Hey does anyone have any anwsers to why I have trouble keeping cardinal tetras or have any suggestions to any other school fish besides neons?
Cardinal Tetras
- Thread starter xxfoxmtbxx
- Start date
They're just hard fish to acclimate. Very sensitive at first, but once established they are very hardy.
Just try acclimating them slower to your water.
Just try acclimating them slower to your water.
yupsPurpleSmurf said:
they are quite fragile to start with, but once you get going, it's like they never die.
People use neon/cardinals for cycling their tanks for a reason =)
that's interesting, i didn't know thatrandalizm said:
i would have thought it was the other way around
Cardinals can be tricky sometimes as many have alluded to already. The problem is the way they are handled and come in. They have a very long journey from Brazil. They are caught for pennies by the 1000's by local Indian boys who then sell them to dealers. They are splashed around stressed to the max for maybe a week or more before they reach the exporter in Manuas Brazil. Then they must be exported to the USA where they are sold to a importer who holds them, if its a reputable one he will QT them for a week (not many do you may guess), they they go get shipped out again to regional wholesalers all over the country. Finally they go to your local petshops then to you. Imagine all that stress. It’s a miracle they make it. All along their journey they get stressed and are exposed to many many fish and with them many parasites.
Cardinals are really a pretty hardy fish as someone already mentioned once you get them over this initial period. The key to healthy Cardinals is to start with ones that look good. These have been handled by the best dealers and will give you your best chance for success. Go in weekly to a few shops watch the cardinals. Are they dying? How are their fins? Look for spots on their skin? Observe them. When you see some healthy ones that have been around a week or better yet two weeks buy them. These are robust and have been handled fairly well.
Now here is what you can do for them. QT yes quarantine them. Let me tell you I have been breeding fish for over 17 years. Last year Hurricane charley wiped out my fishrooms and I lost all my fish. I was without fish for a long while. One day I setup a 10-gallon planted tank in the small house I rented for my family until our home was rebuilt. I went out to a petshop brought some cardinals home. I didn’t QT them and yea they were sick with ICK I nearly killed all my fish in the tank. Always QT your fish.
I have imported many fish direct from Brazil and here is how I handle wild cardinals. I learned this from an old German friend of mine named Phil who Owned Amazon Imports of Davie Florida back in the 80’s and 90’s. I could tell you some cool stories about him and that place but man this is getting long already!
First cardinals like dark water they hate light. They will adapt to it but when they are stressed lets them adjust slowly and regain their strength. Filter your QT water over peatmoss. This does two things shades the water and reduces your bacteria levels (peat is natures natural antibacterial) and adds natural tannins to the water. These are found in their native waters. I then hit them with FMC, which is a combination of formaldehyde, Malachite green, and Methyl blue. You can just use quick cure it is very similar. Use one drop per gallon for three days. During this time do a 50% water change everyday being sure to redose the medication. Feed them light at first we want no uneaten food in the QT tank. The medication kills off the parasites they will most likely have and the water changes helps them regain their strength and really stimulates them to regain their vitality. After 3 days do a full water cchange and remove the medication with carbon. I then feed them medicated flake food that has metronidazole. This will remove internal parasites.( You can buy this food from FTFFA click on CO OP store to buy the meds Begin feeding them high quality foods especially newly hatched brine shrimp and plump them up. In no time you will have fat Cardinals that will reward you with many years of enjoyment. I have had some live 6 plus years.
Having said all of that. You can skip all of this by just getting tank raised cardinals! They are being bred all the time now by commercial breeders in Europe, Florida and Asia. There is even a Gold Cardinal tetra and a Diamond Cardinal tetra all color varieties of the same old Cardinal. I am breeding some wild Cardinals now and ill post my story herein a few days when I get a chance to write it up.
Here is a picture of the new Gold Cardinal produced by European commercial breeders. Cardinals are no longer hard to breed they are being produced commercialy bothe in Europe and in the USA. The day will come soon when all the Cardinals are tank bred.
Cardinals are really a pretty hardy fish as someone already mentioned once you get them over this initial period. The key to healthy Cardinals is to start with ones that look good. These have been handled by the best dealers and will give you your best chance for success. Go in weekly to a few shops watch the cardinals. Are they dying? How are their fins? Look for spots on their skin? Observe them. When you see some healthy ones that have been around a week or better yet two weeks buy them. These are robust and have been handled fairly well.
Now here is what you can do for them. QT yes quarantine them. Let me tell you I have been breeding fish for over 17 years. Last year Hurricane charley wiped out my fishrooms and I lost all my fish. I was without fish for a long while. One day I setup a 10-gallon planted tank in the small house I rented for my family until our home was rebuilt. I went out to a petshop brought some cardinals home. I didn’t QT them and yea they were sick with ICK I nearly killed all my fish in the tank. Always QT your fish.
I have imported many fish direct from Brazil and here is how I handle wild cardinals. I learned this from an old German friend of mine named Phil who Owned Amazon Imports of Davie Florida back in the 80’s and 90’s. I could tell you some cool stories about him and that place but man this is getting long already!
First cardinals like dark water they hate light. They will adapt to it but when they are stressed lets them adjust slowly and regain their strength. Filter your QT water over peatmoss. This does two things shades the water and reduces your bacteria levels (peat is natures natural antibacterial) and adds natural tannins to the water. These are found in their native waters. I then hit them with FMC, which is a combination of formaldehyde, Malachite green, and Methyl blue. You can just use quick cure it is very similar. Use one drop per gallon for three days. During this time do a 50% water change everyday being sure to redose the medication. Feed them light at first we want no uneaten food in the QT tank. The medication kills off the parasites they will most likely have and the water changes helps them regain their strength and really stimulates them to regain their vitality. After 3 days do a full water cchange and remove the medication with carbon. I then feed them medicated flake food that has metronidazole. This will remove internal parasites.( You can buy this food from FTFFA click on CO OP store to buy the meds Begin feeding them high quality foods especially newly hatched brine shrimp and plump them up. In no time you will have fat Cardinals that will reward you with many years of enjoyment. I have had some live 6 plus years.
Having said all of that. You can skip all of this by just getting tank raised cardinals! They are being bred all the time now by commercial breeders in Europe, Florida and Asia. There is even a Gold Cardinal tetra and a Diamond Cardinal tetra all color varieties of the same old Cardinal. I am breeding some wild Cardinals now and ill post my story herein a few days when I get a chance to write it up.
Here is a picture of the new Gold Cardinal produced by European commercial breeders. Cardinals are no longer hard to breed they are being produced commercialy bothe in Europe and in the USA. The day will come soon when all the Cardinals are tank bred.
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cardinals
About a year ago a fellow up in New York, "perish the though", told me about a nice little trick to keeping cardinal tetras alive. Feed them baby brine shrimp for the first several days. They will just about always accept that and start eating from the first day. I have not lost one single Cardinal since I started doing that.
About a year ago a fellow up in New York, "perish the though", told me about a nice little trick to keeping cardinal tetras alive. Feed them baby brine shrimp for the first several days. They will just about always accept that and start eating from the first day. I have not lost one single Cardinal since I started doing that.