30 gallon cold water open top riparium help

[xjasminex]

Hello!
I'm looking to create a cold water riparium, here's why.
My brothers girlfriend won a single tailed goldfish at the fair while home on break from college, she goes to the university of New Mexico and we live in New York. It lived for a while in whatever he kept it in at her house but when she returned to collage she couldn't take it with her and so my bro said he would take care of it, knowing I had extra fishtanks...so this little goldfish lives in a dirty 30 gallon tank in my brothers room, he didn't want to do water changes that often and the tank is also under filtered.

My brother just moved to New Mexico to live with his girlfriend and left the fish here knowing I'd take care of it. But I already have 5 tanks to take care of and I don't want anymore... So I want to plant it and make it into a riparium so I will have to do minimal work with this tank.

Being a single tailed goldfish it doesn't need a heater, so no heater. It gets kinda cold in the house in the winter so te water probably gets down to 60 degrees.

I'm looking for plant suggestions that do ok in the cold water, for in the tank and in the planters.

Thanks!
Jasmine

[hydrophyte]

There are lots of riparium plants that will live OK in cooler water, but they won't grow much. Do you have a second tank that you could use to get the plants established in their planters, then transfer them to the goldfish setup when they are well-rooted?

Plants in the goldfish setup will grow fine again when the water warms with the house during the summertime. Riparium plants are really good for goldfish setups: they provide very good biological filtration; the goldfish can't munch on them; there are some nice flowering riparium plants that look great with goldfish; no CO2 required; riparium plants are easy to care for.

Could you put a heater in the tank to keep the water something more like 70F? What temperature is the air in the house?

[xjasminex]

Well my mother has been keeping the house warmer since she stays home now, so the house is probably more like 68-70 now so the water might end up being more like 65, I do have an extra heater but I was hoping to avoid it if I could.

[xjasminex]

So far I have crypts and Val's coming for this tank!
As said I plan on doing a dirt tank, I do have problem in my fifty five with dirt coming through the sans cap, with this tank I'm going to lay down the dirt, then put down a layer or small stones, then a pool filter sand cap, I'm hoping not to have the same problem this time.