# fish without heaters



## jfengler

im looking for an aquatic animal that dosnt require heaters (other than bettas or goldfish)
Any suggestions for something interesting


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## GwenInNM

jfengler said:


> im looking for an aquatic animal that dosnt require heaters (other than bettas or goldfish)
> Any suggestions for something interesting



You could do a school of White Cloud minnows, they require "cooler" water, so you wouldn't need a heater. I think if you check the profiles, the ideal temp should be no lower than 67 degrees. Not positive.

Gwen


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## thekoimaiden

First off, betta are _tropical_ fish and need heaters unless you live in a very hot and humid place as they need temperatures above 76F. 

The only way you can have a fish tank without some form of climate control (heater or chiller) is if you have a certain area of you house that stays a pretty fixed temperature year-round. For example: my goldfish tank is fine in the summer, but my house gets so cold in the winter that I need to have a heater to keep it above 70F. Fish need a constant temperature which is one of the reasons we use heaters. A tank without a heater will have more extreme temp fluxes which weakens the immune system of the inhabitants. 

If you are looking at cooler-water species you could try White Cloud Minnows as Gwen suggested, but if your house gets too cold for them in the winter, you will need a heater. Another interesting species is the axolotl, a species of neotonic salamander, that requires temps between 57F and 68F. Again, if it gets colder than that, you will need a heater, and they require a rather large and specialized setup.


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## Grimmjow

Why do you not want a heater anyway
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## jfengler

well i can get a heater when i need it i have 2 other large tanks with africans, crays, and a turtle


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## mzxeternal

Guppies can work as well, as they can deal with fluxuations between 65-90 degrees with no problems, and 68-74 is recommended. If your home doesn't get colder than 65, and is more consistently 68 or warmer, they should work fine without a heater.


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## Rayemond

Depending on the temperature of your house, try looking into the following - rosy barb, american-flag fish, paradise fish, hillstream loach, zebra danio, odessa barb, garra. Look at their profiles and see if any are suitable. And try googling 'subtropical aquarium', you will find more suggestions.

Not all fish need a constant temperature all year round, in many places the water temperature will naturally drop in the winter then rise in the summer, and in fact it is this change in temperature that triggers spawning in some species.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Eddie1KRR

When I started out fish keeping, I started with a few desktop tanks with no heaters (about 72 deg. room temp)

Before I moved up to a bigger heated tank, I was successfully able to keep (and still thriving in the new larger tank with a heater)
Neon tetras, 
Zebra Danio
Mollies 
Fancy Guppies (one of my favorites) 
X ray fish (Golden Pristella Tetra)
Black neon tetra
And one other blue and silver fish I can't identify yet lol. My nephew picked him up and I still can't figure out what he is. I'm sure there are more, but those ones in my experience do just fine in a non heated tank as long as it's sitting in room temp.


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## Geomancer

Rayemond said:


> Not all fish need a constant temperature all year round, in many places the water temperature will naturally drop in the winter then rise in the summer, and in fact it is this change in temperature that triggers spawning in some species.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Yes, but the concern is more the daily temperature swings. In nature it happens gradually, while in a house you can get 5+ degree swings every day depending on if you turn your heat down at night or not.


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