Cardinals

[joeyg2100]

Finally my tank has cycled after a month, so I went out and bought some Cardinals. There was only one store in town that had them and there where really small. 1/2" and less in size. I had them in there over night and berfore I went to bed they where acting fine. Schooled real nice, acted like everything was great. I shut the lights off over night so about 8-10 hours the lights our off. I woke up this morning and turned on the lights and all of the cardinals where spread out throughout the tank, and sitting on the bottom and they all had lost their color At first I thought that they all had died. I left the room for about 10 minutes and came back in and they all where schooled again, regained there color and acted normal. I put some food in there and they all went crazy for it.

The question is. Do they always act like this when the lights go out? Am I tuning the lights off for to long? Any info would help. I spent a good amount of money on these tiny guys and I would hate to lose them because they are so beuatiful fish, and when they are schooled to gether they look awsome. Thanks this forum has helped me out a lot in setting up my tank.

[gourami]

they probably seperated in the night because they were sleeping. cardinals can sometimes look pale in the moning, not sure why it is though. probably something about the light reflecting off of the 'crystals' that they have to make the colour that they have

[Rob1eddy]

That was the result of sleeping.

[indiginess]

ditto on the 'sleeping' thing

IME, alot of smaller tetras act that way. my cardinals, and now black neons do the same thing for a little while during/after a big waterchange. a gravel vac scares the he11 outta them.

[SnowHeart]

Same thing happens with mine. Not sure if its sleeping or the light, but it does happen, and they're back to "normal" within ten or fifteen minutes. Nothing to worry about.

[pbrack]

I would just watch out with having the lights on 14-16 hours though (or off 8-10 hours). You may start getting some algea problems.

[Roan Art]

That's kinda neat. My rainbows are the exact opposite. When I turn the lights on in the morning they are at their brightest oranges and yellows and the darkest greens and blues.

Heck, I wish it was the other way around and they were like that all the time :)

Roan

[joeyg2100]

Ya I know that I need to start cutting the lighting back. I am going to get a timer for them, and then set it so the lights are on for about 10 hours. I have to get up early in the morning so I turn the lights on when I get up to feed them. THen I shut them off before I got to bed. I was also planning on getting a automatic feeder so they will get fed when the lights turn on. I guess we will see.

[Puffernewbee]

My neons and cardinals almost turn grey over night. They spead out all over the tank, some sleeping in the gravel some floating vertically among the plant leaves, and some just floating out in the wide open.i Obviously it is a safety thing when they sleep at night. You probably do not want to go to sleep in the wild in neon jammies. As you notices, once the lights come back on they get their color back.

[indiginess]

You probably do not want to go to sleep in the wild in neon jammies.

hahhhahhahaaa... thats funny

and a great observation

[stingray4540]

Are your cardinals still alive? Mine did that the first night I had them and then the following day they kicked the bucket one by one.

[joeyg2100]

Yep all still a live and thriving. They did the same thing this morning. It is kind of funny to watch. Most of them today where floating about 6" off the gravel. When I turn the lights on they all just start to sink to the bottom until they hit it. Then they start swiming. It is like they smack there head and the finally wake up. Gosh I am glad I decided to get a fish tank

[juan]

Don’t worry is a result of sleeping habits, please turn on your room lights 20 minutes before turning on the lights of the tank, to avoid the stress their suffer with a sudden light change.

Regards