Is this a cardinal tetra?

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dwayne

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Jul 12, 2001
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According to AC's pictures, this is a cardinal tetra:





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.)


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

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Oct 15, 2003
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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

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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

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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
 

dwayne

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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
 

MSmith

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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

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Jul 12, 2001
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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
 
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