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I am getting a school of 6 cardinals for my 30 gallon tank, and I will be keeping them in:
Ph:6.8-7.0
Gh:8dGH
Temp:24-26
Will these be ok for them? I was wondering what the best food is for them? I will be feeding them flakes, algae flakes, frozen and live food. What type of live and frozen foods are the best to enhance their colours?

Thankyou!

Labrakitty

1. How are you bringing your ph down?
2. What are the dimensions of the tank?

I don't know really. My tap water is around 7.0. How do I get the Ph down? I know how to get the gh down though. The dimensions of the tank are: 63 long, 50 wide and 40 high. About 120 litres taking away glass, 1cm at the top,and things like that.

Thanks for answering so quickly!

Labrakitty

I heard of adding driftwood to make the ph go down. You really don't want to use the chemicals to bring it down though.
Why are you trying to bring it down? 7.0 is a good ph. Fish can adapt so I wouldn't worry about changing it.

If your tap is 7, then you really don't need to worry about messing with the pH, don't use any chemicals because they are very dangerous and never work.

Wow... I have never heard of a tank with those dimensions. Sounds pretty nice though.

These fish need a slow acclimization to keep you from having die off. I would recommend dripping them for at least 1-2 hours before netting them in the aquarium.

Food wise they eat flakes, frozen blood worms and just about anything else that can fit in their mouths. As long as you feed them a decent flake food their color will be optimal. Things that actually affect their color are gravel, background color, water quality and lighting.

I haven't really noticed that they're all that delicate -- with one exception which I'll get to in a moment. They do just fine in neutral water, and mine have been surviving very well without prolonged climatization. They also seem less susceptible to disease than a lot of other tetras I've dealt with -- apparently even including Neon Disease (thank God). They can get it, but it's tremendously rarer in them -- both because they're wild-caught before they arrive in stores, and because they actually do seem more resistant to it than Neons (and many other tetras) are.

But they are even more sensitive to even the tiniest trace of soap or detergent in your tank than most Tropicals. I once got a drop or two of mild hand soap on my thermometer, put it back without noticing this into the 50-gallon library tank that I maintain, and the next day I'd lost $20 worth of fish -- almost all of them Cardinals. (It took me a day to figure out what had happened.)

How do you drip them? I am going to use lots of bogwood. If you have hgiher Gh, does the ph rise?

Labrakitty

Flakes and frozen food is best for them and will lead to a healthier tetra. The occasional live food may work but can result in bloat. If possible i would look to increase the school to around ten.

acclimate them, that's about all i can say.

If you dont, they will die within a matter of weeks.

Anyways, pH doesnt really matter, I have cardnials, and in a 3 week period, my pH might go from 7 - 6 back up to 7 again.

Hi,

I've got 7 Cardinals and they're about 7 or 8 years old (the oldest) and I never had any problem with them.
I almost never check my Ph, Kh, Gh, Nitrates and nitrites, but I was just thinking of doing that tonight. If your Ph is 7 you do not have to do anything about that.

My Cardinals did not even get sick when I dropped them in my new tank, after it had cycled for about 2 weeks. I thought of dropping them in cause I didn't mind if they died, but they all survived and are still in pretty good health right now.

Why would you get a school of 6 while 7 is even nicer or 10. I've always been told that if you have a small school you should keep odd numbers and at about 10 you can keep even numbers, like 10 or 20. Odd numbers looks nicer with small fish in small schools.

greetings
D.