View Full Version : Cardinals and Glo-Lite tetras.. Need tankmates???
fishnfst
10-21-2005, 5:50 PM
Hello all like the title sez I have 12 cardinal tetras, 12 Glo Lites, 3 yoyo loaches and 6 panda Cory's. Oh yeah one sailfin Pleco as well... They are all currently housed in my 40g. The fish won't school they just kind of mill around aimlessly:) I don't think they are sick I just think they are a little too comfortable... My water temp is 82 degrees. Is this too hot? This had been a grow out tank for my Manguense's so it has an extraordinary amount of filtration and they had liked it on the warm side...
Should I try and add some other kind of fish to get them riled up? I like the cardinals originally because they were schooling fish... Does anyone have any recommendations for other fish to mix in to add a little fear but no actual danger;) I had looked at German Rams and they are sure beautiful fish but I have a feeling my cardinals will end up as fish food... I need some dithers for my dithers:)
Any and all suggestions would be much appreciated.... If you give scientific names please also include the common names as well....
secretmuscles
10-21-2005, 10:07 PM
some "peaceful" nice looking fish that might go with your setup are maybe some rose line sharks or some "dwarf" gourami. You could also try maybe some angel fish. All of these fish are big enough to get your neons and glow lights to start schooling.
wwildcats04
10-21-2005, 10:38 PM
gourami of any sort is that all that "peaceful" I'd watch out even for the honey gourami... they arent bad but they also are not the nicest
pikwik
10-21-2005, 10:55 PM
why don't you put a pair of blue rams in with them :bday:
secretmuscles
10-21-2005, 11:07 PM
gourami of any sort is that all that "peaceful" I'd watch out even for the honey gourami... they arent bad but they also are not the nicest
though most gourami arent very "peaceful" they can be put into community tanks. A school of fish to a gourami may appear very intimidating and making it difficult to single out a specific fish to pick on. The only reason i reccomended gourami was that it would make the fish school a little bit nicer. Make sure you dont add more than 2 or 3 of them.
NoчnoyGostь
10-22-2005, 7:02 AM
I'm not sure, but I think that most gouramis are a little on the large side for cardinals, I'd stick to dwarf gouramis.
Roan Art
10-22-2005, 7:20 AM
gourami of any sort is that all that "peaceful" I'd watch out even for the honey gourami... they arent bad but they also are not the nicestNo kidding! My honey gourami ATE at least of 4 of my neon tetras before I realized what was going and took her out. Then the smaller blue gourami was eating them and I took HIM out. Next thing I know the last gourami is attacking my rainbows and now he's out of there.
Sheesh!
Roan
fishnfst
10-22-2005, 9:49 AM
OK OK so gourami's are out... I have some big ones downstairs think 8"+ with my cichlids and they are definitely fish eaters... I don't know about the smaller ones.... The rams seems like they could be eaters as well... Great looking fish from what I've seen though... Maybe thats what they need though... I put a redtailed shark in there last night but I don't think it puts the fear in them... :) They are unaffected by his wild antics...
It seems like wild caught cardinals school better.. These are tank bred and raised. At the LFS where I got them they had about 400 of them in a 75g and they schooled nicely. There was one german ram in the tank with them that was tiny maybe 1.25"
I just don't want to end up with something that I am going to have to move later on... This tank is the last stop before you go to the big house downstairs ie Midas, Red Devils, Parrots, Buttikofferi, Spotted Shovelnose, Manguense and an assortment of bumblebee cats.... I don't think any fish that doesn't fit in the cardinal tank wants to go downstairs to the "fishroom" They would be much happier upstairs in the living room tank... :)
fishnfst
10-22-2005, 9:59 AM
One other question.. How much current do the cardinals like?
fishnfst
10-24-2005, 10:57 PM
NEONE else??? My other LFS recommended I add a small school of 3 discus... Big enough to make them nervous but peaceful enough that my cardinals won't become fish food....
Roan Art
10-25-2005, 7:30 AM
NEONE else??? My other LFS recommended I add a small school of 3 discus... Big enough to make them nervous but peaceful enough that my cardinals won't become fish food....Discus in a 40g tank?
HAHAAHAHAHHAHAH!
Sorry, but you need to shoot your LFS staff :) Although I've seen some sites say 20-30 gallons, the minimum tank size for a discus is 50-55 gallons. They can grow up to 8".
Roan
reiverix
10-25-2005, 8:18 AM
I don't know if I'd add anything else at all. You've got almost as many fish as I have in my 75g and I thought I was pushing the limit.
One thing I've noticed about my cardinals is that when my first light goes off, they start to form a really nice tight school, but during the day they are scattered all over the tank.