How do you know what’s the best temperature to keep fish at?

Generally speaking, tropical fishes would do well in water temperatures kept between 24-26 degrees celsius. But for other species, it’s not a simple answer. There are several ways of determining this using scientific methods. Some studies use behavioural observations – scientists create a temperature gradient in long tanks to see where the fish spends more time in. In the article below, it uses a different measure to quantify the optimal temperature range – the metabolic rate.

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Aquaculture Volume 325, Number 9 (January 2012) Thermal optimum for pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) and the use of ventilation frequency as a predictor of metabolic rate Authors: Michael Frisk, Peter Vilhelm Skov, John Fleng Steffensen Author Affiliations:

Source: Aquaculture, Volume 325, Number 9 (January 2012) Page Numbers: 151 – 157 Available Full Text:

Abstract: Pikeperch is of increasing interest to the aquaculture industry, as a novel high value species. To our knowledge there is currently no information available on the metabolic rates of adult pikeperch. The present study determined the standard and maximum metabolic rates and ventilation frequency at six temperatures, ranging from 13 to 28°C, in order to identify the temperature where pikeperch has the largest metabolic scope (MS). Between 13 and 25°C, standard metabolic rates (SMR) increased as expected with a Q10=1.8 in response to increasing temperatures, while maximum metabolic rate (MMR) did not change significantly within this temperature range. As a result, MS was not significantly affected by acclimation temperature between 13 and 25°C. Above 25°C, SMR increased significantly with a Q10=2.5 while MMR declined, resulting in a decreased MS. In the present study, the maximum MS (MSMAX) was found at 18.8°C. Defining the optimal temperature as the thermal range where fish can maintain 80% of MSMAX, shows that adult pikeperch have a broad thermal optimum between 10.4 and 26.9°C. Since earlier studies on juvenile pikeperch have reported an optimal temperature range of 25–30°C, we show that pikeperch have an ontogenetic shift in their thermal optimum, emphasizing the importance of considering fish size when deciding the temperature in aquaculture facilities. Citation: Michael Frisk, Peter Vilhelm Skov, John Fleng Steffensen . Thermal optimum for pikeperch (Sander lucioperca) and the use of ventilation frequency as a predictor of metabolic rate. Aquaculture, Volume 325, Number 9 (January 2012), pp. 151-157, URL: http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=42A78EAA7F72194E6445