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Coldwater nano fish

AquaBonsai99

Member
Joined
28 Jan 2022
Messages
47
Location
UK
I was thinking about this the other day, and now I want to make a list. of them. What do you think are some good coldwater nanofish, living in a temp range from around 16c to 19c?
I would start off with ricefish, white cloud mountain minnows, and coldwater platys and danios, my lfs sells them, and I bought some 2 1/2 years ago, and they are doing really well, and they breed easy as well. What are your thoughts, and what would you add to the list?
 
I think Leat Killifish would work. They are very placid. I have mine indoors unheated. Prolific breeders. (If anyone in Glasgow wants some I have them). Medaka are a delight. Friendly and playful.
 
I think Leat Killifish would work. They are very placid. I have mine indoors unheated. Prolific breeders. (If anyone in Glasgow wants some I have them). Medaka are a delight. Friendly and playful.
I have never heard of them, but I just googled them and they are beauties! what size of tank do you keep yours in?
 
They were my first fish. I had them in a 50l and then a 30l. TBH they seemed happy in the 30L. They are rather placid fish and tend to lurk, so well planted suits them. They are almost as simple to breed as guppies. Personally I now find the medaka much more engaging, but the Least Killis work incredibly well as a starter fish. They are very tough, eat most things. They will take shrimp up to a fair size.
 
They were my first fish. I had them in a 50l and then a 30l. TBH they seemed happy in the 30L. They are rather placid fish and tend to lurk, so well planted suits them. They are almost as simple to breed as guppies. Personally I now find the medaka much more engaging, but the Least Killis work incredibly well as a starter fish. They are very tough, eat most things. They will take shrimp up to a fair size.
they sound like really cool fish. I will definitely add them to the ever growing list of fish I want to buy!!!
 
What size are we calling nano if its an unheated tank indoors you could add endlers, platies, cpds, and dwarf corys. if you go 30"plus you could add gold barb, odessa barb, bounos airies tetra and rainbow shinners to the list. i have been looking in to this my self as intend building a riparium with house plants growing out the top of the tank.
 
What size are we calling nano if its an unheated tank indoors you could add endlers, platies, cpds, and dwarf corys. if you go 30"plus you could add gold barb, odessa barb, bounos airies tetra and rainbow shinners to the list. i have been looking in to this my self as intend building a riparium with house plants growing out the top of the tank.
hi, sorry for the late reply. i would say any fish under platy size for this list. also, can you acclimatise cpds and endlers from tropical to unheated, around 17c? i do want to try it but im not sure if it would be ok, or if it would make them more susceptible to diseases or shorten their lifespan
 
or shorten their lifespan
Will probably do the opposite and actually make them last longer. I don’t think 17 would be too cool for cpd, they’re found in pools quite high up in mountains in Myanmar. A lot of fish from that region can be kept in unheated tanks. Gold ring danios, danio tinwini would be another good option and they’re a great tank mate for cpd’s as they’re always on show at the surface which makes the cpd’s feel safe.

Cheers
 
What would you define as nano?

60cm and less?
 
Not quite nano, Paradise fish, aka Chinese fighting fish, fits well in a nano tank. They are cold water fish native in China all the way to Korea. Like betta, mature males will fight one another and are predatory on smaller fish, so you can only keep it solo in a nano tank. I keep one each in my 1 gal bowl, facing and often displaying to each other. They are air breather and happy loner in nano space without heater or filtration.
 
Not quite nano, Paradise fish, aka Chinese fighting fish, fits well in a nano tank. They are cold water fish native in China all the way to Korea. Like betta, mature males will fight one another and are predatory on smaller fish, so you can only keep it solo in a nano tank. I keep one each in my 1 gal bowl, facing and often displaying to each other. They are air breather and happy loner in nano space without heater or filtration.

Erm . . . not quite sure what to say - are they real fish in there and I'm not falling for some sort of wind up? If so I'm more than a little shocked that you would even consider keeping a fish like that in a tank (I'm not sure we can even call it a tank - a vase maybe at best) that size? Can the larger one even turn around in that narrow container?

Minimum tank size for a paradise fish (Pair) per Seriously Fish is 80cm x 30cm, certainly I would have thought 45-60cm for a single fish given that it can reach 8cm in length.
 
From Myanmar: Dario hysginon/tigris, Indostomus paradoxus, Danio tinwini, Danio margaritatus, Yunnanilus sp. Rosy, Oreichthys cosuatis.

Not sure if every species would be a fit and I certainly wouldn't throw them all together (some are best kept alone or with extra care), but Myanmar is a great place with lots of temperate species to make a biotope of. There's plenty more, but these are the smaller ones I can think of.

I also keep my Neolebias ansorgii without a heater, but they're from West Africa.
 
I fully anticipate comments of animal prison criticism when I posted pcs of Paradise fish in my nano bowls. I used to keep colonies of cherry shrimp in them for 3 years but gave up because they were not happy and did not multiply. So similar to the OP, I searched for nano fish that will fit in unheated nano water. White cloud, rice fish, galaxy danio and guppies were in my initial consideration list but none will fit as they need to be kept in group and conspecific aggression will be problematic in nano water. I am a big fish keeper with multiple big 75 to 125 gal tanks. I can tell when fish are happy as my Paradise fish is interactive, move often, and greet me for food.. In comparison, keeping a full grown Oscar in a 75 gal is proportionally less roomy, and my cherry shrimp colonies in relatively roomy bowls were never happy, non interactive, and failed to multiply. Yes, Paradise is not the nano size fish I most desire, but like betta is happy to be kept alone. They can see and display to each other, and even attempted to build bubble nests, so I know they must be happy..
 
Keeping fish in small containers such as wine goblets, vases, small bowls etc, is a subject that comes up occasionally. I know many members, including myself, find seeing any animal confined like this very distressing. I’m sure most don’t mean to deliberately harm their pets, but there isn’t really any justification for it.

1. Arguing that a course of action is morally justified because others have done similar or worse, doesn't make any sense.
2. If shrimp aren’t happy confined in such a small space, surely fish won”t be either.
3. I'm sure some fish in small containers are interactive. But it's probably a survival instinct; something akin to Stockholm Syndrome
4. The fact that conspecific aggression happens in small containers reveals a lot about why fish shouldn't be kept in small containers.
5. The likes of Bettas, and Paradise fish may be happy to be kept alone, but that doesn’t mean they should be kept in small containers.
6. Fish may display certain innate behaviours but it doesn't necessarily mean they are happy. Either way the probability remains they would be much happier in a more appropriately sized aquarium.
7. New research has proven fish are intelligent and sentient capable of experiencing pain and suffering.
8. Seriously Fish pretty much sets the gold standard when it comes to guidelines for minimum aquarium dimensions for various fish species. For instance, Paradise Fish require an aquarium with base dimensions measuring 80x30cm or equivalent, minimum, for a single pair.
9. Further, keeping fish in small containers is not inline with UKAPS policy on animal welfare; #5 of the Forum Rules and Guidelines.
 
Having other much larger tanks and so many possibilities I don't really understand why anyone would feel a need to keep a tiny bowl with a fish trapped in it. Breeding and behaviour are always evidence of the state of being of an animal, but there's also common sense. No fish of that size could be content in a tiny bowl, but also, from my understanding, there's no need for you to place that species in that container.
 
The reason shrimp failed to multiply in my nano bowl may have nothing to do with the size but instability. The diurnal temp fluctuation in the bowl can range between 16 to 30C in winter, and pH 7.2 to 8.8 due to direct sunlight photosynthesis. Paradise is one of the few fish that can handle the harsh environment as temp in stagnant rice paddy can fluctuate substantially.

.The bowl is for the plants, and the fish or shrimp in it is just supporting and I can do without. I keep big cichlid in big tanks. For king size cichlid such as Oscar that can reach the width of a big tank, even one fish is too tight. I don’t advocate keeping fish in small container, but fish in a large container can stress out too from overcrowding and having the wrong company.
 
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