so all these aquarium threads got me wondering....

[Romy]

What exactly would be a good cold water bottom feeder? I need something that is compatible with large goldfish and koi. Right now my tank has 1 shubunkin, 1 comet, and 2 koi. They're 6-9 inches long. It has a single apple snail for algae control, and she does a pretty good job at that. I've just been trying to think of a fish that could live on the bottom and eat some of the extra food that falls down.

If I could have crawdads that would be awesome. But they would either eat my fish or my fish would eat them. Sigh.

 

[AGonzalez]

Corydoras sp. (also known as corys, cory catfish or cory cats) and the Synodontis sp. - both are suited for cold-water aquariums. I think the Synodontis are prettier though.

 

[Romy]

The synos are pretty. My tank gets down into the 60s though. All websites I looked up said they need to be 72 +. Should have been more specific.

I love pictus cats too, but they need to be warmer. The whole reason we went to carp in the first place is because we have frequent winter power outages here in the boonies, and Aurelia was devastated when her tank of females bettas and platys died during one outage.

 

[AGonzalez]

I had a Pictus cat that I was taking care of at a friends house while they were deployed...along with several other tropicals. One night, it got so cold that the heater froze and broke. When I went to check on the fish and feed them, there was a layer of ice on the top of the tank. The only survivors were a goldfish and the pictus cat.

 

[Romy]

Really? Maybe I'll pick up a couple if there aren't any better options. It's definitely big enough for the pictus. Plus, it's not like we plan on letting it get super cold. Maybe my aunt would let me haul them to her house in a bucket if the power went out for a long time. They have a wood stove.

 

[FoxyWench]

most of the shrimp species can survive running cold as can some of the hardier catfish species.

 

[mwood322]

If you're in an area they are allowed, dojo loaches would work, sometimes they're called weather loaches (they're not allowed in MA). Cold water is no issue for them. They aren't particularly attractive though. They should leave the goldfish alone.

--Mia