Cardinals? to do, or not to do?

[Benny]

Hey guys, Im lookin at adding some cardinals (or neons) to my tank which is a 350L tank with 5 adult discus, a runt, and 6 1.5 yr old white skirt tetras (black widdows, but not black).

Was wondering if its worth riskin my discus for addin some smaller fish into the tank?

What do i look for (in terms of signs of sickness), i would obviously QT, but would you medicate the fish (malchite green or whatever perhaps), salt treat them, or what?

I dont wanna jeopardise my nice discus!!!

Any reccomendations where in syd i can get some nice cardinals?

Thanks
benny

[kevkoi]

U'd probably risk the cardinals as they'd likely get eaten by your adult discus....

Unless u can get very large cardinals, and introduce the fish before the discus, chances are the large discus would hunt and chomp down all your little cardinals... making them an expensive treat. :shock:

[Benny]

crap :(

[antwan]

if you do decide to get some, dont get neons, as they cannot handle the high temperatures discus need. Cardinals live naturally with discus in the same rivers so they are a much better choice....just like kevin said you gotta watch them when the discus are big.

[nicholas76]

Benny


dont lose all hope.

ive had heaps of neons and lost none,,, but then ive had other tanks and the discus get the munchies pretty quick!


luck of the draw im afraid

[weird]

Benny, sounds like you are qt them, so I would go for it. I have a very small school of rummynose with my very precious discus (and this is not based on cost .... all my fish are precious even if noone else thinks so) , and I was thinking about adding more ... now from your post I am thinking about getting a large school of cardinals.

Do it man, but as you said, qt them first.

[Benny]

maybe some live food will get the fish into the "romantic" mood, which may end up being worth alot more then a cardinal :P

[dntx5b9]

Granted my guy is not fully grown (little less than 5" head to tail), but there is no way that he is going to eat even my smallest cardinal. I can't image his mouth getting big enough to eat any of my cardinals...

[Bill T.]

Definitley quarantine them first.
I like cardinals - have lost a tank of fish once after buying some from my lfs. Generally they seem to school together and keep out of the discus way - also having lots of plants give them places to hide.

[Bad Inferno]

how long should you have to QT fish ?

[Suc_Sid]

I think the general rule of thumb is to quarantine for 4 weeks, however, make sure to run the full course of all treatments, even if this takes longer. Best to be safe

[taksan]

Always be careful to worm Cardinals as most are wild caught and can carry nasties that will infect your Discus.

[Bad Inferno]

Has there been a post on how to quarantine fish ?