How cold is too cold?

[Niki2105]

I set up a 15 gallon tank in my bedroom for my goldfish. Its a 15 gallon and my room is in the basement so it is farely cool and there is no windows to let the sun heat it up any. I put 3 goldfish into it and by times they will stop swimming and kinda rest or look dead on the bottem of the tank but for the most part they are swimming around normaly. When i first put my new ones in i thought maybe the current from the filter was a bit too strong and tireing him out but I was wondering if maybe its becasue the water is between 60 - 65 degrees and its a bit too cold for them. I know that Goldfish are cold water fish but what is too cold for them that they will slow down in there movement. I added my sisters old heater from a 10 gallon tank but i have no idea of how much it heats or nothing ill see if they are more active when the water get a bit warmer.

[fish_doc]

I have a goldfish tank in the basement with no heater. They seem fine. Check your other water readings like ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite and make sure they are all reasonable.

[Huugs]

I have a pond in the garden and I have a few goldies in there and they survive the winters in it even when the water freezes. Posibly not good for them but I had never heard of bringing them in the house over winter. Plus Id need a massive tank.
Since the weather has been warmer they hang around the surface name and are really active and searching for food. Doesnt seem to harm them then.

Please tell me if this is actually hurting the fish though as I wouldnt like to do that.

[Celeste]

i have a 150 gallon pond outside and there are 8 fish in it, 6 koi and 2 goldfish, and they stay out there all winter. it gets into the mid 30's in the winter (though it's never frozen, we keep a traugh heater in it when it's real cold.) and we've never lost a fish to cold over the winter. goldfish are great pond fish, so you probably don't have to worry about temp other than making sure the temp doesn't swing wildly from warm to cold, because that will kill any fish.

[John]

Yeah, 60-65 degrees is perfect for goldfish in general. Unless that's in Celsius, lol!

[fish_doc]

To properly figure out if it hurts your fish there are several things to look over. Size of the pond, Depth and gallons. And how cold does it get where you are at.

For instance my pond is a small preformed pond and it is not uncommon for the temps to get below zero before wind chill in the winter. The pond will freeze solid. NOT GOOD FOR FISH. LOL

[Niki2105]

I added a heater a few days ago to see if that made a difference and it did. I think i have figured out the stupid heater and have gotten it to keep the water at about 68 degrees and they seem alot better no more sitting at the bottom of the tank looking dead lol. I dont think the cold water would have hurt them it was just making them move slower but i didnt like watching them and thinking they were dead or gonna die on me. I would love to have a pond with Koi cause i think they are beautiful but i live in Canada and would need to have a pretty deep pond to be able to keep them out all winter. I could take them in but they would need huge containers and i dont have a clue where i would put them lol. Thanks for all your help.