Fish that can tolerate cool water in an unheated basement

[BenAquatics]

Hi! I want to buy a few fish tanks this coming Black Friday to make a small fish area in my basement. What kind of fish can I keep that will tolerate water down to say, 50 degrees Fahrenheit? I live in New York. I'm willing to use a space heater on the occasional days where the weather is extremely cold, but I can't afford to heat my basement on a continuous basis, nor can I afford to insulate my entire basement. I might insulate one or two fish tanks with rigid foam board, but I would also prefer not to insulate all of my basement aquariums.

Some cold-tolerant fish that I'm aware of:

• Fancy goldfish
• North American native fish -- shiners, darters, and sunfish look so cool 🙂
• The fish mentioned in https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/coldwater-fish
• Uruguayan fish like gymnogeophagus and australoheros which I've read are far south enough in South America to experience cooler temperatures. 

Are there any other cold-tolerant fish species that I should be aware of?

 

 

[Biotope Biologist]

White cloud minnow, ricefish, a handful of barb species, and most danio species. 
 

You can use a low watt heater in the tank. Heating to 68 F doesn’t take a lot of electricity. And if your basement is 50 ambient the tanks will probably sit around 58-62. Water is a thermal insulator.

[Kit Craft]

I favor white clouds. They are very, um, durable. 

[nabokovfan87]

There's a guy on YouTube that does basically exactly this. The channel is called Coldwater aquatics!

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/2/2023 at 4:35 PM, BenAquatics said:

Are there any other cold-tolerant fish species that I should be aware of?

Not a fish, but axolotls need to be in cold water. They are usually sold small but get fairly large.

I do agree with the previous post that a heater inside the tank should be used also. Cold is ok for some fish, but fluctuating temperatures can be a problem. Try to keep it consistent.

Edited November 3, 2023 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea