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ok whats a good tankmate for a cardinal tetra?
i got 6 of them in a 10 gallon planted tank.
help me

I have with mine
1 M Betta, Ottos & Khuli Loaches.

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Keith

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ottos are awesome but i've heard they die really easily.
are there there any shrimps that can be put with cadinals?

rocker23,

Sure there are shrimp that you can add. How about either glass shrimp (cheap) or Amano shrimp (more expensive, but live longer)?

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

If your tank is fully cycled and you have algae for them to eat, ottos shouldn't die. They need a constant supply of algae though, because most won't eat algae wafers.

I had neons, a male betta, and 2 ottos in my 10g.

*Kristin*

Maybe you can add some Ottos or some Shrimps.


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my tank is fully cycled but no algea. i think i'll just wait for atleast 3 weeks before i get any shrimp or ottos, to see if i'll be able 2 grow algea or need a shrimp for cleaning up

The ghost shrimp are tough to see, but are real cheap (3 or 4 for a buck usually) and only live a few months. If you were to get shrimp, id go with ingo and get some amano shrimpies

oh soo ghost shrimps die in a matter of months?. tnx for telling me now i'm thinking of getting something else because i want something that would live for a longer period of time.

where can i find information about aqarium shrimmps?
i googled it up but not that much info came out since i don't really know what i'm looking for lol

Interesting, I have never had troubles with my otos, I bought them from wal-mart along with three neons, and the otos are the only of the five to survive-odd

You could do:
~1 betta
~2 otos

~2 guppies
~1 oto

~3 khuli loaches

~3 pygmy corydoras catfish (if you are religious with water changes)

Fish are like potato chips. . .you can't have just one

I have had success with Glo-Lite Tetras, Ottos, pencilfish, mystery snails and Ghost Shrimp (for my puffer ) with cardinal tetras, they are very skittish fish though and if you have anything for them to hide behind that is most likely where they will hide

I think you should get a nice male betta or male honey gourami, and 2 ottos, but i would wait until you had a fully established tank before you get the ottos. Cherry barbs are also cool

BNF

With the otos, be sure to acclimate them really slow, use the drip method after letting the bag float for at least half an hour. I took about 1 1/2 hours to introduce 6 otos into 2 tanks and had no losses.
Also, if you go away for a week you will find that otos will sit on the cake of food that is supposed to feed the tank for however long you're gone, I had one that did that and now it also like the shrimp pellets I feed the cories.
Growing algae is easy, leave the tank lights on for 14 hrs a couple of days, algae will grow!

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My Cardinals live with Otocinclus and Panda Corys quite happily. In fact, as I look over my shoulder while typing this, they're milling around the front of the aquarium waiting for more food while my Pandas are frolicking about in the Java Moss

Oh, by the way, if you can upgrade your aquarium to a size that will allow you to have 12 or more Cardinals, I recommend it. Cardinals become MUCH bolder when they have decent numbers. I have 12, and the difference in temperament between a shoal of 6 and a shoal of 12 is VERY marked. A shoal of 6 tends to be somewhat shy, while a shoal of 12 or more is MUCH more likely to show itself at the front of the aquarium and display itself in its true glory. Mine are also VERY curious about their surroundings compared to the days when I had just six - they'll explore nooks and crannies fearlessly that they would have avoided in the days when the numbers were fewer.

Basically, Otocinclus, any of the Corys, and other Tetras go well with Cardinals. They'll also live fairly happily with Rasboras, small Barbs and a range of other 'conventional' community fishes. If you can acquire a larger aquarium (which will increase your options anyway) and get 12 or more, then the results will knock your socks off - they really shine in big numbers! Furthermore, a larger aquarium will allow you to have other fishes in numbers too - so you could do what I've done and put 10 Pandas in with them (now 12 because they've been breeding again and I have 2 little ones accompanying the parents!).

They tend to go a bit pale during the disturbance accompanying a water change and gravel vac (which I did earlier today) but once they've settled again and they're rejoicing in their new clean water, they become little jewels. Just to show you how happy my fish currently are, the Pandas are buzzing around up and down the glass, nosing in the Java Moss, and look as if they're getting frisky ready for another spawning, while the Cardinals are playing 'tag' with each other around the Amazon Swordplant at the centre of the aquarium - and the Cardinals are showing themselves at the front without a hint of skittishness.

By the way, if you DO get a larger shoal, they attack food like little sharks when it hits the water - smaller groups in my experience tend to be 'stealth feeders' and you have to watch closely to see them eat, while big shoals dive in and tug away at the flakes for all the world like underwater versions of Jack Russell terriers worrying bones from the butchers!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002