Cardinals

[Valyrian]

Are they as fragile as neons? Can they survive in an un-cycled tank?

 

[tttnjfttt]

I'm not sure about how hardy these fish are, but I would STRONGLY recomend you do a fishless cycle. From what I have heard, it is faster, and from personal experience, you will see your fish SUFFERING when cycling with fish. Many fish die in this process, which can be heartbreaking to watch. To speed up a fishless cycle, beg for some gravel at your LFS. trust me, it is worth it!

If you must cycle with fish, what size is your tank? I think bigger tanks might be easier to cycle with fish, but i'm not positive. I can tell you zebra danios can survive a fishless cycle, which are the only thing I have ever done this successfully with. The rest were just one disaster after another.

 

[nitro]

I would not reccomend them for cycling at all.

A fishless cycle is the way to go or you could use zebra danios for a fish cycle but many people are against cycling with fish.

 

[freddyk]

You can cycle with them, but you'd have to add them at such a slow rate that you'd be further ahead looking at a fishless cycle and save your livestock from avoidable stress, and possibly damage.

 

[Valyrian]

I'm not going to use them for cycling, I'm going to take some gravel from a mature 55 gallon tank. I just wanna know how fragile they are.

 

[kenneth_kpe]

cardinal tetras IMO are pretty hardy BUT they have to pass the first 3 weeks in your tank

If your gonna buy do what GF thought me to do
1) take as much time as possible when selecting cardinals from your LFS, ask how long they have been swimming in the tank pick the strong colored ones that look healthy
2) SLOOOOWLLYYYY acclimate them to your tank
(i spent almost 2 hours acclimating them in total darkness, slowly pouring water into the bag, bit by bit every 15 mins or so
3) as much as possible dont stress them until they get used to your tank
I did not open my tank lights for almost 2 days when i got cardinals
4) the more they are the merrier they are honestly i think that buying more cardinals is better then buying them slowly (for a cycled tank of course) as long as your tank's bio load can take it buy at least 5 to keep them nice and comfy
5) check if your water params can support cardinals

thats all i know on how to keep em alive and healthy