I have one that came through the ice while fishing a couple months ago, and after a fairly arduous and painstaking process of temperature acclimation the fish seems to now be doing well at temps in the mid-50F range. Excellent appetite and colour; settled in and not really "exploring" much anymore, at least not during lights-on, so not the wonderful display I had hoped for. Despite having only a medium-sized mouth and not much in the way of dentition, all tankmates I have tried, up to about 5 inches in length, just...disappear overnight.
I am anxiously watching the temperatures as summer approaches; won't know for a few more months how cool I can maintain them, and how well the fish will fare. People will often comment that they found such-and-such a fish in waters of so-and-so temperatures, assuming this means that those conditions will be perfect for the fish's life...when in reality the fish may be struggling to survive a short spell of extremes while waiting for more ideal conditions to return.
Fish live in nature; nature presents varying conditions, temperature and otherwise, through the course of a year. Keeping a fish alive for a few days or weeks doesn't really tell us much about what it requires for long-term health.
I am anxiously watching the temperatures as summer approaches; won't know for a few more months how cool I can maintain them, and how well the fish will fare. People will often comment that they found such-and-such a fish in waters of so-and-so temperatures, assuming this means that those conditions will be perfect for the fish's life...when in reality the fish may be struggling to survive a short spell of extremes while waiting for more ideal conditions to return.
Fish live in nature; nature presents varying conditions, temperature and otherwise, through the course of a year. Keeping a fish alive for a few days or weeks doesn't really tell us much about what it requires for long-term health.
