[APD] Re: Snails

[MJPinckard <MJPinckard at lbl_gov>]

The bit about goldfish being "coldwater" fish and therefore not suitable 
for a heated tank is over exaggeration... there may be other reasons why 
a goldfish isn't suitable (size of fish, omnivorous eating habits etc.) 
but temperature isn't really one of them. Goldfish are widely adaptable 
and are tolerant of quite cold temperatures (they semi-hibernate if in 
an outdoor pond over the winter), but they don't require cold temperatures.

This is especially true of the common goldfish. When I was growing up we 
had goldfish outside in our horse trough (I lived in southern Texas - 95 
- 105 deg F summer temps) which thrived... we would break the ice when 
the tank froze over in the winter, but that was the extent of our care 
(no food, no filter, no aeration).

Highly bred fancy goldfish are more sensitive, but the sensitivity is 
really to bad water conditions and rapid temperature swings.

I heat all my tanks to about 78 degrees and don't have a problem... if 
I'm treating for disease (recently something nasty made it through 
quarantine) I raise the temps to the mid to high 80s or low 90s and add 
a lot of salt... other than increasing the oxygen needs, I've had no 
problems, heat and salt will take out the plants before the goldfish.

Rapid changes in temperature can kill them, but that is true of many 
kinds of fish.

One side effect of a constant temperature (e.g. heated) tank is that it 
helps suppress the breeding cycle, the warming spring water temperatures 
after a cold winter is one of the breeding signals.... but since most 
people don't want over 1000 baby goldfish... thats probably okay. ;-)

cheers,

Maggie

aquatic-plants-request at actwin_com wrote:

Message: 4
Date: Wed, 3 Mar 2004 15:01:29 -0800 (PST)
From: Lief Brittan Youngs <liefy at yahoo_com>
Subject: [APD] Re: Snails
To: aquatic-plants at actwin_com

I love goldfish. I would have them in a heartbeat and they are great snail control. Goldfish were our first choice for snail control when I worked at Petsmart. We would just put one in any tank that had snails that were not suppose to be there and they were gone within a day or two. The only problem is that my tank is heated and goldfish are coldwater fish. 
Lief Youngs



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