Cool water aquarium fish

[Denj]

A friend of mine is a school teacher & wants to set up a small aquarium (between 5g - 10g) in her classroom; so she asked me what I would recommend to which I replied "a Betta", pretty simple right... but then she says "oh no, I can't have a heater, it has to be a cold water species". Well that obviously narrows it down quite a bit. She then ask me what I thought of a goldfish & I replied with the typical "they get too big for a 10g, they are messy, etc;. I suggested WCM minnows because they are a cool water species & I've kept them myself (but not in a cool water tank, in a trop tank). But she didn't like the WCM minnows.

So since I lack experience with cool water tanks, & goldfish & WCM minnows is all I can suggest... Does anyone know of any other species that are readily available in the aquarium trade appropriate for a cool water tank??

I tried googling some species & the only other one I could come up with was a dragon fish which is obviously too big for a 5g - 10g tank & requires an experienced fish keeper.

 

[FallenAngel]

Paradise fish? Some corydoras species can tolerate cool water.

 

[alan j t]

all i can think of are white clouds.

 

[hydrophyte]

Platies can generally handle cooler temps and would do fine in a smaller tank like that.

 

[Cerianthus]

I would not expose platies/white clouds to such low temp in school. In NJ at night, temp can dip too low during winter.. It may only take one particular night when temp may drop too low.

Only thing i can think of are native fish (shiners?, etc), usually found in bait and tackle shop but may be too much for 10G.

 

[RiVerfishgirl]

Danios can handle cooler water. Paradise gourami. Various killifish. A ton of native fish species of various types (many species can be ordered online so you don't have to go net. Some available in bait shops, etc.). Various loach species, like hillstream loaches.

I cannot think of many a 5g would be sufficient for. If she goes for 10g min she'll have many more choices. She'd be better off with something like a 20 long though, and it wouldn't exactly take up much more room.

 

[Cerianthus]

I guess it all depends on the night temp of classroom.

Althuogh nice and gorgeous fishes to keep, hillstream loaches are not for beginner, IMO.

Even paradise fish has its limits, imo.

It may be easiest when stuck to native fish. Going back close to 40yrs ago, found few bullcats/snapping tutles and raised before returning to their natural habitat.

There are many restrictions on collecting native specimens so check federal/state/local laws if trying to catch your own. I recommend to purchase them as it is getting too cold already to get your feet wet, lol.

 

[Denj]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll look into the fish that have been mentioned so far, I appreciate the suggestions. If any other suggestions come to mind please keep them coming.

Cerianthus' comments about temps is spot on.

I guess it all depends on the night temp of classroom.

It totally depends on the night temp. The tank will be housed in a school during the scholastic year. So while the school is heated during the week (even @ nights), on the weekends the heat is shut off. My school teacher friend says that on Monday mornings the school is "freezing" (an exaggeration of course.. but pretty darn cold nonetheless). And I'm sure that even though they don't turn off the heat at night, there is a significant dip in temps either because they might turn the heat down a bit or just because the school is emptied out & dark.

So while some fish may prefer slightly cooler water than others (e.g. some fish prefer temps in the low 70's as opposed to others that might prefer temps in the higher 70s or low 80s) what my friend is really looking for is a cold water species, fish that like their water temp easily at 60 below.

 

[Denj]

I cannot think of many a 5g would be sufficient for. If she goes for 10g min she'll have many more choices. She'd be better off with something like a 20 long though, and it wouldn't exactly take up much more room.

Unfortunately, she only has room for a 10g, she might be able to fit a 20g tall in the space she has but she already has an empty 10g so she'd rather use it instead of going out & getting another tank.

I agree with you though, a 20g would give her a lot more options & she'd be better off but she has her mind kind of set on using the 10g.

 

[AnythingShiny]

Rosy red minnows? Those guys are pretty hardy, stay around 2.5 inches, and can tolerate just about anything from 32 to 100 degrees. They look kinda like goldfish too.