rummies vs cardinals

[lauraleellbp]

Rummies and Cardinals are among the few speices of fish that can handle high discus temps. IMO 88-90F is a bit extreme, however. 84-86F are average discus temps.

You should always quarantine new fish, and espcially tetras. IMO neither fish is inherently stronger or weaker than the other- it depends on the source of each shipment and how they've been handled throughout the time prior to your purchase.

Both of these fish need pristine water and drip acclimation for best results. Soft, acidic water is ideal as these species are usually either 1) wild-caught from South America or 2) mass-produced in sterile conditions in Asia

[BentZero]

I got 5 rummys about 5 months ago and they are doing great. I've got a low tech tank, no water changes, top off with dechlored tap water, and temp around 80*. I have no idea what my pH is now and I really don't care at this point. If I can keep rams and rummys I'm happy. I wanted cardinals but the lfs didn't have them so I went with neons instead. Everybody's happy and colorful.

[jphan]

well i was talking to a friend of mine while i was working at super pets and he told me he keeps his discus with tap water too and with no testing and everything and they are alive and breeding. He told me that the store i got them from gets their fish from Hong Kong -__-

[jphan]

Originally Posted by fishscale

I think you should invest in a test kit. Just because you've been lucky doesn't mean you shouldn't have one. I would also invest in dechlorinator, in case of large water changes. You can get away with not having dechlorinator for small changes. I would use a quarantine tank for new fish; you don't want to infect your main tank.

It's best not to keep fish in the same tank when one can eat the other. It sounds like you put something small in the cichlid tank.

pH is not as important as good clean stable water. People keep and even breed discus in all sorts of high pH water. It is really not very hard to keep good water conditions, but it is necessary to be patient and not be greedy with the amount of fish kept.

According to google, 30 C is 86 F, which is on the high end for tetras, but perfect for discus. I'd say the tetras would be fine, if not more active.

O it was nothing small its beacuse none of my Albino Scolofi can survive with my mubnas. For some reason they would get picked to death. They can be fine with each other for months and one day i was doing a water change for them my male Hongi decides to eat one of the albinos and the only other time i kind of lost any fish in there was 2 plecos. One day my cichlids decided to eat their eyes out and left them blind for life

[aznkonner]

Originally Posted by jphan

well i was talking to a friend of mine while i was working at super pets and he told me he keeps his discus with tap water too and with no testing and everything and they are alive and breeding. He told me that the store i got them from gets their fish from Hong Kong -__-

you still work there? they're prices are a bit on the high side but somehow they manage stock roselines which is pretty amazing to me. they got some interesting fish here and there but the people that work there don't have much knowledge about fish though.

[jphan]

i just barely started working there for a week. Theres only like a couple guys that actually noe a lot about fishes the rest just noe how to bag them. Sometimes theres no one working in the fish department so someone just goes there to help customers.

[aznkonner]

koo koo do u get employee discounts? if so hook a guy up with some roselines!

[ycbs]

I have had 10 Rummynose for 3 months and haven't had a loss yet (knock on wood). I bought 6 to start with and then added 4 more a couple of weeks later. Every one of them had much better coloration after only a day in my tank than they did at the time of purchase. They are magnificent now.

I have purchased 9 Cardinals over the past 2 1/2 months and have had 3 deaths. All 3 deaths were within a week of purchase. The 6 remaining ones are doing great, though. Getting big and are beautifully colored.

I purchased all my Rummynose and Cardinals from the same place (Pet Supermarket), which generally has very good looking fish and great tank conditions for a pet store. And according to the girl that orders the fish there, they get all their fish from the same supplier in Florida. So, based on my own personal experience, I say Rummynose are hardier than Cardinals.

[Blue Ridge Reef]

^^^No offense, but I wouldn't jump to that conclusion based on 3 fish dying during acclimation.

[YSS]

Based on my years of keeping cardinals and rummynoses, I have found rummynoses hardier than the cardinals. I rarely lose rummynoses, but lose cardinals now and then. I currently have 50 cardinals and 20 rummynoses in my tank.

[Torpedobarb]

I have both in my tank.. they are very delicate fish. they need the best conditions..

[fishscale]

I had cardinals once. My opinion is that they are not very hard to keep. You just need to start with healthy fish and drip acclimate. People always stress clean water and perfect pH, but as far as I'm concerned, in a planted tank, clean water shouldn't be something that you need to do maintenance to achieve. Heck, if you stock lightly and do a low tech, you may not even need to do water changes. Cardinals aren't going to care immensely about your pH, provided you keep it stable and acclimate slowly.

[BentZero]

Originally Posted by fishscale

Heck, if you stock lightly and do a low tech, you may not even need to do water changes.

This is what I do. The color on my rummys is so bright they might get ticketed for swimming under the influence.

[aznkonner]

[quote=BentZero;571137]

Originally Posted by fishscale

Heck, if you stock lightly and do a low tech, you may not even need to do water changes.[\QUOTE]

This is what I do. The color on my rummys is so bright they might get ticketed for swimming under the influence.

lol a joke only a fish lover would understand lol good one!

[nikonD70s]

i never had rummies before but i will when i set up my 60g tank. i had good experience with cardinals. about a year ago i had an outdoor tank with some water lettuce and guppies and i bought 10 cardinals and put them in and surprisingly they survived and been living outside all summer and in the winter when it gets cold i put them inside and they were hella fat and healthy, however when i brought them inside a couple of them died, dont know why it seemed like they liked it better when they where kept outside. they seem to be very easy to care for, to me atleast i just leave them outside and feed them once a day, the waters all dirty fill with algae and everything looked like pond water. i now have 20 cardinals in my 20g long tank, heavily stocked with like 40 other fishes mainly fancy guppies and only 1 of them have died because it got caught in the moss,i had them for about 1 month, they where really small when i got them now they have doubled in size, i only feed them blood worms. im planning on putting them outside once again in the outdoor tank.