Transitioning unheated tank of small native fish from 44f garage to inside heated cottage.

[KittenFishMom]

The snow if flying and it is 44f in my garage. Life in the New York State Finger Lakes. I would not trade it for anything !!! 

I have an unheated 10 gallon tank in my garage with the last of my very small native fish in it. (Mostly shiners. a few banded killifish, some bluegill/rock bass/sunnies, 3 of my kitten fish and 1 crayfish.) I want to try to transition it into the cottage.  I have an unheated storage room, that is about 58-60f and the living area is usually around 66-68f .  (I have two 10 gallon tanks, so I can set up a tank move fish, and repeat)

I welcome any and all ideas on how to do this transition. How long should I leave them in the different temperature before moving them to a warmer room? Should I feed more or less?  Should I keep things lower light? 

Thanks so much for your help and support.

P.S. I wish I had done this a while ago, but I was planning on going for store bought fish. Now I want to see if I can transition the native fish.  I am getting a 55 gallon tank from craigslist for the living room for them to move into.  If the transition fails, I will go for store bought fish.

 

 

[KBOzzie59]

What I would do is remove enough water to allow you to move the tank (save water if possible) or if it is due a water change discard the water.  Move the tank to it's final destination, replace the water with similar temp to what was removed.  Tank should warm slow enough to not be an issue.  

 

[PineSong]

I'm wondering what a kittenfish is? I'm not familiar at all with native fishes.

[KittenFishMom]

@PineSongA kittenfish is a baby catfish.  I netted about 70 day old bullhead catfish and raised them this summer. I have 3 left. I gave the rest to someone starting a pond.  They were baby bullhead catfish, so my husband called them calfhead fish. We were just having fun calling them kittenfish and calfheads.

If you look at my introduction posts you will find this link which shows someone else's photos of "kittenfish"

https://thenativetank.tumblr.com/post/659258652097724416#notes

My posts "Thinking about getting a tanks for inside, What do you recommend?" on Nov 9 my reply to flumpweesel  talks about how I just hooked on the hobby.

 

 

 

Edited November 20, 2021 by KittenFishMom

[PineSong]

On 11/19/2021 at 6:44 PM, KittenFishMom said:

@PineSongA kittenfish is a baby catfish.  I netted about 70 day old bullhead catfish and raised them this summer. I have 3 left. I gave the rest to someone starting a pond.  They were baby bullhead catfish, so my husband called them calfhead fish. We were just having fun calling them kittenfish and calfheads.

If you look at my introduction posts you will find this link which shows someone else's photos of "kittenfish"

https://thenativetank.tumblr.com/post/659258652097724416#notes

My posts "Thinking about getting a tanks for inside, What do you recommend?" on Nov 9 my reply to flumpweesel  talks about how I just hooked on the hobby.

 

 

 

Thank you! Those whiskers are pretty appealing, aren't they?

 

[KittenFishMom]

@PineSong When they are little they also has a very fast wiggley way of swimming. They look so happy and cute checking everything out.  As they get bigger, they get longer and slow down and look more dignified.

[KittenFishMom]

On 11/19/2021 at 2:43 PM, KBOzzie59 said:

What I would do is ....

 

@KBOzzie59 It is all done.  They are warming up in the living room. There 55 gallon tank and stand arrive tomorrow. 

[lefty o]

id just bring in the tank. going warmer typically isnt a big deal. going dramatically colder can cause shock.