Cardinals, Neon Or Rummy-nosed Tetras

[Steve MENZIES]

I am getting a 180 gallon (840L) tank and i am interested in having a large shoal of a single type of tetra.

The main ones i am interested in are Cardinals, Neons and mabye Rummy-nosed.
I have already made up my mind that i will get peppered corydoras, flame gouramis and cherry barbs.

If anyone has had expierence with any of these fish please tell me thier Particular requirments.

 

[Luketendo]

Nice Soft Acidic water will help them all, as will a mature tank.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Ok -cherry barbs are hardy fish and they will be quite happy in soft or hard water.Good schooling fish ,i would have six minimum 4 females,2 males. Males being red, females being brown.

Cardinals or neons-i find cardinals tend to be more hardy and get bigger than neons but thats just an opinion. You would be best to get 6 or more-i had both and they schooled together so that is an option.

Peppered catfish are fine with sand and round pea gravel but if you have sharp gravel(the stuff that would hurt if you rolled it in your hand) this wont do for catfish. It wears the barbels down on the fishes mouth ,they cant search for food properly and suffer.

I havent kept rummy nose tetras but i'm sure they are scholling too so you might want to get 6 or more.

All the above are fine with normal treated tap water-hard or soft-neons and cardinals do prefer softer water to thrive but my water is hard,ph7.8 and i have no problems with them..

 

[simonas]

rummys are my favourite tetra. I once had a shoal of fifteen in my discus tank and as they grew fatter and bigger they just looked great

 

[Steve MENZIES]

Thankyou all I have done some more reasearch and are thinking that I might have a large shoal of 25-35 cardinals In the last couple of days I have been riding my bike to the 3 local fish shops (good for fittness) and I have seen that cardinals shoal while neons just move around the tank in any given derection. I also saw a group of very large cardinals in a display tank which were twice the size as the fish on sale.

I also would like to include a smaller group of Rummy-nose about 8-14.

As i said earlier I will want to get 3-5 dwarf gouramis 4-6 cherry barbs and maybe 10 peppered corydoras

Please tell me if any other fish would go well with all the fish I have already chosen.

 

[Hawkins]

Cherry Barbs can be quite aggressive.

I added a catfish to my tank 2 days ago and the cherry has ripped its top fin.
It has since stopped and seems ok.

They are nice fish to look at, I have a pair of them which works well, but im sure with the size of your tank you will get more

 

[jaycat]

Hi,

I have a small shoal of 6 cardinals, and they are brilliant together.

I'm getting a larger shoal to go with discus later as they look so good.

 

[rchambers]

I have 12 Cardinal Tetras and 12 Rummynose Tetras in my tank. The Rummynose Tetras shoal better and are a lot more active, darting around the tank. The Cardinals swim lower down the tank and tend to swim in amongst the plants. They don't shoal much when they are comfortable really but they are still beautiful. I think the two types compliment each other really.

 

[funkyhoney]

Out of the lot, rummy-nose will be the least hardy IMO. Out of pure aesthetics I prefer Cardinals to Neons, but price...

 

[rossyt99]

I have Rummy-noses and they are pretty hardy (Over 4yrs)

A shoal of Cardinals (15-20) with 6-10 Rummys would be good. Rummys are livelier and tails remind me of my team! (Newcastle United FC)

 

[ALW]

why dont you get like 5 of each that way you have a large school of different coloured fish, the cardinals and neons will def school together, never had any rummys so carnt be 100% sure that they will school with the other, they should do.

 

[freerunner416]

If you are buying any of the cardinals, neons or rummy nose tetras its worth searching on ebay for a guy called ZOO sumthing (im at work and cant get on ebay to get you the name). They sell all 3 and more fish in bulk. I bought 25 cardinals and 25 rummy nose tetras for £30 which is a pretty good deal i think considering you are noramlly £1.50 - £2.00 per fish.

Goodluck