[Rod Hay]

I'd like to know if one tends to school more? And if one will be more shy and always hiding or more out in the open? Is one more a top or mid-water fish, vs., bottom occupant? Easier to keep?

I want to stock a group (aprox 30) of these for an accent fish in my 75g tank. It's high light, heavily planted w/ (of course) injected CO2.

My main fish are seven checkerboard cichlids. They've been in the tank for over six months and seem to be doing quite well. However, I recently moved their tankmates (Congo tetras) to another set-up so I'm looking for some new buddies for them. I think the red and blue on either tetra will really compliment the checkerboards.

Thanks in advance for suggestions.

 

[LeapingGnome]

They're about the same. Cardinals will be a little bigger and a little redder. The neons will probably school a little more than the cardinals.

 

[spypet]

IMHO Cardinals grow larger and have a much better appearance.
however you may loose a few during acclimation as they are not
as hardy as Neon's, nor will they school as often as Neon's do.
of course, results do vary from tank to tank, and fish to fish.

If you want a fish with similar bold coloration that are more
tough, active and tightly schooled, then get Endler's males
that school at all unoccupied uncluttered levels of your tank,
and males are fast enough to avoid getting eaten.

male Tuxedo color pattern and female Endler's Livebearers

 

[Rod Hay]

Spypet, thanks for the suggestion on the endler's. However, I actually moved the congos out because I didn't like their bold stripe of orange! I thought it clashed too much with the checkerboards... I want a red and blue theme here, ha, ha!

Maybe when my current batch of endler's in my 10 g shrimp tank grow out enough to sex, I'll try some of the males in my congo tetra set-up. Do you think they can outswim hungry congo tetras????:icon_eek:

 

[spypet]

can Endler's... outswim hungry congo tetras?

well, at least it won't cost you anything to find out :tongue:
and yes, I do understand your need for something blue.

you might want to look at Boehlkea fredcochui or Nematobrycon palmeri
which are small good schoolers with blue/purple and are good at avoidance.
Nematobrycon palmeri are a lot more active than shy Boehlkea fredcochui.
I have Royal Black Emperor Tetras and they don't take crap from nobody,
but in fairness, their blue is only apparent under a certain angle of lighting.

 

[Zebrapl3co]

It's kind of odd, but I find that my cardinals school and my neons don't ...

 

[born2lovefish]

I'm going to try 30 or 50 cardinals in my planted once I get everything ready. I personally believe neons get the neon disease and die out of no where. I'm trying cardinals this time..

 

[spypet]

you might want to mix different tetras together. so many of the same will seem boring after a while, but if you mix a few of the same shape but different stripe colors you may be happier with the results, and they will still school together. I've seen the same cardinal shape and pattern with at least 2 other color variations.

 

[oblongshrimp]

well unless you have something in there that scares them they will stop schooling....my 45 rummynose in my 120gal tank used to school really nicely but now about 6 months later they are all over the damned place. Maybe I need to put something large in there to scare them.

 

[spypet]

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lounge/38611-terrorize-your-fish.html?

 

[ringram]

I've actually never tried neons, but I currently have 8 cardinals and they tend to stay somewhat together, but I wouldn't call it schooling. Now, when I put my hand in there to do a water change, that's another story!
Keep in mind that cardinals are QUITE delicate, along the lines of rummynose tetras. Just be sure to acclimate them for a long time, keep stable water conditions and you may be ok. After getting through the first week or so, the cardinals colored up nicely and mostly stay in the middle area of the tank, in the back hiding among the plants. Hope that helps.
-Ryan

 

[born2lovefish]

Scrap that 30-50 cardinal idea I had. I just bought 40 neons tonight. I went in to get a new background for my tank and notice they had neons on sale. They just got a new shipment in today and they were doing ok. I figured for 50 cents each I could not pass it up! I would have gotten more, but I did not have any more cash with me!

 

[crazie.eddie]

IMO, cardinals are allot nicer, since their colors are allot nicer and a little bigger. Unfortunately, they are usually a little more expensive. There's a guy at SimplyDiscus that sells cardinals for $1 though, which is still far cheaper than most tetras sold around here.

 

[LeapingGnome]

Bought fish the same day they arrived in the pet store?

 

[argblarg]

Yeah I think best time to buy those is the day before a new shipment arrives.

 

[snafu]

you might want to look at Boehlkea fredcochui or Nematobrycon palmeri
which are small good schoolers with blue/purple and are good at avoidance.
Nematobrycon palmeri are a lot more active than shy Boehlkea fredcochui.
I have Royal Black Emperor Tetras and they don't take crap from nobody,
but in fairness, their blue is only apparent under a certain angle of lighting.

<image deleted>

the picture looks more like Inpaichthys kerri (note the adipose fin). it's funny...my experiences with the two fish are much different. i've found both the B.fredcochui and N.palmeri not to be very good schoolers. the kerri are probably more likely to school. i would consider both to be fairly aggressive/territorial, but my B.fredcochui being a lot more territorial especially during feeding. also, my B.fredcochui are much more active and are always in a constant state of motion. maybe i got a weird bunch of em. heh.

i would definitely go with the cardinals (cards vs neons), based on size, coloration, and robustness. it's hard to beat the sight of a nice school of cardinals in good condition.
-snafu