life span for cardinal tetras..?

[sldp999]

hello folks,
i was wondering how do cardinal tetras die?
do they suddenly die after couple of years?
do they slow down and stay on the gravel till they die?
do they show any signs of death coming?

reason why i'm asking becaues one of my cardinal tetra suddenly died.
i had them for more than 4 years. so should i be aware for the rest of the cardinal tetra?

every area of my tank is excellent(ex. Ph,water paremeter,light........)

THANKS.

 

[morningman]

If you've had your Cardinals for 4 years.....ya done good my friend! In the wild, (according to a number of studies) Cardinals only live one year on average. I've had them live as long as 5 years in a large planted tank....but I believe this to be exceptional.

 

[ScottS]

I thought mine were 4 years old until I saw a post of my own from 2003 when I first bought them! I had 12, but I'm down to seven. So that's 5+ years! And I wasn't always the best caretaker. The tank went to heck after my bristlenose died. But they were the only inhabitants of a 20 gallon tank. All seven recently survived a move from my home to my office. My only secrets are 1) store bought driftwood and 2) I use RO water I buy at the store because our tap water is so terribly hard.

 

[sldp999]

hi scotts,
how did your 5 carindal tetra died?
suddenly?. showed signs? behave differently? etc.........

 

[mike47517]

lots of times when your fish gets old its emmune system gets worse and they get sick and die. thats how they die sometimes.