tips for cardinal tetras please!

[dereks]

The only fish I have been unsuccessful with is the cardinal tetra, I'm not taking no for an answer.

My plan is this, a 20 gallon with subdued lighting, some tint to cover parts of the light. RO water, gradually introducing them to the ph change through bi-weekly 10% water changes. Driftwood and fake plants for hiding spots (fake plants because the RO water will lack nutrients for a planted aquarium, and I'm not messing with ferts in this tank given my unsuccessful history with these guys.) I'm planning on a total of 15 cardinal tetras.

Tips anyone?

 

[discuspaul]

So far your plan sounds pretty good - but what pH level are you shooting for, how are you planning to arrange it, and how will you maintain it's stability ? And what's the pH of your water out of the tap ?

Bi-weekly 10% wcs shouldn't be a factor in altering anything negatively in your tank water.
Suggest you keep your temp around the 80 F level, or slightly higher.
I would also suggest you consider weekly wcs, and a good tank cleansing routine while you're at it.
I've found they do well in a discus tank environment - so seem to thrive under similar good quality water conditions & params, which I feel you strive to maintain.

 

[dereks]

Well actually I don't know what PH I'm shooting for, come to think of it. The RO water I have is around 6, my tap is way higher. Normally I don't mess with altering PH because it's never seemed to make a difference, my fish have always stayed healthy without worrying about it. The only reason I'm messing with it now is because I've been unsuccessful with these guys in the past, I'm guessing there are two contributing factors to their stress, bright lights and high PH.

 

[rufioman]

Buy quality stock, too :thumbsup:

 

[funkman262]

Bi-weekly is an erroneous term as it could mean twice a week or every other week, so that needs some clarification. You should check the pH coming out of the tap. I believe that one should pick fish based on the characteristics of the available water; it'll cause much less stress and both the fish and the owner. Fighting the pH can become too great a battle to keep up with. If you have hard water with a high pH, then maybe you should consider african cichlids or other varieties that thrive in high pH water. If you're set on cardinal tetras, then you should find out the water parameters (pH, hardness, etc.) of the water that they're kept in at the store. They may already be adapted to a pH similar to yours and putting them in low pH water may do more harm than good. If they are adapted to a low pH, then gradually increasing the pH to that of your tap water is a good idea.

 

[Symbol]

I've seen peat filtration recommended for cardinal tetras and SA leaf fish and whatnot before. Then again, I've also been told that peat isn't worth faffing about with, so... YMMV.
Tannins in the water (driftwood) are also supposed to be good and it looks like you've got that covered.
It might also be worth trying to find out whether the fish you're getting are wild caught or captive bred. That'll probably make a difference too. (My understanding is that cardinals are often/usually wild caught.)

Off-topic: "Bi-weekly" is more ambiguous than erroneous, but now I'm just being pedantic. Don't mind me.

Good luck!

 

[Fish on Fire]

You could buy captive bred cardinals that were raised in neutral water and are much more forgiving than their wildcaught counterparts.

 

[discuspaul]

I believe the point to focus in on here is not to mess with the pH at all.
Cardinals are native to softer waters of the Amazon tributaries of S.A. - similar areas to Discus, so it would seem a lower pH would be more acceptable. You're using RO water with pH around 6.0, and assuming your tank water is also maintaining pH near that level, that should be just fine for Cardinals.

And just for the record, the term 'bi-weekly' is neither erroneous nor ambiguous.
It is quite specific, and means every second week, or every two weeks, whereas it is the term 'semi-weekly' that means twice a week.

 

[Fractalis]

You could buy captive bred cardinals that were raised in neutral water and are much more forgiving than their wildcaught counterparts.

YES

 

[funkman262]

And just for the record, the term 'bi-weekly' is neither erroneous nor ambiguous.
It is quite specific, and means every second week, or every two weeks, whereas it is the term 'semi-weekly' that means twice a week.

Not according to the merriam-webster dictionary which is the widely accepted source for definitions, which states:

Definition of BIWEEKLY

1: occurring twice a week

2: occurring every two weeks