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Carpentis cichlid ideal tank temperature?

anzo1993

anzo1993

Aimara
MFK Member
Hello, I have a 29 gallon tank that has a small male carpentis in it, I plan on leaving him there for the next 6 months or so until I upgraded tank and I’m currently keeping the tank temp at 29.5 but I’m thinking it might be abit too warm ( it’s a 300w non adjustable temperature heater in the tank) I have a 150w non adjustable heater as a spare and I was wondering if I should switch them to lower the tank temperature overall? Is it worth switching or does the carpentis like the warm temperature?
 
I agree with RD, carpintus come from central Mexico (sub-tropical), and can handle temps down into the 60's F (@18'C), and tend to develops fungal and bacterial diseases if kept to constantly warm..
I kept carpintus from location Laguuna Chairel near Veracruz Mexico, where winter water temps drop tp 16'C in winter.
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With mine, I unplugged heaters in spring, summer, and fall, and only plugged them in Dec thru March in Milwaukee (same latitude as Toronto) in case of power outages.
I believe a short winter cool down, does them some good.
 
as mentioned in the 2 above posts, keep them cool. 29 degrees is far too warm. in a normal home, they can be kept at room temperature long term. ideally 20-25 degrees(including seasonal changes) is best for long term health. I keep them in my facility at around 20-21 during the winter months like now when its in the negatives and in the mid summer the tanks they are in get to about 23 degrees. In the summer months in your home when the AC is on you can actually turn the aquarium heater on, and in the winter when the home heat is cranked up you can unplug them. Or.. opposite for the reasons duanes mentioned.
If anyone has ever been to Mexico they can tell you that while the ambient temps are quite warm. The cenotes and lagoons many of the fish are found on are often deep, cool spring fed waters that are very hard with high mineral content, high pH and often even salinity.
Think about when testing water in a swimming pool. When you dip your hand in the surface it might be pretty warm but as you enter the pool and its gets deeper your feet 1.5 meters below are noticeably cooler than at chest or shoulder level.
 
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Good info in this thread; at risk of a partial derailment...what would you gentlemen say about the temp requirements of H.cyanoguttatus instead of carpintis?
 
Many rivers along the Texas/Mexico border easily drop into the 50s (10'C) during in winter, and soar to about 80"F in summer, but not only for H cyanoguttatus, Mayaheros beanii from the Pacific coast of Mexico the same way, room temp.
Uruguayan, and Argentinian cichlids at the southern fringes the same way, no need for heaters.
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Define normal home? lol In NW Canada my basement can get pretty chill, even in summer months with the AC running. Perfect for NA native cichlids.

This discussion reminded me of an old thread on cihlidae.com.




"I have a special interest in the Herichthys genre, and I have kept and breed Herichthys carpintis for a while. Unfortunatly H. cyanoguttatus, is much rarer in Europe.
Last winter, I turned off my H.carpintis aquarium heater, to see for myself the minimum temperature that this species could tolerate, were the 14ºC / 57.2 º F, refered by Hubbs (1951), also the letal temperature for my Mexican cichlid !!!?????

For at least 2 days my H. carpintis, tolerated 12ºC/ 53.6 ºF, without any visual stress, that could indicate, is physical intolerance to low temperatures. In fact he staid all winter at 16ºC / 60.8 ºF, eating once or two times in a week.
I have this male for about 5 years, and he have never gained those hudge humps, or atained a higher size than the normal for Herichthys carpintis, probably due to the winter months that I simulate in the aquarium."
 
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