Is 78-79 Degrees Too Warm For Neon Tetras?

Hi, I plan to add a school of neon tetras to my new tank once it's done cycling but the fish I'm considering adding in addition to the neons prefers warmer water. Would it be cruel to keep the tank temperature at 78-79 degrees fahrenheit? Is this too warm for neons? Thanks in advance .

 

I don't think they will have any problem. What other fish are you considering?

 

Hi, I plan to add a school of neon tetras to my new tank once it's done cycling but the fish I'm considering adding in addition to the neons prefers warmer water. Would it be cruel to keep the tank temperature at 78-79 degrees fahrenheit? Is this too warm for neons? Thanks in advance .

I typically call 78 good for most tropical fish- and some of my non adjustable heaters sit around there. I've seen everywhere from 72 to 82 recommended online, for neons (been looking at them lately) with most either saying 72-78 or 75-80. So I'd say it's fine. No personal experience, though.

 

I don't think they will have any problem. What other fish are you considering?

Not entirely sure yet. I was thinking 3 guppies, 8 neon tetras, 6 cories (approximately, in regards to all of these), and perhaps a centerpiece fish.

 

Hi, I plan to add a school of neon tetras to my new tank once it's done cycling but the fish I'm considering adding in addition to the neons prefers warmer water. Would it be cruel to keep the tank temperature at 78-79 degrees fahrenheit? Is this too warm for neons? Thanks in advance .

I keep my neon's now @ 82.5 F they are native to blackwater and clearwater streams in the Amazon basin of South America so they can take high temperatures. I was keeping them with my discus @ 83 F for a wile.

 

Neons kept at high temperatures live short lives. They are not blackwater fish, but clear water under forest canopy, where it stays cool. In the wild the temperatures where they live fluctuate seasonally with the high around 76, but they breed at 73-74 F. and live well at 70-72. They can survive higher temperatures, but do not thrive at them. Above 80 I would recommend Cardinal Tetras, as they come from the blackwater streams of the Rio Negro and prefer temperatures in the 82-86 F. range.

Incidentally, Guppies will not appreciate overly warm temperatures, either. And Corydoras preferences are very dependent on species.

 

All fish kept at high temps have short lives, 82F is as high as I go, and that's just for breeding or growing, for those periods of time, their metabolism speeds up, they consume more energy and food. 78F is the right temp for keeping most species, not too high, not too low, but depends on what you are doing.

You might want it cooler if you want them growing slower, reproducing slower and eating less. I "think" 78F is more of an arbitrary middle ground "safe number" between 75 and 80F, which is optimal range for most tropicals. Even guppies, you can do colder and you can do hotter, but you are either slowing down or speeding up their metabolism. pretty much below 65F and over 90F is a problem for the tropical fish, except the cold water species which can go lower. Discus like 82F-86F for optimal temp range.

As far as the OP, if you get above 80 or to 81-82-83 with the neon tetras. they will eat more and poop more, and fight more, and live shorter lives if kept there, but 1 or 2 degrees higher than 78 is still in optimal range and normal fluctuations of temp in the natural environment between heat of the day and cool of the night affect on water. you just can't wild swing the temps a few degrees either way quickly, it needs to go up or down slowly, like using a heater, raise it by one degree at a time over the course of a day, turn it down to cool it down the same way until you could remove it. it's the few degree swings in a short time that can stress the fish, like bringing home a new fish, if the bag water is 80 or 82 from the car and your tank is 76, it's a shock if you dumped him straight in. so people float the bag and wait for the bag water to adjust to the temp of the tank, or drip acclimate to a bucket and slowly get the bucket water in line with the tanks temp and quality parameters then net the fish over to the tank.

Also I want to add the Amazon river basin and Orinoco river basin water temps where neon tetras are from is 25-26C year round consistently. Even if it's shaded, it's rivers and a flow from areas that are not shaded. the entire areas air temp is 65-92 and the rivers stay tightly consistent,except for drops from heavy rains, but even so, most neon tetras are captive and tank raised now and acclimated to avaerage joe fish tanks and not the river and breed readily in captivity nowadays with a couple tricks, dropping the temp to simulate rainy season, also lowering the pH for the same reason to provoke spawning. light also plays an important role in spawning and fry development, the dimmer the light the better, but the fish don't have to be in cooler water to do well, just to breed, and tha'ts slowly phasing out.

What pH are the Neons in and what pH are the fish you want to add? One or two degrees won't change much for the neons, maybe deter breeding, but a 2 pH difference can be a problem for one or the other fish.

 

All fish kept at high temps have short lives, 82F is as high as I go, and that's just for breeding or growing, for those periods of time, their metabolism speeds up, they consume more energy and food. 78F is the right temp for keeping most species, not too high, not too low, but depends on what you are doing.

You might want it cooler if you want them growing slower, reproducing slower and eating less. I "think" 78F is more of an arbitrary middle ground "safe number" between 75 and 80F, which is optimal range for most tropicals. Even guppies, you can do colder and you can do hotter, but you are either slowing down or speeding up their metabolism. pretty much below 65F and over 90F is a problem for the tropical fish, except the cold water species which can go lower. Discus like 82F-86F for optimal temp range.

As far as the OP, if you get above 80 or to 81-82-83 with the neon tetras. they will eat more and poop more, and fight more, and live shorter lives if kept there, but 1 or 2 degrees higher than 78 is still in optimal range and normal fluctuations of temp in the natural environment between heat of the day and cool of the night affect on water. you just can't wild swing the temps a few degrees either way quickly, it needs to go up or down slowly, like using a heater, raise it by one degree at a time over the course of a day, turn it down to cool it down the same way until you could remove it. it's the few degree swings in a short time that can stress the fish, like bringing home a new fish, if the bag water is 80 or 82 from the car and your tank is 76, it's a shock if you dumped him straight in. so people float the bag and wait for the bag water to adjust to the temp of the tank, or drip acclimate to a bucket and slowly get the bucket water in line with the tanks temp and quality parameters then net the fish over to the tank.

Also I want to add the Amazon river basin and Orinoco river basin water temps where neon tetras are from is 25-26C year round consistently. Even if it's shaded, it's rivers and a flow from areas that are not shaded. the entire areas air temp is 65-92 and the rivers stay tightly consistent,except for drops from heavy rains, but even so, most neon tetras are captive and tank raised now and acclimated to avaerage joe fish tanks and not the river and breed readily in captivity nowadays with a couple tricks, dropping the temp to simulate rainy season, also lowering the pH for the same reason to provoke spawning. light also plays an important role in spawning and fry development, the dimmer the light the better, but the fish don't have to be in cooler water to do well, just to breed, and tha'ts slowly phasing out.

What pH are the Neons in and what pH are the fish you want to add? One or two degrees won't change much for the neons, maybe deter breeding, but a 2 pH difference can be a problem for one or the other fish.

Thanks for the info!

I'm not entirely sure what my fish store's pH is, but the city's average is 7.45. My pH is 8.2.

EDIT: The pH of the fish I want to add is about 7-8 for most of them and about 6-7 for others (I've kept them before and they didn't seem to mind the pH difference.)

 

Thanks for the info!

I'm not entirely sure what my fish store's pH is, but the city's average is 7.45. My pH is 8.2.

EDIT: The pH of the fish I want to add is about 7-8 for most of them and about 6-7 for others (I've kept them before and they didn't seem to mind the pH difference.)

If you feel good about it working out thats fine. I like to test the bag water from the fish store and get it's temp to compare and drip adjust to match my tank water in a bucket with the fish and store water then dump the store water when the bucket matches up. If a fish isn't too sensitive it's probably fine to float so temp balances over in most cases and then net the fish to the tank. but you never know and while I don't quarantine, some people do just to be extra safe with their tanks another step to protecting what they bought, and also what they have.

 

If you feel good about it working out thats fine. I like to test the bag water from the fish store and get it's temp to compare and drip adjust to match my tank water in a bucket with the fish and store water then dump the store water when the bucket matches up. If a fish isn't too sensitive it's probably fine to float so temp balances over in most cases and then net the fish to the tank. but you never know and while I don't quarantine, some people do just to be extra safe with their tanks another step to protecting what they bought, and also what they have.

The neons wouldn't be the first fish I'd be adding to the the tank. I could just test the water when I get the first fish (probably guppies) and then decide if the pH difference is too big for the neons.

 

I kept neons in a tank that went much higher than 78F during the summer, it had double heaters which I never adjusted. They lived for 8+ years so from my small sample size they are quite fine with warm temperatures

With these tropical fish I really doubt we will see much of a metabolic change in these temperature ranges

 

I’ve also kept neons with my discus at higher temps. If they weren’t eaten they did live shorter lives. But I kept them in community at 78-79 and they lived what I considered long lives 5-6 yrs. Never bred though. Cardnails would be much better for higher temps. Considering what your getting there is no reason for any of these temps and 72-76 will be fine for your stock.

 

Yep! I've kept neons at 78 degrees for years with no issues.

 

Neons do not occur in the Orinoco basin, and they are only found in the upper Amazon, at higher altitudes than the Rio Negro occurs. The difference in temperature is quite a bit. And the Amazon waters do not stay 25-26C year round. The rainy season and the dry season have a much wider range than 1 degree Celsius.

There are African killifish that live under the canopy that have to be kept below 72 F. and breed at about 66-68. Twenty feet downstream in a sunny clearing they do not live, as water temperatures are nearly 10 degrees higher. The sunlight at the equator is much hotter than you realize.

Yes, most Neons these days are bred in captivity. They are more adaptable to slightly higher temperatures. But I see constant complaints on this forum and others about "weak" captive bred Neons. The fact that one or two people had a fish live a long life at higher temperatures does not make it good practice in keeping the species. By that standard, Bettas would be fine in gallon drum bowls with no heaters; after all, my great niece kept one for nearly 9 years that way.

 

I agree with chromedome.I believe another viable alternative are black neon tetras, though I'm not sure if they can/should go as high as cardinal tetras do.

 

Cardinal Tetras for this situation. Not Neons.

 

I'm beginning to think that my pH/GH/KH are too high for any neons. Are there any colorful, somewhat small, schooling fish that could thrive in harder water and higher pH?

 

Unless you have a low pH, most aquarium fish have been bred enough where they are fine in higher pH, GH, KH.

The general rule is that alkalinity is far more suitable for many types of aquarium fish than acidity. It makes sense as this is the same for the human body as well. Acidity is bad.

However neons, being that are seem to be such a genetically weak species now from overbreeding, I just wouldn't keep them in general.

I'll reiterate my suggestion for black neons. But this all depends. What size is your tank, gallons and dimensions?

 

Unless you have a low pH, most aquarium fish have been bred enough where they are fine in higher pH, GH, KH.

The general rule is that alkalinity is far more suitable for many types of aquarium fish than acidity. It makes sense as this is the same for the human body as well. Acidity is bad.

However neons, being that are seem to be such a genetically weak species now from overbreeding, I just wouldn't keep them in general.

I'll reiterate my suggestion for black neons. But this all depends. What size is your tank, gallons and dimensions?

It's a standard 29 gallon so 30x12x18''.

 

OK. Which centerpiece fish were you thinking of? Are you not able to just lower the temperature so you could keep neons?

 

I'm beginning to think that my pH/GH/KH are too high for any neons. Are there any colorful, somewhat small, schooling fish that could thrive in harder water and higher pH?

Try Harlequin Rasboras, they have adapted really well to hard water (But you wont be able to breed them)

 

OK. Which centerpiece fish were you thinking of? Are you not able to just lower the temperature so you could keep neons?

I'm not entirely sure yet. I might just do a couple platies. Not really a centerpiece but they would probably do better in my water.

Try Harlequin Rasboras, they have adapted really well to hard water (But you wont be able to breed them)

I like the way the harlequins look. I might give them a try.
Would cherry barbs also work? Or is the tank too small? (It's a standard 29g)

 

Cherry barbs would be fine.
Again, you need not worry about your hard water. The fish from your local store will be fine unless they are wild caught from an acidic habitat.