On 2 May 2005 10:06:41 -0700, "Fernando M."
wrote:

Hi,
fishes "in the wild" usually don't live in an temperature-stable
environment, oposite an aquarium where you can set a temperature and
then it's keept forever.

Thinking about this, i was wondering what would be the survival chances
of a guppy in an acuarium with no heater? I know these are warm water
fishes, but would it be very dangerous for it? is it a very bad idea?

Thanks.


My guppy tank (wife's actually) has a heater that has not been turned
on months.

The water temperature ranges from 68 -74(f), not diurnally, but over
the last six months. Daily temperature in the tank rarely varies more
than a degree or two. The tank is a little more than year old.

With good clean water, reqular water changes, stable enviroment, we
have had no problems. We use this tank to grow snails for the loaches
in the big tank, our corys will not quite laying eggs (at least
monthly now), and our Otto is fat and energetic. And to your
question, we had to pull all the female guppies from the tank. They
were always pregnant.

Overall, water quality has agreed with the guppies, and that does
include temperature swings. The only looses in that tank in the last
six months have been snails, cory fry and guppy fry all due to
harvesting.

I'd say as long as the ambient temperature does swing wildly, you
should be ok... but YMMV....


--Tony