Cardinal Tetras

[cserra]

Finally after so many times trying to keep cardinal tetras to stay alive....I HAVE SUCCEEDED!!!!!

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Finally after so many times trying to keep cardinal tetras to stay alive....I HAVE SUCCEEDED!!!!!

Cardinal are prone to notate and like a mature tank prob six months plus

 

[Joshwainwright]

Yeahh, they're pretty hard to keep in new tanks. I had problems when I got my 125L and managed to keep 1 of 6 alive, I now have 7 and they're all pretty happy

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Nitrate I meant stupid iPhone , yeah keep an eye them and they should be fine

 

[dafrnhm]

Ive got 4 rummy nose tetras, 5 rosy tetras, 5 red eye tetras. There all fine and the rummy nose have been there for a year or so but if i add anymore they die. Its weird. My water tests fine though.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

I believe that trying to keep Cardinal Tetra alive in new tanks may have more to do with PH values.
The vast majority of posts and posters saying that they struggle to keep them in relatively new tanks ALL have lovely clean water, excellent water results and good water change regimes, yet usually state their higher end of the scale PH readings.
cserra, may i ask what your PH (and water hardness, if possible) readings are? And why do you think they have flourished this time round..?

 

[Aqua Tom]

I have never had any trouble keeping Cardinals. They were some of the first fish I bought & introduced into my first tank.

Tom

 

[DrRob]

I have never had any trouble keeping Cardinals. They were some of the first fish I bought & introduced into my first tank.

Tom

+1, I can only ever remember losing 1 that was to anything other than old age, and that one was killed by an ammonia spike from a slug falling into the tank. I do tend to the understocked though.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

I have never had any trouble keeping Cardinals. They were some of the first fish I bought & introduced into my first tank.

Tom

+1, I can only ever remember losing 1 that was to anything other than old age, and that one was killed by an ammonia spike from a slug falling into the tank. I do tend to the understocked though.

+1

They were the second lot to go in my tank, 10 days after the cycle was complete. I have lost one through old age.

Terry.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Aside from other considerations such as parameters or the source of the fish (wild, farmed, from hobby breeder), I have found one trick that often helps insure a higher survival rate for newly acquired tetras is to feed live bbs for the first 10-14 days. Often when they refuse other foods they will attack live bbs with gusto.

Even more important than pH are issues regarding TDS.

 

[cserra]

i think they survived this time around for a number of reasons.I looked around all the LFS for the better cardinals. I found alot but i narrowed the best down to two. They had the best color and good color means healthy fish right? I asked the owner of the shops how long they had the cardinals in their tanks. I went back over the course of two to three weeks to make sure they had the cardinals for awhile and they weren't dying. Keep in mind these stores have about 200 to 250 cardinals in their tanks. I decided to go with the shop with the healthier cardinals. The cardinals at this store are great. He has one tank with smaller cardinals and another with the biggest cardinals I have ever seen!!!! And the colors on these fish are amazing. I went with the smaller ones so that i can see them grow.After i purchased them i took every possible measure to ensure their safety. When i left the store i covered the bag witha tee shirt to block out the sun. I took my time acclimating them. I turned the lights off on the tank and in my living room. i only had the TV on so i could see. I floated the bag for about 15 minutes. I poured out half the bag water. I added about a quarter cup of water from the tank every 5 minutes untill the bag was full. It took about an hour. I emptied the bag water in the sink and added the cardinals to the tank. I left the lights of for 24 hours so they could get used to their new home. IT WORKED!!!!! I did this twice every with a week going by each time so my bio bacteria can adjust with no problems,adding 10 cardinals each time. I eventually want to have about 40 cardinals in there.