Just bought 20 cardinal tetras...

[lp26kwan]

I have really bad experience with cardinal, i bought 20 of them 6 months ago and only 1 still alive. but since then, i bought the RARE gold neon and able to keep most of them. so, what da heck, i gave it a try again hehe
by the way, i have a 30g tank with 2 black neons, 1 grow light, 1 cardinal, 20+ gold neons
Let's keep my fingers cross to see how many of them going to die.....
i know the 1st week is very important. as of now, after 12 hours in the tank, none of them die yet 8O

 

[cmor1701d]

I wish you luck. I was never able to keep neon tet when I had a fw tank, but had slightly better luck with the cardinals.

 

[afilter]

What temp are you keeping them at? I use to keep a school of these back when I kept Discus and if I recall they do best at a higher Temp 82-85. This could be an issue with the other inhabitants, you might want to check before you up the temp.

Good Luck,

 

[lp26kwan]

What temp are you keeping them at? I use to keep a school of these back when I kept Discus and if I recall they do best at a higher Temp 82-85. This could be an issue with the other inhabitants, you might want to check before you up the temp.

Good Luck,

i set the temp to 79-80. since that 1 cardinal lasts for half year. i assume everything in the tank should be fine for cardinal. what do you think?
anyway, they are 99cents each + tax. 20 for $21.5, pretty good price i guess

 

[afilter]

Sounds like a great deal for cardinals.

I did some checking after I posted and the suggestions I saw where 75-81 so 79-80 should be fine. It is at the high end for your other inhabitants I would not go any higher.

What kind of setup do you have? Is your tank planted? The fish you describe would look nice in a planted tank.

Make sure you keep up on your pwc and have good filtration. You are well stocked right now so I would not suggest any more fish at this time. Depending on what type of filtration you have and how often you change water some would say you have 10-12 too many fish.

If ever you do thin out your tetra stock in the future rummy nose teras are fun and school well. Also, a pair Rams would do well in that size tank.

Good luck,

 

[lyquidphyre]

I would almost do pwc a little more often cuz the new, large bioload that will hit

n stuff

 

[lp26kwan]

i have few plants, but i plan to have more later. it's funny that i don't have a water change for alteast 3 months already. i know it's against the rule, but oh well...it works for me. but as you guys recommand a pwc, i'll try to do it today.
i have the 36" 30 gal tank, which is the wide one. so i don't really feel like i am overstocking. in fact, i want to buy 20 more if it works this time

 

[afilter]

What kind of filtration are you running?

IMO with your current fish load you should do 25% pwc at least 2xmonth.

Even though they are a good price I would stongly recommend not adding any more fish right now.

Down the road look at a pair of dwarf cichlids such as Rams or other Apitogrammas:
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1084

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1664

Although use caution with the Apisto as they can be semi-agressive if your tetras are real small.

You are more likely to have better success with a smaller fish load and regular pwc. The more fish you have the more frequent the pwc. Some do it daily because they stock so heavy in too small an aquarium. That does not sound like much fun to me.

Also, just because your tetras may seem small now remember they can get up to 1.5-2" under good conditions

Good Luck,

 

[lp26kwan]

oh, i am using the aquaclear 200, it said...for aquariums up to 50 gallons

 

[fishfirst]

ummm yeah overstocked already I would say, and 20 more is out of the question. That kind of bioload is going to be lethal.