Many questions in one.

[Angelfish]

My 10 gal. is home to two gold fish, I have been wanting to add two or three cories in but knew that they wouldnt appreciate the low temperature. Today I got a larger power strip so I'm thinking about plugging in my old heater from when I used to have a beta and african dwarf frog in there. What I'm aiming for is a temperature that would satisfy the goldfish and a couple of cories. Do you think this is possible? Perhaps about 73? The temperature during the day now is at 72 with no heater, so what I would be doing is stopping temp fluctuations. Does anyone think this is a good/bad idea? I dont want to be boiling my goldfish.

Next question: My family recently inherited a male guppy and zebra danio from a neighbor, they are in what appears to be a 5 gal. with no heater or filter (that is how the neighbor kept them for over 6 months, I would never keep tropical fish without a heater, although the water is about 74. We only got them about three weeks ago) so my family want to add them to one of my tanks. Question is which? I'm leaning towards the goldfish, especially if I get the heater for it. The goldfish are currently small, I think the danio and guppy may have passd away by the time the goldfish get large. The reason I do not want to put them in the 29 gal. is that I know the guppy will be eaten and I want to keep them together. I also know danios like to be around eachother, but realistically there is no room for more. I cant get rid of them because they were a "gift" for my brothers who love them. What do you all think on this?

Final question: I found a place that has yo-yo loaches, I really like them and would like to add one to my 29 gal. Will this work?

Sorry this was so long, and if you have no oppinion on the subjects sorry for taking your time and thank you for reading =)

 

[FroggyFox]

Don't know anything about cories...sorry

I think the guppy and the danio should be just fine with the gold fish. They are two fish that seem to do just fine in water that isn't heated. If you're planning on getting a heater to at least stop large temperature fluxuations then I think they'll appreciate that. I know when I used to keep danios I didn't even have a heater in there, and my dad said that when he was younger he kept guppies and they didn't have a heater. Besides...if they didn't have a heater before, apparantly they're used to it Of course like you said, any tropical fish would like warmer water...but I'd rather put them where they're not crowded or going to be eaten.

Um, yo yo loaches are nifty little things, but I'm not sure how big they get. We had one awhile ago and it never got very big...but I didn't have him for very long either...I think one of the cichlids took a dislike to him or something. I'd say go for it...but you might want to get some other opinions.

 

[Leopardess]

alrighty...well, I have gold fish in my kitchen, and somehow, without a heater, my tank manages to maintain about 78-80 degrees. (I have no clue why it stays so warm in here! I didn't even have to use heat all winter!). And I have cories in there with them. The goldfish are doing great - actually better now, since I added the cories, they perked right up and they think they are zebra danios now!...So, even a higher temperature would work, if you are concerned for the cories. Of course, you would need to raise the temperature very gradually...

 

[Angelfish]

From what Ive research about yo-yo loaches it seems they get to a max of 4.5 - 5" I just cant find anything on behavior, if they like to be with other yo-yo loaches - I can only fit one in my tank. Also I have read many different things on what they like to eat.
From reading the advice from both of you, I think this is what I'll do; put the guppy and danio in with the goldfish now, while the temperature is still the same, leave them like that for a day or two so they can get used to their new environment and friends, then put the heater in and set it to 74*C in the day, when it is about that temp anyway, then each day or every other day increase the temp 1*C until I reach about 77 or 78*C. (Is this too hot for the goldies?) Then when its all settled add two albino cories. This sound good to everyone?

 

[FroggyFox]

Sure, sounds good as long as you meant F and not C for the temperature I might not preset a temperature to "go up to" before getting the cories... I think I would wait for the 4 of them to get used to each other, then add the cories and if they're sluggish or don't seem happy then you could raise the temp a bit and see if they like it more. You need to find a happy medium where all of the fish will be mostly comfortable...and I would think that cories wouldn't mind living on the "cool side" of warm around 75. NOT that a few degrees makes THAT much difference...but the goldfish will probably appreciate not getting too hot.

I was watching my fish yesterday...they were acting wierd and I realized that the temperature slipped down to 74 (its usually around 78) because I accidentally forgot to plug the heater back in after my last water change and its been warm so the tank didn't go down too low until yesterday. So I plugged the heater back in as the temperature went up even a degree or two the fish immediately started perking up and swimming around...so maybe trial and error is the best way to find a happy temperature medium for them.

 

[Angelfish]

Lol, yeah I ment *F for the temp, sorry I lived in England for a while and got confused for a minuet there =) The happy medium is what I'm going for, and I think your idea of trial and error is probably best, thanks Froggy =)
Update here, the guppy and danio are now in with the goldfish, everyfish is getting along fine, the filter seems a little strong for the guppy (Keeps getting pushed to the bottom) in the last tank, there was a water circulator thing that did the same thing, so I'm sure the guppy is okay, plus it kinda looks like fun =)

 

[FroggyFox]

haha yea I wonder what it would be like to swim in a current like that....I know my danios love it

 

[Angelfish]

More Questions ...

Hopefully people are still following this thread because I have more ideas/questions floating around in my head =) Assuming everything goes fine with my guppy and danio in the heated goldfish tank, I'm thinking about doing one of two options. The first is adding two female guppys and breeding them, then serving the fry to the larger fish in my 29 gal. That kinda sounds mean though and I dont know if I have the heart to do it (That idea was suggested to me). The second plan is seen as though the tank is going to be heated, put my blood fins in the 10 gal. from the 29 to ensure that they never become angel/gourami/cat fish food. Which idea sounds the best?

Edit: If anyone has any info on yo-yo loaches (what they eat, if they would get along fine with my two other bottom dwellers, ect) let me know. Thanks =)

 

[FroggyFox]

Eh...I would like to breed guppies...thus the reason I got a 3some for my 10 gallon...but I think guppies are the type that like to have a tank to themselves. I've had a few people tell me that, but of course because I lost 3 of them in like a week it could have just been them trying to make me feel better lol

 

[Angelfish]

Got the Yo-Yo.

I got the Yo-Yo loach yesterday, hes about 2" and a lot more active than I orriginaly thought. Anyway today I put some shrimp pellets in for him to eat, only he ignored them and attempted to eat flakes (I use the word attempted because he seemed as though he couldnt eat them well). Anyone know what I should feed this fish? I really like this guy and what him to get something he likes =)

 

[catfishmike]

sorry i haven't had the chance to get to this thread yet but i wsh i could have stopped you before you got those loaches.yoyo loaches are by nature wild caught,while most learn what dry food is quick some never do.also yoyos can be onery fish that raise hell in an otherwise peaceful tank.i see problems in your future perhaps.yoyos can be very territorial.try feeding your loach frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp eventualy you should be able to ween them onto dry food,as always try garlic o attract the fish to food .is your yoyo loach full and robust or does it seem slender and underfed.if your loach is full bodied then it's most likely a female and will cause problems,as the males stay thin despite how much you feed them and have a more laid back demeanor.try www.loaches.com for lots more loach info or pm me with any questions.also try using rootwood,maylaysan driftwood whatever they call it in your area.it will be a hard wood that sinks without any preperations and loos real gnarled and has lots of cervices.loaches love to stuff themselves into tight spots

 

[Angelfish]

Yo-Yo doesnt look full exactly, but not thin either. I saw it go after the Angel fish a couple of times (Angel is one of the most agressive fish in my tank) but apart from that the loach has been okay and minding his/her own buisness. Feeding time is currently in session, Yo-Yo is still trying to eat the flake food, I put a couple of pellets in but he was too busy going after the flakes that he never saw them and now the cat fish has eaten them. I only have one loach, is that okay?

 

[fishface]

u proberbly should get more than 1 loaches like 2 b in groups but if its attacking other fish proberbly best 2 leave it at 1

 

[Angelfish]

My Angel fish has always had an uneven tail fins, the whole tail is clear so its kinda hard to notice the exact patern of unevenness. Not so long ago I added the Yo-Yo loach, and only twice saw it go after the Angel, in kinda a playful way. I was thinking that the tail of the angel seemed a little more jagged, but put it down to my imagination after I saw the mini attack by the loach. But then my dad came in and said "What happened to the angels tail?!" so perhaps I wasnt imagining things. The thing is Ive been watching the tank and not seen another agressive move by Yo-Yo to Ayngy. Do you think its both of our imagination, the tail just happens to have become like that or ... Yo-Yo is a fin nipper?

 

[wayne]

As long as it's steady, the temperatures mentioned are fine for goldfish BUT at temperatures in the 70's and up they tend to grow like heck so a 10 gallon tank won't be big enough for a very long time.
Don't worry about raising the temperature higher tan 74 say for the cories - I believe most cories prefer temperatures in the low 70's anyway rather than the upper 70's or above, but you need to research. Many are good down to the 60's ie peppered cories.

 

[Angelfish]

Wow I didnt know that a raise in temp would make the goldies grow faster, thanks for that info, I'm thinking about setting the heater to 73*F - 74*F, I researched and it said anywhere between 73 - 80*F.

 

[Angelfish]

I'm thinking no-one on here keeps yo-yo loaches, but if by chance anyone does or has lots of info on them, please, please let me know. Thanks =)

 

[FroggyFox]

Is that a yo-yo botia? We had one when I was in High School, kept him with some cichlids and he was a great little guy, very cute. I had a class called Environmental Studies and one group was seeing if they could get some endangered lake victoria cichlids to breed (don't remember which ones) but from what I remember though he was doing great and then all of a sudden a few months after we got him we came in one morning and he was floating. No clue what happened.

I KNOW that is no help...but I have thought about getting one because they're cool, so I would also be interested to know if anyone has had any experience with them.

 

[Angelfish]

Yes! Now were on to something, also known as Botia Almorhae. Story was useful froggy, I learned that I could look in my tank anytime and see him floating =)