Lucky,

First of all Goldfish are cold blood animals, not cold water, but cold
blooded. This means as the temp decreases so does their activity.

I have been keeping, raising and breeding Goldfish for about 40 plus years
and one of the nice things about Goldfish is that do not need heaters. In
the winter here in North Central Oklahoma water temps in my tubs and tanks
hover around the 60 degree range and the fish are fine. Now, for bubbling
activity that decreases. That is the nature of cold blooded animals.

Personally, I think fish live longer when they go through a cooling off
period in the winter. Unless you have a very small tank, water flucuations
are usually slow. If the tank is in a drafty area or next to a cold window
then the tanks temperature may fall quickly.

In my expereince they don't need heaters. My fish are health and live long,
In my ponds outside the temperatures this late winter ranged from 40 to 70
degrees as Spring approached, and several times these temp changes occurred
in one day.

So I say no to heaters.

Tom L.L.
"Lucky" wrote in message
ups.com...
Hey everyone.

It's approaching winter in Australia and I have noticed the temperature
in my fish tank has dropped as the weather is getting colder. In the
warmer months the temperature ranged from 25C (77F) to 27C (81F) and
the fish didn't have a problem with this fluctuation. Now the water
temperature is about 21C (70F).

I have noticed that a couple of the fish (I have three) are hanging out
in the little cave ornaments (just sitting in there)and are not as
active- I'm not sure if this has anything to do with the temperature
but it could, as no other conditions have changed and they have no
other signs of illness.

Before buying a heater I decided to read up on the net about whether or
not this is necessary and there are many varying opinions:

Some say the temp should be kept steady or the fih will be shocked.
Some say the temp can fluctuate from warm to nearly freezing and the
fish can easily cope with this.
Most say a heater is not necessary.

So I would like your opinions- please tell me what is successful for
your fish and also if you have any knowledge about why/why not a heater
should be used?

Thanks for your help!

Alex.

P.S. The tank is kept in an area where there is sunlight however it is
NOT direct sunlight. It just so happens that the house gets a bit cold
in the winter time. So the position of the tank isn't the problem here.