Will cardinal tetras be fine with........

[Mooch28]

2 Pearl Gouramis
1 Gold Gourami (extremely calm------rare)
1 Dwarf Gourami
2 Diamond tetras
2 Clown Loaches
1 Male/female pair of apistos
2 Bushy nose plecos (one albine, one regular black)
2 Hill stream loaches
6 Otto cats
3 Algae eating shrimp


The tank is Heavily planted, and is around 72 gallons. It's a bow, so higher rather then deep. Anyways, my question is not about stocking levels as i get rid of fish as they out grow the tank or move them to another tank, but rather about compatibility. Im thinking of adding 25+ Cardinals to the tank from my other smaller tank to give some more colour. Im not sure though if they will harrasement free, with the current group of fish i have??

Any ideas??

 

[patoloco]

2 Pearl Gouramis
1 Gold Gourami (extremely calm------rare)
1 Dwarf Gourami
2 Diamond tetras
2 Clown Loaches
1 Male/female pair of apistos
2 Bushy nose plecos (one albine, one regular black)
2 Hill stream loaches
6 Otto cats
3 Algae eating shrimp

None of the other fishes seem to pi piscivousous, so, at least, they are not likely to become snacks.

Be careful with the overcrwding condition, and remember cardinal tetras require an established mature tank in order to survive.

 

[Mooch28]

2 Pearl Gouramis
1 Gold Gourami (extremely calm------rare)
1 Dwarf Gourami
2 Diamond tetras
2 Clown Loaches
1 Male/female pair of apistos
2 Bushy nose plecos (one albine, one regular black)
2 Hill stream loaches
6 Otto cats
3 Algae eating shrimp

None of the other fishes seem to pi piscivousous, so, at least, they are not likely to become snacks.

Be careful with the overcrwding condition, and remember cardinal tetras require an established mature tank in order to survive.

The tank is very well established and is well over a year old. So it is mature enough. Iv actually had the cardinals in a tank that only 2 months old, and they have done very well. Didn't loose a single one.

 

[patoloco]

Give it a try. Just pay atention to the other fish behavior and if everything goes fine, you'll have a very beautiful tank

 

[Mooch28]

Give it a try. Just pay atention to the other fish behavior and if everything goes fine, you'll have a very beautiful tank

Ya, im gona throw in 6 or 7 for now and see how it goes.

Thanks for the help Patoloco. Appreciate it!!

 

[anonapersona]

Quarantine!!!!

Do NOT go out and buy cardinals and put them right into your tank! You really need to Quarantine these fish, you risk losing all your old fish if they come in with columnaris or something from shipping, or with parasites from being wild caught. You can keep 30 cardinals in a 10 gallon bare bottom tank with cycled filtration and large water changes for 4 weeks before adding them to your big tank -- been there, done that. Trust me, it is well worth the investment to buy a new 10 gallon at Walmart and a sponge filter to do this, or you may lose all your old fish. Last time I added 7 new unquarantined cardinals to the 25 I had, I lost 22 cardinals.

 

[patoloco]

Listen to the last post. A very good point indeed. Have those cardinal been with you for 2 months or you recently added them to a 2 months old tank?

 

[TKOS]

I believe that he is planning on adding 6-7 of his already 25 cardinals from the smaller tank to see how well they interact with the occupants of the larger tank.

Other than potential overcrowding, the fish already in the large tank should not be overly aggressive with cardinals. Gouramis can be a bit touchy sometimes but most likely they will be more wary of each other than some cardinals. With lots of plants you may find that the cardinals hide much of time. My rummy nose tetras do in my 20 gallon that is heavily planted with a gourami that keeps them in check.

 

[Mooch28]

Thanks for the heads up guys.

I threw some cardinals from my old tank into the new one, and so far all is good. Infact, they are surprisingly not hiding at all. Even though there are some bigger fish in the tank. Time will tell though.

Thanks again!

 

[Mooch28]

Do NOT go out and buy cardinals and put them right into your tank! You really need to Quarantine these fish, you risk losing all your old fish if they come in with columnaris or something from shipping, or with parasites from being wild caught. You can keep 30 cardinals in a 10 gallon bare bottom tank with cycled filtration and large water changes for 4 weeks before adding them to your big tank -- been there, done that. Trust me, it is well worth the investment to buy a new 10 gallon at Walmart and a sponge filter to do this, or you may lose all your old fish. Last time I added 7 new unquarantined cardinals to the 25 I had, I lost 22 cardinals.

I have a quarintine tank, and it is infact a 10 gallon from wallmart. Like you, when i first started this hobby i had a fatal loos of many fish.

Having said that though, the place i get my fish from is extremely careful with the stock they sell. Out of everyone i know that shops there (i know quite a few), they have very surprisingly never had any problems. Even when i had my first problem it was not with the fish from that store.

But ya, quarintine i agree on in any case!!