How many cardinal tetras can I add at once?

[Blackwater guru]

I am gonna get myself my first aquarium which will be a 160 liter blackwater setup designed to mimic the habitat of cardinal tetras with lot's of floating amazon frogbit plants at the top along with leaves and driftwood made out of oak on the bottom.

I will use low flowrate filtration intended for larger tanks with 10 cardinal tetras which is small but still big enough for them to show natural behaviour and colours and to keep maintenance low along with healthy fish.

The question is how many of them should I add at once after the tank has cycled?because the ones at my local fish store are wild caught which means they are more sensitive to drastic changes in water conditions.

I don't want to kill my new fish by mistake which is why I am asking this question.

 

[seangee]

Are you doing a fishless cycle? If so once the cycle is complete you can add the entire group at once. The guidance given in this post will ensure that your tank is capable to sustain the bioload.

As you mentioned creating an authentic biotope for the tetras this should also provide the right environment once the plants are actively growing. I would add as many cardinals as you plan to keep all at once. Then monitor the water for a few weeks before adding the next species.

This tank contains 30 wild caught cardinals (and it happens to be 160 litres )