Can guppies, catfish, loaches, barbs and placos live in coldwater?

Question

Please tell me which ones can and cannot. My local pet shops don't sound very confident with their info. I'd hate to kill the fish on the reason that the professional in the aquatics departments really had no clue.

Answer 1

Plecos yes, without a problem. Guppies, yes, but they will be far more prone to disease problems than if kept in warmer water. Loaches, some yes, some no, it depends on the species. Barbs, same as the loaches, some do well in cooler water but some need tropical temperatures.

If you have a list of fish you are thinking about add that to your question and we can tell you on a fish by fish basis.

MM

Answer 2

Tropicals: NOT COLDWATER COMPATIBLE

Guppies-Poecilia reticulata (most common in stores) There are no coldwater species of guppy.

Loaches: Homaloptera zollingeri (most common tropical loach),Gyrinocheilus aymonieri (the algae eater)
--There are coldwater and tropical species of loaches. The tropical species' will perish in coldwater, but coldwater species like Hillstream Loaches are an intelligent choice.--

Barbs: Tiger Barb, Cherry Barb, Rosy Barb, and Torpedo Barb.
Some like the Tinfoil barb (a very large adult) are coldwater only and will die in tropical water.

Catfish: There are so many catfish that it would be best to get the species name and look it up at home before purchasing.
Plecos are a versatile species of catfish and can survive cold water.

The best book for these checks is: Baench's Freshwater Fish Aquarium Atlas.

Answer 3

it depends what you mean by "coldwater" If you mean an aquarium in your house without a heater then...

guppies, yes.

I have a Spotted Raphael Catfish that's in room temp. and he's doing fine.

Loaches, usually no, unless your room temp. is higher than 72F.

Some barbs like the rosy barb can live in "coldwater"...

and Plecos, yes.

Ps. I own those fish, so I know about them well...

Answer 4

Here is a great website, that lists all species of Aquarium Fish, and sets them in categories of Tropical, and Coldwater fish. It is a very long page to scroll down, but it really does a great job of explaining which kind of fish is suited to which environment. Goodluck!

Answer 5

Yes they are all cold water fish. I will say catfish in general can live in cold water however there are types of catfish (and fish called sharks that are catfish) that cannot. In general yes they can.