Temperature info needed

[rhosk3]

My keen son has just ordered 100 silver perch fingerlings which will be arriving any day and has given little thought to temperature. They will be staying in a 1000L glass aquarium for starters. Can you help me with some temperature figures and any suggestions on the cheapest way to go to keep them warm and growing.
Cheers Rob

[Murray]

Ahhhh ... Rob,
The excitement has started!
Silver Perch are a great fish to start aquaponic career with.
I try to keep my water in my Silver Perch tank above 18 deg during the winter, and for the most part I have been successful. There is some interesting stuff on the web re Silver Perch.
http://www.rirdc.gov.au/pub/handbook/silverperch.html
here is just one link, there are many others.

I think that in the end it is easiest just to go buy one or more 400 watt aquarium heaters for your tank. I am told that 1 x 400 watt heater will service around 500 ltrs of water.

I hope this helps Murray

[GaryD]

Hi,

Keeping your fish at 18 degrees C in the cold weather we've had recently would be a useful place to start.

The optimum temperature range for Silver Perch is 22 - 28 degrees C. When fish live at the optimum temperature, their metabolism is such that they feed at their best, they are most disease-resistant.....and they grow quickest.

Gary