Cardinal Tetras

[Sesshis_grl]

i want to get 10-15 of these for my 29 gal. I know you should quarintine all fish before adding to your tank, but I'm hearing it a lot more in reference to cardinals. Are they all wild caught? It seems like people are worried about parasites with them. I'm asking if its absolutely necessary because although I have a 10 that I could use as a quarintine, I'm having a lot of trouble cycling it. So its not inhabitable for fish at the moment. Should I just go ahead and put the cardinals in the 29g or is there another option?

 

[Randi]

Most cardinals are wild caught. However, I've never kept them so I can't really say anything about parasites.

 

[ez_101]

I never quarantined mine and they are fine and dandy, just introduced them into my tank like any other fish no problems!!

 

[Caprichoso]

i want to get 10-15 of these for my 29 gal. I know you should quarintine all fish before adding to your tank, but I'm hearing it a lot more in reference to cardinals. Are they all wild caught? It seems like people are worried about parasites with them. I'm asking if its absolutely necessary because although I have a 10 that I could use as a quarintine, I'm having a lot of trouble cycling it. So its not inhabitable for fish at the moment. Should I just go ahead and put the cardinals in the 29g or is there another option?

I would not put them in the un-cycled tank. Not all cardinals are wild caught. They can be riddled with parasites either wild or from the breeder. Some people always q't their fish but it's up to you. Personally, I have never qt'd my fish but I trust the shop where I purchase them from.

 

[Sesshis_grl]

I like this shop but I don't know where their stock comes from, when I try to ask them they don't really give me good answers. and regardless its really my only option for getting fish =/. With these fish how can you tell if they are healthy and such? apart from worms actually hanging from them

 

[Aqua Tom]

My Cardinals where labled as Euro-bred & I didnt q them when introduced.

I think it is all down to trust & if the shop in question does not know, or is unwilling to tell its customers where it gets its fish from, then it is time to look elsewhere.


Tom

 

[Princesscoral]

My cardanals are fine. I did not qt them. I just did what I normaly do with my fish - Climatise them.

Neon Tetras are similler to Cardinals. Cardinals are bigger then Neons. I have Cardinal Tetras becuase I had Angel Fish.

princesscoral
aged 11

 

[Sesshis_grl]

Thanks everyone. I'm going to go check them out again sometime this week, and see if they look ok. They've been in the shop ..6 days? now so hopefully if anythings wrong with them it will have shown by now. I tried to order online but there's minimum payments on the sites that I was looking at, and it becomes unaffordable. Besides this shop I'm talking about I only have 2 others and they are not good for quality fish, so...although I wish there was a better one there isn't.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Whatever happens you wll have a lovely slpash of colour in your tank. Give them time to gain confidence & your cardinals will be shoaling right at the front of the tank.

Tom.

 

[Sesshis_grl]

Thanks

 

[Caprichoso]

I like this shop but I don't know where their stock comes from, when I try to ask them they don't really give me good answers. and regardless its really my only option for getting fish =/. With these fish how can you tell if they are healthy and such? apart from worms actually hanging from them

Look at all the fish in the tank. Warning signs can be the following: fish that look very skinny and have caved in stomachs, the colour looks patchy, the fins are ratty or clamped, the gills are red, gasping fish, fish that are sitting at the bottom or hiding away from the others, abnormal swimming, rubbing, breathing from the surface, any spots or lesions or grey slime or cottony coating on body, missing fins, eyes, fish that get picked on are usually the weak ones and should be avoided too.

If all of the fish in the tank look and behave normally, then I'm sure they will be fine. I won't buy fish from a tank unless ALL of the fish are looking healthy. Yes, one could say that the people that work there could have picked out the sick ones but I see this as a good sign that they won't keep poorly looking fish and try to sell them. What you want to avoid is the store where you see dead and dying fish in the tanks(not including quarantine tanks). These stores are apathetic and should be avoided.

Best of luck with your Cardinals, you will love them!!

 

[Sesshis_grl]

Thanks Caprichoso

went to go look at them today. They still aren't fully colored up but they look good. And apparently they are captive bred and from Florida which makes me happy whether that makes them "safer" or not. My question is how long does it take them to get that beautiful deep red all the way down their body? because right now the blue coloring is brilliant, but the red isn't so much. It's ending at the middle but the rest of the under side is reddish. It's making them look suspiciously like neons. Not sure if these are wrongly labeled neons, or if they are just stressed fish.

 

[Caprichoso]

Hmmm, without seeing them, it's hard to say. Fish do get mislabeled a lot but chances are they're cardinals. Honestly, they should be red all the way through even if they are juveniles. They can take awhile to get really intensely coloured. I had mine for a year before they looked really brilliant but the colour was consistent even when they were young, though slightly paler. Patchy colouring would make me wary. If they are already stressed, you shouldn't get any. When you buy any fish, they should look right at home and have bright colours and be acting normal. If the store is selling them like that all they care about is money and not selling good quality stock. That's not to say that you couldn't buy them and have a lot of success but it's more of a risk for sure.

 

[Sesshis_grl]

Okay decided to get them as I wouldn't classify their color "patchy". They seem to be doing okay they are just a little see-through? The store is saying they are cardinals. I'm not so sure but they are willing to exchange if it turns out I'm right. I hope I'm wrong, lol. So what would you guys say? Cardinals or Neons?

 

[Caprichoso]

Yes, definitely Cardinals. The gills look a bit red in the picture but hopefully they will be alright. Your chances of success with them will be increased by having live plants as well, something to consider but if you're keeping up on your water changes and gravel vacs and not over feeding, you should have success with them.