Archived message board.
Neon vs. Cardinal, plus info on tiger barbs, zebra danios
and tank size?
Badmans Tropical Fish Message Center:
Beginner freshwater : Neon vs. Cardinal, plus info on tiger
barbs, zebra danios and tank size?
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Kendall
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Saturday,
March 16, 2002 - 09:43 am
I am just getting started again and I have a well planted
ten gallon tank with driftwood and gravel subsrate. Which
would be a more suitable fish: neon or cardinal? also, would
tiger barbs (six or more) get along with the tetras?
Also, does anyone know if zebra danios get along with the
above fish? and how many small fish could happily live in
a ten gallon tank?
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joycedonley
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Saturday,
March 16, 2002 - 10:03 am
I've never kept tigers, but tetra and danios are pretty
fast and probably can stay out of the way. Danios swim at
the top of the tank for the most part and tiger and tetras
are more mid-swimmers, so you may have a little more competition
combining the tetra and tigers.Countwise maybe 12 neon or
cardinal if you only go with the neons (maybe you could
even slip in a small cory cat to clean up leftovers).Danios
and tiger have a little more mass, so probably closer to
ten. Until the tank is cycled (about 5 weeks)don't
add more than about three fish. Then just add 2-3 per week
afterwards.
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joycedonley
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Saturday,
March 16, 2002 - 10:06 am
Actually danios get a little over two inches, so I'd
be a little careful on my numbers. Maybe 6 plus a cory cat
would be a better guesstimate.
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liz
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Saturday,
March 16, 2002 - 02:51 pm
i have zebra danios and neon tetras in a ten gallon tank
and they get on fine. The neon tetras seem to enjoy my plants-
hiding in them. The neons do tend to stay near the bottom/middle.
and the zebra danios near the top. They are both lovely
fish especially the danios who are very active. (They
love frozen food-especially bloodworms)
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G
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Saturday,
March 16, 2002 - 11:44 pm
I'd be cautious of the tiger barbs in the 10 gallon.
With tiger barbs, you generally want either a species tank
with only tiger barbs, a larger community type tank where
you can have at least 6 or 7 tiger barbs, or a larger tank
with other larger semi-aggressive fish (such as some
of the other larger barbs, silver dollars, and a whole host
of other fish...basically nothing big enough to eat them
or aggressive enough to chase and kill them). IN a 10
gallon, if you like tiger barbs, those would be all I do
in the tank.
As for the neons and cardinals, there's really not much
of a difference. The cardinals, I believe, as said to prefer
slightly warmer water, but other than that, are basically
identical to neons in care, hardiness, size, etc... I'd
just stick with one or the other, all neons or all cardinals.
On a side note, a lot of the customers I talk with like
the cardinals better than the neons because the color on
cardinals (red and blue stripes) runs across the
entire body, while with the neons, the red stripe runs about
half the body length, and the blue runs the other half...not
a big deal, but just an observation.
Danios and cardinals/neons shouldn't be a problem.
If I was you, I'd probably start out with three danios,
and wait 4-6 weeks...or longer before adding your next three
fish. Danios are nearly bullet proof, and are a good starter
fish.
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Sierra
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Sunday,
March 17, 2002 - 05:22 am
For starting up a 10 gallon I would recommend:
* 3 Corys
* at least 5 neons or cardinals
* and if you want danios, then maybe 3 of them
If you really want tiger barbs, then don't have neons
or cardinals. You could probably still have cories and danios
though. Tiger barbs are very, ahem, 'playful' and
active. They like their space. So a 10 gallon might not
be quite big enough for them. But you can give it a go if
you want. But don't put tigers and neons or cardinals
together in such a small tank - the little tetras are easy
targets for the barbs to pick on.
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Sierra
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Sunday,
March 17, 2002 - 05:26 am
And on the topic of neon vs. cardinal. I would go for neon,
but that's only because neons are so much cheaper than
cardinals around here! Some poeple may prefer the longer
red stripe on the cardinals, but other than that they are
very similar. There is a lot of debate about whether neons
are hardier than cardinals or not - I don't really know
the answer to this question. It's really a matter of
personal preference.
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atorrance
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Sunday,
March 24, 2002 - 02:10 am
Each and every tank is different. I have a 46g tank with
completely screwy community. I have 5 tiger barbs, 2 angelfish,
3 paradise blue gouramis, 1 pearl gourami, 1 red tail shark,
1 rainbow shark, 1 pictus catfish, and three plecos. A 10
gallon tank should only be used for small community fish
like the tetra family. Please note that tiger barbs will
grow to 2". The waste load of that many tiger barbs
in that small of a tank will float them within a week.
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joycedonley
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Sunday,
March 24, 2002 - 07:43 am
I wouldn't say that cardinal are necessarily any easier
to keep than neon, but cardinal don't get NTD. I thought
that was one point in their favor. I kept both and had about
the same mortality rate!
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That_Canadian_Guy
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Thursday,
March 28, 2002 - 03:04 pm
Go for the neons, Cardnals suffer from a disease called
Cardinal, which is brought on by stress and is uncurable,
also cardinal tetras are a bit finicky when it comes to
pH, hardness, etc.
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joycedonley
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Friday,
March 29, 2002 - 07:43 am
What book did you find this weird disease in?I have tons
of Aquarium fish magazines and a few books on fish disease
and never heard of such a thing. I agree they are picky
about water conditions, but need some reference to back
up any disease called 'cardinal'?
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joycedonley
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Friday,
March 29, 2002 - 07:55 am
BTW Pleistophora hyphessobryconis is actually the proper
term for NTD so it is really not a joke.
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Anonymous
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Tuesday,
April 16, 2002 - 07:18 pm
I have 5 tiger barbs in a 29gal and they get along fine
with other active fish (rainbows and clown loaches and
a rosy barb)
i would not reccomend them for a 10gal though, even by themsleves.
this is what i started them out in and they werent'
very happy. 10 gal is just too small for these active fish.
they are very*very hardy though.
i think the danios would do pretty well though and will
be great to cycle the tank as they are hardy as well, and
maybe a few platies for some color? just a suggestion;)
good luck
-Kelsey
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Pandora
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Wednesday,
April 17, 2002 - 03:36 pm
I have never heard of "cardinal" disease either,
and would be curious what's meant by that?
Anyway, I have kept both neons and cardinals for about 10
years, and would say I've had a fair amount of experience
with both.. I can rarely remember a time when I didn't
have a school in at least one of my tanks. From what I've
experienced, I've found that it's hard to generalize,
and depends largely on the batch or the individual... but
if I were forced to generalize, I'd say that cardinals
are usually hardier fish. Joyce is correct that they don't
succumb to NTD. In addition, because neons ARE so readily
available, this actually causes problems, because some have
been inbred and there are problems with spinal curvature
and a few other congenital anomolies. This is not to condemn
the species as a general, because you can very often find
healthy fish of both species if you find a reliable source.
It should be kept in mind that both fish are very closely
related, and within the same genus.
With NTD itself, I've had a battle with it once 2 years
ago, and believe me, it is about as horrible as diseases
go. There's no real dependable cure, and it will wipe
out a whole school of neons in no time; not just cleanly,
but it's pretty miserable to watch (they get the
characteristic clearish brown bottom line, and then some
get start to bloat). Not to scare everyone from this
fish, but it is a concern that's growing with breeding
practices getting worse. Neither the neon nor the cardinal
is a great beginner's fish, because both are fairly
sensitive to water conditions.
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kendall
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Saturday,
April 20, 2002 - 04:38 pm
lol, I totally forgot I posted this, but just to let you
guys know, I now have 4 peppered corys, 3 neon tetras and
2 dwarf gouramis in my tank. If I add anything it will be
a couple more neons, to make the shoal complete. Thanks
for all the help!!
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