Cardinal Tetras

[Glod]

Ok, when I first got them my 8 cardinal tetras were always swimming across the tank and back shoaling nicely. Unfortunately one died a couple of weeks ago, would that be the reason they now spend nearly all their time hiding except the odd brave explorer ?

Are they scared of my other fish ? (6 Harlequin Rasorbas, 2 Pearl Gouramis, 9 Platies, 5 Danios and a tiny Ancistrus). The most recent additions are the danios and the gouramies, tho they started hiding before the gouramies were added.

Would the danios have spooked them ? Would adding 2 or 3 more cardinals help them overcome their hiding ?

The tank is pretty well planted, but I'd like to see the fish swim about rather than never see them because they're hiding all the time...

Any thoughts ?

 

[Liam]

Yeah, they do tend to hide quite a bit in high light. They don’t like the amount of light needed in planted tanks, in the Amazon they live in black water or very shaded areas. I mostly see them for the last hour when most of the lights are off in the tank. They are unlikely to be spooked by the danios or any other fish you have, with angels and discus they behaved the same as they do in my present tank with very small fish. Sometimes the hiding is about them being under stress or ill. They tend to shoal less when they are settled in and comfortable though they still will shoal sometimes.

 

[Lateral Line]

How recent are the recent introductions? Any upheaval in the tank will upset the inhabitants, and Cardinals are pretty easy to spook. If the new fish are within the last day or two, I'd leave it a bit longer before worrying.

How big is the tank and how big are the gouramies?

 

[Glod]

Hmm...The Danios were added about 2.5 weeks ago. The Gouramis are Pearls and about 3 inches not including tail. They were added on Saturday. It turns out they brough whitespot into the tank I never noticed it on them in the shop, so I'm currently treating the tank for that.

On a brighter note I noticed the cardinals are schooling nicely again today, the only changes I can think of are the increase in temperature or the added airstone or meds. Maybe they were cold... I need to go check I read their temps right.

Oops forgot... the tank is 120cm x 45cm x 70cm (4ft x 18" x 24 " roughly)