neon vs cardinal

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
mercury904

mercury904

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2006
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We all know that neon and cardinal tetras are both perfect for a community tanks,but how many of you prefer neons over cardinals or cardinals over neons?in terms of its totality...Like for example for me I prefer the neons because they are a lot more cheaper than cardinals,but I also noticed that cardinal are a better schooler than the neons...
 
card's are awesome looking and I agree way to expensive..A lfs has them for 20 for 25 bux which is a great deal...I never have luck with them so i stay away from cards..to lil and way to fragile....
 
Cardinals all the way for me. Only disadvantage I can see is their price tag. They're not that fragile to me.
 
I swear by cardinals...They get larger than Neons, hardier, better schooler IMO, much more red, and stronger coloration...Unfortunately they do command a higher price tag...fortunately I go straight to the wholesaler....lol.. I havent kept small tetras in a while since I havent had a discus setup for over a year now....but when I do have cardinals I make a rule of always haveing a good 10-20 neons in there too...they will all school together, to the casual observer they are all the same thing...but to me the neons are the canary in the mine shaft...they are the first to go or get sick when something is wrong with the water....nice to have a warning ;)
 
IME, cardinals are less fragile than Neons. The price isn't that much more than neons to warrant not choosing them.

However, when your LFS makes the mistake of ordering cardinal specks instead of adults, it's better to wait on them or give them a tank by themselves that is heavily planted and use dim lighting (so that means use silk plants).

HTH
 
I like neon's color better, and they are cheaper ($0.88) but i like the cardinals because of their size advantage.
 
I like both for different setups, and different reasons. Neons are cheap ($0.25), and cardinals are a little more ($0.35) but the cardinals will stand higher temps. Neons show stress much faster than cardinals, but both have their weaknesses.
 
I've only kept Neons, but I do like the way Cardinals look. Neons were cheaper so I got them. It was for a small community tank I had set up at work.
 
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