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I bought some coldwater guppies the other day. They don't seen to move much though. They remain motionless on the bottom. All my goldfish are fine. Sometimes the goldfish nose them. Is this normal?

I saw in the recovery room that people say there is no such thing as coldwater guppies. Personally I have never seen them. I think that maybe the reason they are not moving is because they are not supposed to be coldwater. Just because a LFS sells them in the goldfish tank wouldn't make me believe they are truly coldwater. I'm not saying you're wrong, just saying that I have never seen them.

Maybe someone else can help...I am just giving you my 2 cents.

*Kristin*

Sounds like feeder guppies. They may be kind of sickly because they're usually extremely overcrowded in shop tanks. I'd say it's most likely they're shocked by a sudden extreme change in water quality. If they're in an indoor tank in your climate-controlled house, I doubt it's cold enough to make feeder guppies act like that; I'd suspect other factors.

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ok, yea to me they sound like feeder guppies, but they should be kept in warm water.

goldfish should not be kept with these feeder guppies, as feeder fish of any kind aren't the "healthiest" of all fish, so dieseases can spread.

also what size tank is this, as goldfish are not small fishes, and from your other post, goldfish/guppies dont mix at all with red devils.

Hi, I live in Australia, I have actually kept guppies in coldwater during the summer months only. When the colder weather sets in then you will need to heat the water otherwise they will die.

The guppies I had were sold at a goldfish farm, they had bred them specifically for coldwater, however they were not like the tropical guppies in looks. The female was huge, about the twice the size of a normal female guppy.

So to summarise, they will not survive without heating when the weather cools down.

Hope this helps
Cheers, Crusha

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Those who say they cant, Never will !!!

"coldwater" is a bit of a confusing term.

Unheated or temperate might be more accurate. The guppies are usually kept in cooler conditions without a heater, that is why they sell them as coldwater. In reality, a guppy is a guppy is a guppy and at a certain point it becomes too cold for them to function properly, even if they are used to living without a heater.

If you live in a warm or temperate climate and the fish are in something of over 20 gallons that doesn't drop below 20*C, you should be right. Otherwise you will be needing a heater to take the chill off.

You may wish to consider separating the goldfish and the guppies as goldfish can get a bit boisterous and if the guppies are already feeling a little seedy, they might not like it much.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

IME guppies are always flexable with thier tempature and tend to have a good range when compared to other fish, but I would make sure the tank is always at least 72 F, even though the higher it is the more active they get.

Another consern is how big the goldies are. As mentioned before they are not small fish. Many people dont relise that the common goldfish/comets have the potential to reach about a foot in length! Your goldies may eventually eat your guppies ^_^

Inky

Coldwater guppies are like disco fish and freshwater morays... If you see this you should buy fish somewhere else.

For those of you who need to know, disco fish are dyed glassfish.