Angels & Cardinals

[purple_drazi]

So... I know that neons will get eaten by angels so they're no good as tank mates but does the same hold true for cardinal tetras? I'm hoping that cardinals will be bigger than neons, or be different somehow so they won't be seen as an automatic food source.

Or am I dreaming.

 

[Tempestuousfury]

Provided you start off with big cardinals, young/small angels, and are lucky enough to get docile angels, chances are it should work out...

 

[Silverlady]

My pair of Angels have always been kept with Cardinals, they chased them out of their territory but that's all.

 

[Lost Cause]

So... I know that neons will get eaten by angels so they're no good as tank mates but does the same hold true for cardinal tetras? I'm hoping that cardinals will be bigger than neons, or be different somehow so they won't be seen as an automatic food source.

Or am I dreaming.

I`m lucky and have a pair of largish angels that are very peaceful. On that basis, I`ve finally relented to my wife and put neons in the tank, and everything has been fine for three weeks now.

So, you need to make an honest assessment of your angels` personalities, because if they`re prone to throwing their weight around then any cardinals will be in trouble quickly. But if they`re leaving small fish alone already, then you might reasonably assume that a brighter small fish will be OK too - just like my neons have been left alone.

 

[purple_drazi]

fantastic! I had resigned myself to never being able to keep angels but that's great news!

 

[wlsmith]

I have 4 adult angels and 1 juvenile living peacefully with a shoal of 15 cardinal tetra, it does depend on the type of angels that you have, as others have said some can be aggressive, some can be docile, and it depends on the size of the cardinals you buy, if possible try to buy some matured cardinals as they will be too big to fit inside the angels mouth!

 

[Marcos]

I've had two angels that were brought up with neons from quite young. They have been living in a tank with a shoal of neons for around two years now and never bother them. As others have said, it really depends on the mentality of the angels.