Cardinal Or Neon Tetra's?

[BigbruiserAl]

I much prefer the look of Cardinals over the Neon. Always deeper and more colourful. The slight size increase seems to give them more substance too.

However, I've never actually owned either because of all the horror storyies of both species (especially Neons) just dying for no reason. There's seemingly thousands of threads all over the internet of 'why did my Neon die' etc etc

I want a shoal of Cardinals though, they look great.

Some of the main reasons for this dying is there over breed in captivity, people buy them as there cheap and colourfull not knowing they they need a mature tank not one that just cycled and ofc heavy planted tank with lower end nitrates

 

[creeker]

I much prefer the look of Cardinals over the Neon. Always deeper and more colourful. The slight size increase seems to give them more substance too.

However, I've never actually owned either because of all the horror storyies of both species (especially Neons) just dying for no reason. There's seemingly thousands of threads all over the internet of 'why did my Neon die' etc etc

I want a shoal of Cardinals though, they look great.

Some of the main reasons for this dying is there over breed in captivity, people buy them as there cheap and colourfull not knowing they they need a mature tank not one that just cycled and ofc heavy planted tank with lower end nitrates

Al's point here taken. This explains why they die off like flies at the LFS. Most are on a common filtration/water system which would be hard on a specific needs fish. So probably the answer is to try to find them at a small independent dealer that keeps them under the proper conditions.

 

[mike455555]

personally i prefer neons, the full red strip on card's is to bold for me

 

[TropicalJuwel]

Personally I do prefer the cardinals but wasnt sure of any horry stories, mainly only heard of neon tetra disease and hadnt known much about cardinal problems until lfs said, but as said in past posts he only has tank bred not wild caught. BIGbruiserAL and jay1983 have you had any major problems? Are your cardinals tank bred? I am now worried about them being to small with the redheads which nelly brought up.

 

[Jay1983]

Personally I do prefer the cardinals but wasnt sure of any horry stories, mainly only heard of neon tetra disease and hadnt known much about cardinal problems until lfs said, but as said in past posts he only has tank bred not wild caught. BIGbruiserAL and jay1983 have you had any major problems? Are your cardinals tank bred? I am now worried about them being to small with the redheads which nelly brought up.

I am not 100% sure on mine but I believe them to be tank bred. I have had no problems whatsoever with them but they were put into a tank that was 8 months old (they cannot be put in new set ups), I also do water changes at least twice a week usually 3 times a week to keep the nitrates as low as possible the tank is quite heavily planted too. There are lots of areas of shade and plenty of places for them to hide.

 

[TropicalJuwel]

Yes I was thinking I may have to leave them a while as Ive not long finished cycling my tank, tank will have quite alot of cover with plants but and I always do weekly water changes.

 

[Jay1983]

Yes I was thinking I may have to leave them a while as Ive not long finished cycling my tank, tank will have quite alot of cover with plants but and I always do weekly water changes.

When your tank matures you could have a lovely big Shoal of them in your tank. Just remember if you do choose to stock them to leave the tank to mature and add them over a period of time not all at once.

 

[TropicalJuwel]

Thats the plan on having a big shoal of them. O.k thanks mate thats been very helpful and yeah I def wont be adding 30 or 40 at once, couldnt even afford that amount at once lol.

 

[Jay1983]

Thats the plan on having a big shoal of them. O.k thanks mate thats been very helpful and yeah I def wont be adding 30 or 40 at once, couldnt even afford that amount at once lol.

Ha ha just do a lot of research on the fish you'd like to keep, and also ask questions on here. There are a lot of very knowledgeable people on here who are more than willing to help, What I have told you is from my own experience and limited knowledge. I'm sure there will be others who will be able to advise you further.

Jay

 

[TropicalJuwel]

Thanks thats what I was hoping for, If someone else has better experience then me I want to know it, no doubt I will be back for stocking advice soon as I have a tank that looks empty lol.

 

[Caprichoso]

I've had wild caught and captivity bred cardinals for years and I have to say that overall, they are better to keep than neons IME. I've found that even in hard water, they will still thrive as long as the water quality is excellent. Where I live, neons have been over bred for years and are genetically weak. But, cardinals are becoming that way now too. It all comes down to the breeder. For me personally, I prefer the cardinals because I like the colouring better. So when you hear the horror stories just be aware that this is mainly due to poor breeding lines combined with less than perfect tank conditions. Unfortunately, many fish are facing the problem of over breeding and you really have to investigate the source of your fish before you just go out and buy them. I spend a lot of time talking with my lfs and asking them questions about the breeder. I also visit my lfs regularly, not to buy but just to keep and eye out on the tank conditions and how they are running the shop. Keeps them on their toes . I also sell them shrimp so I want to make sure they will be taking just as good of care of them as I would.

 

[TropicalJuwel]

Hi yes I think thats so true about asking the lfs about he's fish and where he's are from, I get on very well with mine since he opened just over a year ago, I sometimes just go in if I'm passing by to have a chat, he's very good at getting in fish that I have never seen before so usually pop in to see what he has then before I know it we've been chatting for an hour. Although he probably see's me walking in and thinks oh god him again lol. I see what you mean about over breeding weaker fish, I guess over time the breeding of weaker fish are being transferred in there genes. On my tank I am using the internal filter on the rio 400 which at first I was reluctant to keep in but my lfs persuaded me to keep it and tetratec ex1200 exteranl. Seems an excellent filter, glad I bought that instead of a fluval now. Thanks for advice once again, the cardinals really seem to be most peoples picks so far.

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Hi yes I think thats so true about asking the lfs about he's fish and where he's are from, I get on very well with mine since he opened just over a year ago, I sometimes just go in if I'm passing by to have a chat, he's very good at getting in fish that I have never seen before so usually pop in to see what he has then before I know it we've been chatting for an hour. Although he probably see's me walking in and thinks oh god him again lol. I see what you mean about over breeding weaker fish, I guess over time the breeding of weaker fish are being transferred in there genes. On my tank I am using the internal filter on the rio 400 which at first I was reluctant to keep in but my lfs persuaded me to keep it and tetratec ex1200 exteranl. Seems an excellent filter, glad I bought that instead of a fluval now. Thanks for advice once again, the cardinals really seem to be most peoples picks so far.

Cut the internal juwel out and replace with another tetratec 1200 leads to a exellent tank

 

[Jay1983]

Hi yes I think thats so true about asking the lfs about he's fish and where he's are from, I get on very well with mine since he opened just over a year ago, I sometimes just go in if I'm passing by to have a chat, he's very good at getting in fish that I have never seen before so usually pop in to see what he has then before I know it we've been chatting for an hour. Although he probably see's me walking in and thinks oh god him again lol. I see what you mean about over breeding weaker fish, I guess over time the breeding of weaker fish are being transferred in there genes. On my tank I am using the internal filter on the rio 400 which at first I was reluctant to keep in but my lfs persuaded me to keep it and tetratec ex1200 exteranl. Seems an excellent filter, glad I bought that instead of a fluval now. Thanks for advice once again, the cardinals really seem to be most peoples picks so far.

Cut the internal juwel out and replace with another tetratec 1200 leads to a exellent tank

That is a beautiful tank mate! My 110 litre has a fluval 305 running on it. I've ordered a power head to help with the flow as my big bit of wood and the plants seem to stop the flow quite a bit! do you think that will work or should I invest in another external!?

Jay

 

[BigbruiserAl]

110 litre has a fluval 305 running on it. I've ordered a power head

Should be more then enough mate as long your getting x5 turn over approx