cardinal tetra

The Cardinal Tetra or Red Neon, scientific name Paracheirodon axelrodi, belongs to the Characidae family. Perhaps one of the most popular and affordable species among aquarium fish. Very beautiful, easy to keep and peaceful – all this makes it an excellent option for beginner aquarists. This species is a close relative of Black Neon, the differences are only in the color of the stripes passing through the body.

Habitat

Fish are widespread in the river basins of South America, in particular in the Rio Negro and Orinoco. They prefer slow forest channels and backwaters flowing along the entire length of tropical forests. They live in shallow water, feeding on worms and small crustaceans. Most of the fish found for sale in Europe and Asia are artificially bred, so they do not experience problems when they enter home aquariums.

Description

A small slender body, the size of an adult rarely exceeds 5 cm. The palette consists of two primary colors – red and blue, enclosed in two wide parallel stripes stretching from head to tail. The scales have a high light reflectance, which creates a sparkling neon effect.

Food

Like most Tetras, the Red Neon is an omnivorous species, accepting both dry industrial and live food. The optimal proportion of the diet is 75% dry food (flakes, granules) and 25% live food (bloodworm, daphnia).

Maintenance and care

It is important to ensure a suitable hydrochemical composition and purity of water, high hardness is especially difficult to tolerate, in this case calcium salts begin to be deposited in the kidneys of fish, which leads to rapid death. Periodic water changes (25-50% every two weeks) and effective filtration can maintain the proper level of water quality. Other equipment – aerator, heater, weak lighting fixture. Dim lighting stimulates the coloration of fish.

The combination in the design of free zones with dense thickets of plants will provide the fish with optimal living conditions. River sand soil with decorative elements in the form of snags, intertwined roots and other hiding places / shelters. Dry leaves, which tint the water, will bring the conditions closer to natural ones (replace the leaves every two weeks), a rag bag with peat immersed in water can enhance the effect.

Social behavior

Perfectly compatible with most other peaceful fish of similar size or slightly larger. Larger fish, especially those from the waters of South America, may perceive Cardinals as food, since in nature they are often one of the links in the food chain. The content is flocking from 5 individuals, a good combination is obtained with the Black Neon, with which they are the closest relatives.

Breeding / breeding

Sexual differences are weakly expressed, it is very difficult to determine a male or a female. Breeding cardinals at home is not easy. Firstly, not all fish are compatible with each other, and it is possible to find a suitable pair only in large communities where there is a large choice of partners. Secondly, spawning occurs in extremely small ranges of pH values ​​in dH. Thirdly, the fry are very small and difficult to feed them.

Diseases

This species successfully resists most diseases, provided that the water parameters are stable, with fluctuations, health problems begin. The Neon Disease, which is practically incurable and highly contagious, poses a great danger. Read more about symptoms and treatments in the Aquarium Fish Diseases section.