Neons vs Cardinals - seeking opinions

M

msquared

AC Members
Jan 31, 2008
207
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16
St. Charles, Missouri
Okay, so my daughter wants a school/schoal* of Neons or Cardinals. I have a 20-gal with 4 male guppies and 4 peppered cories. If figure on getting six of one kind of these tetras or the other. The tank is finally winding down its full cycle, and I plan on a 50% water change tonight now that nitrites have hit zero.

I wonder which of these two choices is really the better fish? There are many resources saying that Cardinals are more fragile, but many others saying that Neon stock these days is poor and disease-prone and that if you can get the Cardinals acclimated at first without dying, they are usually reasonably safe from then on. I plan to keep my pH around 7.0, my temp at 76*F, and use weekly 20% w/c to keep nitrates close to 10 (which is my tap water baseline). I'm posting here because I'm still a newbie, but I feel like I have a decent handle on keeping the basic water parameters in check. I have LFSs around me with good supply of both Cardinals and Neons.

I seek opinions of any and everyone to help me decide!
 
I have both and have had no problems with either. I prefer the cardinals as they get a little larger and are more vibrant. As long as your LFS has healthy stock, its safe to try either. Just acclimate them slowly.
 
Total novice here...

I've heard that both are sensitive fish. The owner of the LFS told me if I wanted 10 neons, get 20, they die that easily. He said they are sensitive to transport shock. He told me he gets his out of Florida and they have softer water there. The transition to our harder water in this region can be hard on them.

I asked about cardinals and he said they were even more sensitive.....

That's what I've been told. I've not tried them since I lost 4 of them doing a fishy cycle with Biospira, which I was assured would work by a LFS employee (different store than the above info). I'll never fishy cycle again!
 
Cardinals, and get 8 of them. Wait a few weeks for the tank to age a tiny bit (was this a fishy cycle?).
 
I prefer Cardinals to Neons for their size and larger red stripe, but it's really just a matter of taste. Whichever species you pick, those weekly water changes will help keep them happy. :thm:
 
Dwarf Puffers said:
Wait a few weeks for the tank to age a tiny bit (was this a fishy cycle?).
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Yes, this was a fishy cycle. It's a long story, but an unfamiliar one: I didn't set out to do things that way on purpose, and was advised incorrectly by an LFS. The tank is aged overall - it's been up and running with fish about two months and only now is it completely cycled. But the guppies and cories that are in there are very acclimated and all the decor and such was in there from day one.

In acclimating either tetra, I thought I would let them float 15 minutes, then open the bag and let a little tank water in and let them float a while longer, and repeat that process a few times before emptying them into the tank. Sound good?

Thanks for the feedback so far. More opinions welcome, btw!
 
msquared said:
In acclimating either tetra, I thought I would let them float 15 minutes, then open the bag and let a little tank water in and let them float a while longer, and repeat that process a few times before emptying them into the tank. Sound good?
Click to expand...

Sounds reasonable to me. I'd add a 1/4-cup of tank water every fifteen minutes for 60-90 minutes, then net the fish and release them into the tank.
 
it depends on your water, i have hard and half of the year its acidic, the other its netrual, cardinals like soft water which i don't have, so i went with neons and never had trouble, they arn't really sensitive they are just over and in bred and that makes them weak,

my fist ones are still here and have cycled many tanks for me, the first and then after i set up their larger one, and never had trouble, but i used biospira, also. but the water make up is very important, for cardinals the ones at the lfs are always looking bad cause their water is hard also,.. so it helps to reserch their like of the kind of water you have, you can always change it but then it gets kinds tireing to do the stay with the water you have, and match the fish..
 
* Oh yeah, I forgot to ask: what's the difference between shoaling and schooling, or a shoal of fish and school of fish?
 
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