Adding Cardinals to Tank..

[Tracey73]

Now that everything is back to normal and my discus and I survived last weekends nightmare, I wish to get some more tetras.. Are these ok to add straight into the tank? I am very paranoid about adding anything to my tank now

[Matt15]

Tracey cardinals will be fine. The only problem i've had with them is my Discus enjoy eating them for midnight snacks.
Cardinal colours really complement some of the discus varieties out there which is why they are so popular.

Another tetra you should consider is the Runmy nose.... which have the red faces and zebra tails.

[Indigo D]

I once added some 12 Tetras into my discus tank. They only lasted less than a week. Then no traces at all, not even some body parts leftovers or anything. I guess my discus fishes love these Tetras so much.... as snacks

[TW]

I have been lucky. The first batch of cardinals added were not a bad size. None were eaten & they look really great in there. I then bought another batch, but didn't realise how much smaller these new guys were. I worried these tiny guys would become a snack. It's been several weeks now. I can't really count them, but they seem to all be there. The discus appear to ignore them.

Good luck with yours, if you try them.

[TW]

I have been lucky. The first batch of cardinals added were not a bad size. None were eaten & they look really great in there. I then bought another batch, but didn't realise how much smaller these new guys were. I worried these tiny guys would become a snack. It's been several weeks now. I can't really count them, but they seem to all be there. The discus appear to ignore them.

Good luck with yours, if you try them.

[happygirl65]

Just curious if discus are kept with cardinals or other tetras from the time they are juvies would they grow up NOT thinking of the cardinals as food?

[bugly]

@happygirl - thats the theory - of course not all the discus learn this.
However the if the tetras survive to maturity they may be more than a mouthful for the DIscus. Neons are a little smaller then Cardinals and Rummy's and are always a bite size snack for the adult discus.

[happygirl65]

That's what I was afraid of...lol. I can only find neons in my area. heavy sigh.

[Matt15]

The colouring of neons isn't a good as a cardinal and they don't school as well either.
Proberly best to just ask your lfs when they are getting some cardinals/rummys in? Both are more expensive than neons, but sometimes you can find them for a good deal. Ex, I can purchase 6 Rummy's for $17 from a lfs in Brisbane which is very cheap.

[Mr Discus]

Try to avoid neons as much as possible if you can afford it - like Matt said, Cardinals are much more colourful, but more importantly they are a much harder to get fish, which usually means higher quality.

Alot of neons tend to get bent spines, and deformities are not uncommon, as they are inbred pretty frequently.

Cardinals are alot harder to breed, and therefore tend to have much better colours, shape and growth rates. They can also handle the higher temps that discus prefer much better than neons.