Cardinal V Neon

[madgap]

I personally have never kept cardinal tetra's before. Only neons. But I can not help but wonder why people chose the cardinal over the neon. What is their appeal?

I read all to often that cardinals are mostly wild caught and have greater demands in the home aquarium. Where as the neon is not wild cought and can suffer a less than perfect set up far easier.

In my own personal opinion, the cardinals only atribute over the neon is its red cardinal strip which runs the whole length of its body.

So, What is the cardinals carisma that makes it so hot to most hobbyists?

 

[rowdyburns21]

Good question For me it is purely a colour thing, once you have cardinals in your tank for a couple of months their colour is breathtaking they seem to me to have a little bit more bottle than the neons as well, mine love the filter flow and will happily spend the rest of their living days swimming up and down the flow

 

[DevUK]

Yes, I think its how the cardinals look in a large shoal. Quite stunning really. It may also be to do with Neons being just so common. Maybe something to do with Neon Tetra Disease too? Does this only affect Neons?

Mostly I think its down to the aesthetics

 

[PRW1988]

Neon tetra desease effects other fish too unfortunatly (or so I've been told anyways), the reason why some people buy Cardinals (IMO and IME) is because Cardinal tetras are a bit hardier than neons, if you properly acclimatize Neon Tetras, then both species are just as hardy, however some people don't enjoy having to wait for an hour or more using a drip method to ensure that the fish are good to go.


Hope this helps,

Ryan

 

[madgap]

Drip Method?

 

[DevUK]

I know of it, but have yet to try it (as I've only ever really bought 2 batches of fish since I've actually known what I'm doing in general). I don't know how you do it, but the idea is you gradually mix tank water with the water in the bag from the pet store, after they've floated for an hour to equalise the temperature. The idea is that they slowly get introduced to your water chemistry and its not a big shock to them.

 

[rowdyburns21]

I seen a device in my lfs today actually, it was like a clear plastic box about half the size of a standard shoe box, you clip it on the top of the tank and it has sort of non return valve underneath so the tank water gets in but the water the fish come in doesn't escape, i thought that was a pretty good idea.

 

[rdd1952]

the reason why some people buy Cardinals (IMO and IME) is because Cardinal tetras are a bit hardier than neons,

I have always heard this and believed it to be true until last Thursday when i went looking to buy some neons or cardinals. I spoke with the owner of a local fish store. Both my son and I have bought fish from him before and I trust what he says. He didn't have either neons or cardinals so i asked when he would have more in. He said that he would have neons in this week but couldn't get cardinals in because the distributors didn't hae them any more.

According to him, the distributors were having such heavy die-offs when they ordered them and then een more when they shipped to the stores that they quit selling them. I mentioned that I had always heard that cardinals were much more hardy than neons and he said that since neons were mostly all farm raised now that they were extremely hardy and that cardinals were about the least hardy fish out there right now.

After he said that, it occured to me that I had not seen cardinals in a local fish store (there are about 5 that I visit on a regualr basis) in months so maybe there is some validity to the fact that cardinals really aren't that hardy in the first place. Just out of curiousity, when was the last time any one saw cardinals in your LFS?

 

[madgap]

I know of it, but have yet to try it (as I've only ever really bought 2 batches of fish since I've actually known what I'm doing in general). I don't know how you do it, but the idea is you gradually mix tank water with the water in the bag from the pet store, after they've floated for an hour to equalise the temperature. The idea is that they slowly get introduced to your water chemistry and its not a big shock to them.

I've got a Fintro from Maidenhead Aquatics. It does all that for you.

 

[dthoffsett]

My LFS always has cardinals in stock, they don't carry neons very often, and have problems keeping them alive when they do stock them. I think it really depends on your location, and your LFS's distributors.

 

[madgap]

the reason why some people buy Cardinals (IMO and IME) is because Cardinal tetras are a bit hardier than neons,

I have always heard this and believed it to be true until last Thursday when i went looking to buy some neons or cardinals. I spoke with the owner of a local fish store. Both my son and I have bought fish from him before and I trust what he says. He didn't have either neons or cardinals so i asked when he would have more in. He said that he would have neons in this week but couldn't get cardinals in because the distributors didn't hae them any more.

According to him, the distributors were having such heavy die-offs when they ordered them and then een more when they shipped to the stores that they quit selling them. I mentioned that I had always heard that cardinals were much more hardy than neons and he said that since neons were mostly all farm raised now that they were extremely hardy and that cardinals were about the least hardy fish out there right now.

After he said that, it occured to me that I had not seen cardinals in a local fish store (there are about 5 that I visit on a regualr basis) in months so maybe there is some validity to the fact that cardinals really aren't that hardy in the first place. Just out of curiousity, when was the last time any one saw cardinals in your LFS?

Last week. Maidenhead Aquatics had loads of them

 

[DevUK]

I'd forgotten about those

Funny though, I think they have made a mistake in their instructions:

Cut the top of the bag and carefully transfer the fish and enough water so that there is approximately 1cm of water above the lower chamber of the Fintro. If there is too much water in the Fintro, simply lift it above the aquarium surface and any excess will drain back into your aquarium via the one-way drain. Likewise if there is not enough water in the Fintro slowly add some aquarium water into the device until you have the correct level for the Fintro to operate properly (1cm above the lower chamber of the device).

Surley that defeats the object of dripping tank water into the tray?

 

[rowdyburns21]

Ive got cardinals in all the LFSs near me, never had any problems getting cardinals, if anything we sometimes struggle to get decent quality neons.

 

[madgap]

In Teesside, both cardinals and neons are equally as common. So common infact that they are begining to out number all the people.
Perhaps they are being used to smuggle drugs in!

 

[lilfishie]

i prefer cardinals personally, for my they are out exploring more, i have neons at the moment and there no where near as active as my cardinals were, but both of them together sure looks great