# Fish tanks in a unheated greenhouse - will it work in the summer



## burris (Aug 4, 2013)

Awesome forum, i will learn alot here.

I have a 8' x 28' greenhouse, no winter heat, shade cloth on top in the summer, with a big window and a doorway for ventilation.

I plan on a water feature and would like to have fish. I'm in zone 7 (Arkansas).

Which freshwater fish (if any) are good candidates. I have no idea, but my first concern is summer time water temps. Of course winter time must be considered.

Will tropicals like guppies survive the winter - how low can they go?

What varieties do you recommend? Please advise!


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## silvergourami1 (Jun 20, 2013)

I would not recommend that environ for an aquarium. To much light, to much heat with it's thermal effect. It's fine and great for outdoor plants and some pond plants, but not adaptable for aquariums. 

Aquariums need dark secluded areas where the owner can control and optimize the lighting, the temp and the air quality perfectly.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

Actually I do keep some aquarium-type fish in an outdoor container pond (in a desert-like area). Along with them, I keep a TON of aquarium plants as well. The deciding factor is temperature stability, filtration and oxygen. In general, warm water holds less oxygen than cold water does, which is why some fish from very warm water developed labyrinth organs (bettas and gouramis). Your best bet as far as fish go are looking into native fish, like darters, minnows, and even small (dollar) bass. These fish, especially those from around your area, will be MUCH hardier and could likely withstand both temperature extremes. Fishes of Arkansas

As far as light goes, yes, that can be a problem, as it often leads to algae blooms, that can both look ugly and remove most of the oxygen from the pond. My solution was to add enough plants that algae was outcompeted. Since I only lightly stocked my container pond with very small minnow-type fish, this also had the benefit of taking care of my filtration needs, though I do make sure there is water movement. No water movement leads to stagnation, and more issues than you want to imagine. 

In general though, keep in mind the size of your container. Small fish and light stocking for small tanks, ect. You do need to cycle your container (tanks do let in much more light, I'd go for a container pond), and live plants will be your BEST FRIENDS EVER. But plants will have to acclimated (hardened off) to be able to handle that much light and the temps. Make sure to filter and have water movement as well


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

I now live in Arkansaw but used to live in La. There my brother had an in-the-ground type plastic pond from Home Depot.
It was the double kind that you interlock with one a bit higher than the larger one so you could use your fountain pump
to get water from the lower one and put it in the top one. They were designed to have a "fall" going down from top to
bottom pool. I say this because he had a 100W heater in it which he kept set for 78 but that was too much water
for it to keep warm in winter. But he had a Pleco(common) in there and it made it through one winter and then he took
down the whole thing.
An aquarium dissapates too much heat in winter and in summer the temp could go over 100F in there.


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## burris (Aug 4, 2013)

Thanks to all for the tips!


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## ArtyG (Jun 29, 2011)

Not a good idea. I have silver dollars that spawned for me in a 100gal. Rubbermaid horse trough but then its August 5th in NC hopefully they'll be large enough to move inside by September 30th because they will be dead by October 30 otherwise. I have walked down this path before and my screened in porch is an erzatz greenhouse when I cover the screens with plastic but it can't stay warm enough in deep fall and winter. Basically you can keep natives and goldfish.


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## Kehy (Apr 19, 2011)

ArtyG said:


> Not a good idea. I have silver dollars that spawned for me in a 100gal. Rubbermaid horse trough but then its August 5th in NC hopefully they'll be large enough to move inside by September 30th because they will be dead by October 30 otherwise. I have walked down this path before and my screened in porch is an erzatz greenhouse when I cover the screens with plastic but it can't stay warm enough in deep fall and winter. Basically you can keep natives and goldfish.


Natives are a bad thing? (Dollar Sunfish)


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I think having fish outdoors is a great idea.Your largest issue with your idea will be flucuating tempature in the water.If you can have enough volume of water you may be able to keep it fairly steady.


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