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I am in India, and we dont have some of the really cool water temp/quality monitoring devices you have in the US. The city I live in has an average temp of 30 - 36 degrees celcius in the summer and the temp may drop to 18 degrees in winter. We are just moving into winter.

My question is this... What regular devices can I check to see if my water is getting too cold. I have 9 clowns+2 zebra loaches+4 common plecos+3 kuhli loaches.

My tank is approx 79 US gallons, 4 feet x 18 inches x 21 inches.

Any primitive fish keeping suggestions????

:88)

Any primitive fish keeping suggestions????

Yeah...I'd return 3 of those common plecos. Of course that depends on what a common pleco is in India but I imagine they are roughly the same. common plecs can grow from 18-24" at adult size and put out a huge amount of waste. To keep the water clean enough I'd get rid of 3 of them so the loaches don't suffer. You probably won't have much of a problem from them though until they get to the 6-8" area. At that point is when I'd start thinking about getting new homes for a couple of them.

The plecos and the tank I bought at an auction and the reason the person who sold them to me, sold the entire set up was that I was willing to adopt all of his fish. I have another 3 feet tank in which I plan to keep angels and I am going to move the common plecos (same as common plecs in US) to that tank until they grow up or until I can find a home for them.

I think, I forgot to mention, I also have two black sharks in this tank that I am planning to give away for adoption (got from original owner), therefore I am a little finicky about giving them to my LFS.

My real concern right now is if 18 degrees celcius is going to be too cold for the clowns and if I need to check the temp of the water, how do I do that, without having any of the modern temp devices?

I'm sure you've got thermometer's over there... even a cheap one for telling outside temperature or the type they use in a hospital should be fine, as long as you can put it safely in the tank. I'm not sure what voltage you are using, but you LFS should still carry thermostatically controlled tank heaters?? I mean, the one i'm using are made in Taiwan, so it's not like they cost the earth (about AUD$30 for 1000W). The technology behind them is about as simple as you could get... a heating coil and a thermostat.

If you really can't get one from your LFS, PM me and i'll tell you how to make one out of parts you should be able to easily get, like water heater jug coils and electric oven thermostats...

order it on the internet

Clownygirl
Here are two types I use a glass bulb type and a stick on are these the ones you are looking for.

If you cannot get a stick on in India contact me PM and I will send you one as a present from Aust.

Keith

keithgh attached this image:


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Right on Keith good job

The Amazon Nut...

Hey, thanks Keith, and thanks everybody else for all the great suggestions. Guess what, I went into town the other day and saw some nice ones. Indian, Taiwanese, Chinese and some other types.

Can you guys recommend some brands you would recommend so I can pick one? I guess it was just my local shops that werent carrying any sophisticated equipment.

Clownygirl

As far as brand names try to get the better quality. As you can see I have both stick on and the floating type.

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW