls Onion Vermiculite Watersprite Different Watersprite	LA Pic Adult male Lepomis humilis. Our native red-spotted sunfish makes a great keeper. What’s a “Cool Water Fish?” Naturally, our native fishes (sunfishes, catfishes, suckers, and minnows) can handle cool water quite easily. But since so few people keep these usually larger tank residents, we’ll just cover the “imports.” Import Note. Although carps (koi) and goldfishes are cold water fishes, they are fairly recent immigrants to our country. No Heater Necessary. Most cool water fishes live just fine in unheated aquaria. They don’t need heaters to live happily or to breed. Temperature. Fishes from warm countries (tropical fishes) never see falling leaves much less falling snow. Cool water fishes have adapted to varying weather conditions – even ice on top their water. This doesn’t mean they like ice in their water, just that they can survive it. Fish Bowls. Since fishbowls and those “executive aquariums” (with the emphasis on execute) have no heaters, the cool water fishes work better in them than tropical fishes. Your Choices. Some potential candidates to consider include: ● Paradise Fishes ● Most Danios ● Black Skirt Tetras ● Many Barbs ● White Clouds ● Killifish ● Goldfishes ● Carp LA Pic Paradise Fish. Think of these guys as cool water bettas. Just slightly less colorful than bettas, these tough little scrappers can thrive in conditions that would kill most tropical fishes. We saw one pair kept outside in a bucket (in the shade) spawn and hatch eggs. Like bettas, they fare best when kept separate. (Males like to argue.) Mature males make excellent display fishes in those one-gallon crystal bowls you can occasionally find. We cannot recommend paradise fish highly enough. They will sometimes beat up on tank mates when crowded into smaller quarters -- especially other anabantids. LA Pic Zebras rarely pause for a photo op. Danios. These schooling, darting fishes chase and flit thru any aquarium. They add action. Most of the danios: ● Zebras, ● Golds, ● Pearls, ● Blues, ● Leopards, and ● Several other "new" danios now coming out of India all school together when in the same tank. Some people consider them “too active” because they want all the other fish to chase along with them. Long-Finned Danios. We prefer our danio species in the long-finned varieties. Danios are excellent cool water fishes. They will pester slow moving fishes. LA Pic LA Pic LA Pic LA Pic White, long-finned, black tetras. LA Pic Long-finned black tetra. Black Skirt Tetras. Black skirt tetras develop their darkest colors when kept in the cooler ranges. This group includes a long-finned variety as well as the white skirt tetra (which develops no black colors). This group also contains the injected fruit-colored tetras. All these originally black tetras will school together quite happily. LA Pic Many Barbs. Gold barbs especially enjoy cooler tanks. These colorful (and peaceful) schoolers look good in tanks of smaller fishes. LA Pic White clouds also make pretty good skeeter eaters. White Clouds. Look at these guys when the sunlight hits them. Their white and yellow stripes and red-tipped fins flash very attractively in good light. A school of these minnows really makes a tank look great. Temperament-wise you couldn’t ask for a better fish. They will not hurt or chase their tank mates. These guys will even survive in those nasty mini-tanks. LA Pic Goldfishes and Carps. We’ve covered these species in other papers. If you need more info about this huge category of fishes, ask for more Fact Sheets on them. LA Pic These guys grow to a nice size. Weather Loaches. Good scavengers and exotic looking. They work great in larger tanks. LA Pic Maybe a little vain? LA Pic Most killies need no heaters. Killifish. Even though many killifishes came from Africa and South America, many prefer unheated aquaria. Feeding. Cool water fishes eat any food you offer them. They are always at the front of the chow line. Several small meals per day work best. Most respond very well to color foods. Color foods bring out their reds, oranges, and blacks. Decor. Most cool water fishes enjoy swimming in well-planted tanks. Goldfishes and koi are well known plant munchers, but the others will leave your plants undisturbed. Anacharis and hornwort (U.S. aquatic plants) grow quite well in cool water tanks. LA. Kevin Abercrombie, Rochester, NY, August 10, 2010 Good morrow! Long time fan, first time emailer, I've been visiting your webpage for quite some time. I've learned a great deal about fish for my aquarium from your website, I owe a great deal of my healthiest and happiest fish to you guys however, I have seen nothing about the most daunting task for a large population of the United states, how to keep to keep a tank cool? I only have a small 10 gallon tank with a sweaty pumpkinseed sunfish that requires colder water, and with the summer months here in Rochester, New York (yes, it does get mighty hot up here, 85 degrees is the average this month) the lid leaving, fan evapo, ice cube dunk tank method is not quite cutting it in my tank. Can you please add an expert's guide to cooling an aquarium on your website it would be more than greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Your #1 Fish Fan LA A: I guess I did not include tank cooling info in my cold water fish page. First, I would not worry about any sunfish getting too hot. They rarely die from the heat. Obviously the "chillers" made for lobster and trout tanks are too expensive and really too cold (usually 45 to 55 F) for a 10 gallon tank. The fan method you're using is good. Forget the ice cubes. Ice cubes bounce your temperature up and down like a yo-yo and encourage ich infestations. In bait shops, they will trickle in continuous cold tap water or more likely use spargers for their minnow and crayfish tanks -- not really practical for civilians. Numerous airstones would function similar to a sparger. Or you could position your tank above your central air conditioner outlet. But the most practical solution for most people is to just move your tank into the basement. 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