# Neons vs. Cardinals - Whats your opinion?



## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

So it's pretty obvious that the cardinal tetra enjoys a much higher social status in the planted tank community than the "lowly" neon tetra. It occurred to me today that the reasons for this are not at all clear. The neon has an extensive history in the hobby and was certainly one of the earliest "must-have" fish to hit the scene. Anyone who has ever kept a tropical acquarium is well acquainted with this litte fish. 

I'll grant you that cardinals get larger and really look fabulous in a planted tank. At the same time they're more particular about water quality and don't ship as well. Neons are always easy to find - they're a basic staple of LFS's and big box stores every place I've ever looked. Cardinals make "guest appearances" in my local LFS's from time to time, but they never seem to have them when I'd like them to.

In all honesty, to me there isn't that much difference in behavior or appearance. I've been keeping both types on and off for over 20 years. Cardinals might school a bit tighter, but shoaling would be a more appropriate term for both species. If you want schooling, stick with harlequins and rummynose.

I've had several neons live beyond 5 years. My record with a cardinal is probably about 2 or 3 years, but they're probably capable of longer. Neons are much cheaper, easier to find, are often available as tank or pond raised, acclimate with lower rates of "sudden death" and are almost as beautiful. Why is there almost no talk of them in planted aquariums? Sure, there have been issues with "neon tetra disease" but that's clearly not the whole story.

What do you think?


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## if_wishes_were_fishes (Aug 6, 2007)

I prefer cardinals because the red goes all the way down the length of the body before stopping short. That's the only reason I can think of


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I prefer neons because they are cheap $1-2, harder (lasting 3 years for me), and most house guests aren't going to notice the difference in the shorten red stripe. Paying $4-5 per cardinal that usually dies immediately or within a year doesn't fit me, especially when I'm purchasing a large school of em. Neons are beautiful just like cardinals. 

-John N.


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## ed seeley (Dec 1, 2006)

I've never had much luck with Neon tetras. I've found them to be more aggressive than cardinals, nipping each other and other tetras, and less hardy. I wonder whether this is related to them all being mass-produced in the Far East.

I've found both wild and Czech bred cardinals to be long lived and more peaceful, as well as more colourful, but my water is very soft and similar to the natural conditions and I think this plays a big part. I've now got a big shoal of mainly homebred ones and they look great.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

Cardinals cause they are just as cheap as neons here.


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

Cardinals are as cheap as neons at your place? Wow... thats certainly a plus for living at you area. I prefer green neon tetras because they are more rare, and looks great in certain aquascapes. But out of the two, I prefer cardinals because they school tighter as compared to neons. If neons schools like cardinals, I ll pick them any day.


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## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

Hmm i like em both.. had em both.. but have u guys heard of the new breed? Green Neon Tetra?


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## if_wishes_were_fishes (Aug 6, 2007)

Cardinals are 2 bucks here, same as neons. Doesn't matter if guests don't notice the shortened red stripe or longer red stripe, my tank is for me  They are delicate fish, and I have lost a few, but once acclimated they are beautiful and quite hardy.


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

both cost $1-3 each here in NYC
I find Neons survive acclimation
far better than Cardinals ever do,
while Cardinals look a lot better.
Cardinals seem to be more prone
to fine & scale related diseases.


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## IceH2O (Mar 8, 2006)

Chuppy said:


> Hmm i like em both.. had em both.. but have u guys heard of the new breed? Green Neon Tetra?


Yeah I have about 10 of them. My LFS was out of neone and I had bought 10 from him earlier that month. he said he would stick 10 to the side for me and keep them bagged when they came in so when I got them I could just acclimate them to my tank. They were so pale when I got them that I didn't notice green instead of blue. Once they were put in the tank and their color improved I could tell, so now I have 10 of each.


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

Personally I have found the cardinal to be a stronger fish once you get past the acclimation. I have found the survival rate of cardinals to be much higher when the tank had a UV at the correct flow to kill parasites. But to be honest I'm phasing out these fish since they don't really seem to be good schoolers in home aquaria and simply scatter around the tank once they become accustomized to it. I've had small groups, big groups, with and without a few bigger fish and the result is always the same. The only time I see them school tightly is during a water change or other tank procedure or if they were just thrown into the tank for a photo op.


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

I like the look of cardinals, but regular neons are hardier (here where we have really hard ground water). And the glowlight tetra is super hardy.

Now that I have RO, I should try cardinals...


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

There are green neons here too....they are ok looking.


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## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

houseofcards said:


> they don't really seem to be good schoolers in home aquaria and simply scatter around the tank once they become accustomized to it. I've had small groups, big groups, with and without a few bigger fish and the result is always the same.


I've read a lot of experienced posts on this issue, and wanted to throw in my own observation. Originally I had not intended on getting Cardinals because I find their coloring too distracting when admiring my other fish, however I was in a LPS buying some Ottos, and they happened to have Cardinals on sale for $1 each, so I could not resist.

Anyway, I have 9 of them in with three other schools of 9 fish, a guppy school, a danio school, and a rasbora school, and all fish are close in size. What I've observed after having the Cardinals the past 3 Months is that they consistent school with other fish, or exclusively with each other, much more regular than I would have expected. So maybe the secret is not to have a few larger fish menacing the cardinals into a school, rather to have other schools with which they can school with and school away from.

for example, a classic large school mix is a few dozen porkchop rasboras, and a few dozen cardinal tetras, since their coloration and shape compliment each other well, and they tend to school together and away from each other quite nicely.


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

I'll toss in another vote for the green neons.


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## Chuppy (Aug 5, 2007)

Agreed lol!


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

Another great small schooling fish are ember tetras. A bit smaller than the usual neon, and tends to school more frequently. When it's in optimal conditions, it turns a nice orange-red color.


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## CraigThor (Aug 5, 2007)

Ruki- pics of the Ember? I currently have 43 Cardinal Tetras and am thinking about adding 15-20 of another small tetra ie. Rummynose to help with my schooling also considering some Rasboras also.

Craig


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## gheitman (Aug 18, 2007)

Another reason that could impact on the decision between neon and cardinal tetras is what other fish are in the tank. For instance, angelfish prey upon the smaller neon tetras in the wild but would leave the larger cardinals alone. I personally would prefer cardinals because of their look but the neons tend to be more forgiving of water parameters (i.e. temperature, quality, etc.).


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## Conankills (Aug 26, 2007)

Just started my Naturally Planted Tank (10g) a week and a half ago (cycled pretty quick).
Last time I had Tetras I was about 14yrs old.
The past couple of days I've gotten Neons from the local pet shop (Petco) for my NPT. Both times I got 5 since they were 5 for $5, and both times one didn't make it home, so I ended up with 8 in the tank. I was counting on a couple more dying since Petco isn't known around here for good fish upkeep and their fish stock is raided pretty frequently by customers. 
Last night was kind of chilly (CT) and I forgot to turn up the heater in the tank and the water temp. dropped to 68 degrees. 
Four died. Wimps! (But I like them when they get acclimatized.) 
I hate killing anything because of negligence, but I still have 4 left and according to natural selection they must be the hardiest :heh: .
We'll see how they fair in a low-tech tank (w/proper temp. management).

BTW, the ones I had when I was younger lived for a good year, which is amazing due to the fact that I was 14yrs old and a couple of years before that I boiled 2 Goldfish with an oversized heater!


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## dapellegrini (Jan 18, 2007)

If price and availability were equal - I can't imagine why anyone would do neons. They are the lesser beauty and a better fish for beginners, as they are easier to maintain. I have had both many times over the years - and have definitely killed more cardinals than neons - but IMO there is no contest. 

Coral-red pencilfish are another very attractive red type fish if cardinals aren't rare/expensive enough for your tastes


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## ruki (Jul 4, 2006)

CraigThor said:


> Ruki- pics of the Ember? I currently have 43 Cardinal Tetras and am thinking about adding 15-20 of another small tetra ie. Rummynose to help with my schooling also considering some Rasboras also.
> 
> Craig


Ember Tetra articles with pics:
http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Hyphessobrycon_amandae.php









http://badmanstropicalfish.com/gallery/characins/amandae.html


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## jazzlvr123 (Apr 29, 2007)

cardinals are pickyer but defineately get larger and live way longer than neons, the red on their bodies also extend to the end of the tail, my lsf charges about $1.50 more for the cadinals than the neons when they are in stock. In the wild cardinals are more carnivores while neons are thought to be omnivores, nibbling on certain plants. This means in the tank that cardinals do best when they are fed frozen foods that are high in protein, such as frozen baby brine shrimp or tubiflex worms, wheile neons perfer flake foods and veggie flakes (more of an ominore compatable diet) this might be why neons are cheaper (because they are less expensive to feed, dont live as long, are less picky to water conditions and have less red on their bodies) although IME neons seems to school better than cardinals i dont know why this is. the cardinals seems to like to swim in smaller scattered scools in grouns of about 3-6 (even if you have 40+ candinals)


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## mpe1329 (Sep 1, 2007)

spypet said:


> both cost $1-3 each here in NYC


Noticed you're in NYC. I'm in Staten Island and just getting into plants/FW. Where do you shop for FW fish? Any places to avoid?


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## bartoli (May 8, 2006)

dapellegrini said:


> If price and availability were equal - I can't imagine why anyone would do neons.


I prefer neons over cardinals not because of price or availability, but for the color. I like the contrast of the silver that meets the red half way. Color reveals its beauty when contrasting with other colors.

A number of times I found some cardinals at the LFS and was thinking about getting some. But every time, after looking closely at the cardinals, I found them not as good looking as neons.


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## Felf808 (Mar 21, 2006)

One of the better LFS here sells exclusively sells juvenile neons for $0.25 each (because they know that the average person won't pay more for a fish that looks similar) but they always die for me. One day I decided to try out some cardinals (1-2 dollars) from another LFS and I still have them almost a year later. I like the coloration of cardinals more than neons after seeing them first hand in my tank but green neons look very nice too, do they keep tight schools?


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## Raul-7 (Feb 4, 2004)

I prefer Neons for the exact same reason bartoli mentioned. The silver color contrast with the red and blue make them that much more attractive than Cardinals, IMHO.


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