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I've never kept either of these tetra and would like to know a little about them. For instance do they really grow to 5cm?
How timid or active are these fish?
What section of the water column do they normally inhabit?
Are they particularly sensitive to tank conditions or problems after water changes etc?
Would they go well with a pair of Bolivian rams or a CAE?

Cardinal tetras- They do grow to five cm. These fish can be shy when in a new aquarium, but tend to become more active as they get used to their surroundings. They’re fairly boisterous once settled in, and will chase each other quite a bit. I’ve found that mine prefer the middle-bottom area of the tank, though that might be because my lemons dominate the mid-top section. They are reputedly delicate, but I’ve found that this is not true if the water is kept fairly clean. 20% weekly water changes should be just fine. They’d be compatible with the rams, I don’t know about the CAE. Those fish get mean as they age, though I don’t know if they would bother with small schooling fish like cardinal tetras.

Black neon tetras- Also grow to five cm. A little more shy than cardinals, but nevertheless are somewhat active. They’re pretty good schoolers, especially if they are compelled to school by tankmates. They tend to hang out in the middle of the tank, though more active tankmates can force them towards the top or the bottom. They’re fairly hardy, as long as decent water quality is established. Compatibility is the same as with the cardinals.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

I've never kept cardinals, but they're supposedly easy to keep as long as you keep your tank clean.

I do have a school of black neons. In my experience they are great schoolers, and get a little bigger than cards. They still have that "smaller, longer" terta shape, but they are a little taller. They're also quite hardy! My school has survived 2 ick outbreaks and I didn't lose a single fish. Mine seem to prefer the top of the tank, just below the surface.

><>Dani<><

Yes, Black Neons school together & they hang out in a mid-higher tank position. They don't school as much as Rummynose Tetra, but yes, they school & they'll be fine with Rams.


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Last edited by jasonpisani at 27-May-2005 09:15

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A couple of my Black neons love to swim against the current caused by my canister filter output pipe, they do school together and they are hardy. They do grow to 5cms and mine are nearly there.

Cardinals are more delicate but are fine in groups, they dont school so tightly but they do school, dont go for neons as i have these aswell and IMHO i believe that they are overly bred and most that are sold, at $1 or so mind you, have lost the true genes they once had, making them a weaker fish. Cardinals are more expensive but worth it!

Last edited by Hasi at 27-May-2005 12:17

Cardinals. Ah. I've had these for nearly nine years now.

They tend to be e to acclimatisation shock if they are small. Larger Cardinals fare better when transferred from one aquarium to another. Small ones start behaving as though they are having epileptic fits if their transfer isn't handled with a fair amount of care, but larger ones are more robust.

Once acclimatised, they will settle in nicely. Give them planted areas combined with open swimming areas, and provide them with peaceful companions such as Panda Corys and Otocinclus, and they'll be very happy indeed.

Take note that they do tend to become a tad pale and washed out during the disturbance accompanying a water change and gravel vac, but they soon colour up again once they have their nice clean water and de-gunked gravel bed to enjoy.

My Cardinals also exhibit a trait that may be somewhat unusual. They appear to be 'stealth feeders'. If you watch them, it can be difficult to determine if they are actually eating when the food goes in. But then they do have the Lemons and the Beckford's Pencil Fishes putting on a show of unabashed gluttony for comparison, never mind the nutty Pandas! However, mine must be eating something from all the food I put in, because the oldest of the current batch is now nearly 7 years old!

Oh, and if you feed them colour enhancement flakes from an early age, the red part of the body becomes practically like cut ruby. If you can put a big shoal in a long, shallow aquarium, the resulting spectacle is wonderful to behold. Chester Zoo (about 30 minutes' drive from my home) had 200 of them on their own in a species aquarium - a glorious sight!

Give them live foods, and you'll also notice something else. One, disease resistance is greatly enhanced, and two, when diseases do strike, recovery times from an attack of fin rot, for example (which struck mine last year) can be halved. Usually, you're looking at 7 days medicating, followed by 7 days of recovery. I carpet bombed mine with live Daphnia during the medication period and they were almost back to normal before the 7 days of medication was up! This works with many fish species, but seems to be particularly effective with Cardinals for some reason. Bear this in mind, feed them lots of live food, and you should end up with a nice shoal of healthy, long lived Cardinals. As I said above, the oldest of my current batch is around 7 years old!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Just make sure ur Tank is planted with living plants. Candinal can get kind of tricky when u add them to new tank. I my self have like 5 x die due to the reason of stress. If you have some old fish inside ur tank already that would be helpful to help lower the stress of those fish. Specially tetras species .