Is this a cardinal tetra?

[dwayne]

According to AC's pictures, this is a cardinal tetra:


http://www.aquariacentral.com/pictures/cardinal2.jpg


This is what I bought (awhile back at petsmart), that was labelled as a cardinal tetra, but now I have my doubts... totally horrible picture, but get the point (they are right above the cucumber slices.)
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4da08b3127ccebde810e418e60000001610

What I have are clearly NOT cardinal tetras -- or are they? Mine have absolutely no blue on them at all. Their bodies are totally gray, and their stripe is bright red. Could they be cardinal tetras and just are sick or something and never developed blue colorings (none of them in the petsmart tank had blue, and they never developed blue when I got them home, though their red got much brighter once they were settled in my tank).

Any ideas? TIA!
~Tara

[tomm10]

I can't tell 100% from teh photo but color can be misleading when trying to determine which fish is which. Looking at the body shape and fins they look the same as the cardinals. The color difference could be from lighting, decorations, health, etc.

Tom

[MSmith]

I don't have a picture, but the picture and your description sound almost like a glow-light tetra. A google search should pull up some pictures that you can use to compare.

Melissa

[dwayne]

Thanks Tom... like I said their red brightened 100% after they were in my tank for a day. I'm pretty sure they're healthy, my water parameters are perfect. They are identical to the AC picture, except no blue coloring. Odd!!

~Tara

[tomm10]

Melissa may have a point. It could be a glow light.
http://www.giveusahome.co.uk/allpets/fish/glowlighttetra.jpg

[dwayne]

Melissa, you're a genious!!!! :D That's definately my fish!! Though in that picture the stripe looks pink, and I think mine are red... though wait a minute, they could be hot pink... yeah, that's it -- Glow light Tetras.

Way to go PetsMart on the accurate labelling information!

~Tara

[tomm10]

Inaccuracies at Petsmart!? Outrageous! Surely you jest (I know I do).

Tom

[MSmith]

Glad I could help! Their stripe color can vary a lot. When mine get stressed--usually for a few minutes around a water change or for several days after I moved them to a new tank--the stripe is a faded pink. Normally it's a bright orange-red that glows. They're great little fish though. Peaceful and hardy enough to withstand my newbie mistakes.

Melissa

[dwayne]

LOL Tom!

Melissa ~ I started out w/ 10 of these tetras in my tank and am down to 2. No dead bodies to be found anywhere, so I'm led to believe that my rainbow shark ate them, or they were transported to an alien ship... the remaining 2 are very hardy and fun to watch (much more fun than neon tetras, who just swim back and forth)!!

~Tara