Brianemone Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Im planning on getting a nice school of fish for my planted tank but want to find out some info in relation to their longevity. I guess Tetras would be a great place to start, I was thinking of having a school of about 50-60 neons in the tank but I am concerned about how long they would last. i would prefer Cardinals but the price of a school of 50 would work out at about 400$ as opposed to 90$ for a school of Neons. I had thought of breeding the Cardinals but I don't know if i have the patience to keep up with the demands. But if cardinals proved to be a hardier fish overall then it might be worth the investment Glowlights are semi affordable option but i do prefer the blue and red of the neons and cardinals. Anyway, opinons on what fish make for a good school and have a fairly good survival rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GZ_Loach Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 black phantom tetras with a few red phantom tetras, they cost a wee bit more than tetras but their bigger and fend for themselves unlike tetras, and their interesting (two males mock fighting etc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afrikan Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Apparently cardinals are much longer lived than Neons Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Your keeping discus in the tank arent you brian? which means your temp will have to be up around 28-29? Neons prefer water around 22 so they perish in higher heats. My mate had 50 neons in with his discus, they all slowly died off, one after another. Cardinals on the other hand, prefer the higher heats. I reckon you breed them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 A lot of factors affects fish longevity. How well they were fed when fry How well they are fed during their life Water quality Water temperature The bigger the fish, the longer it lives generally. My neons lived 5 years Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evilknieval69 Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 You could get a school of pencil fish. Im not sure if they fully school or not. i have 5 and they are pretty cool. I have 3 females and 2 males. The males are always fighting for territory and the females are always bulging with eggs!! I might set them up a breeding tank soon.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted February 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Your keeping discus in the tank arent you brian? which means your temp will have to be up around 28-29? Neons prefer water around 22 so they perish in higher heats. My mate had 50 neons in with his discus, they all slowly died off, one after another. Cardinals on the other hand, prefer the higher heats. I reckon you breed them I've kindof gone off the Discus as the plants will be the main focus and the constant watre changes needed to keep the discus at their max is not going to help. 5 years is a long time for a neon, much longer than i would have expected, good news i guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 I would go with the cardinals; they're bigger, longer lived and can tolerate higher heats. They're also quite hard to breed so will be a nice challenge Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billaney Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 what about glowlight danios , a stunning little fish , easy to breed so buy 8 and you can have a nice large school withing a couple of months , Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 i had a school of silver tips which i loved and they breed easily so the school just keep growing. what about poor man's neon [WCMM] i find they're one of the best schooling fish in terms of schooling even in small numbers in a small tank and they breed easily too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fattythecatty Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 GZ Loach mentioned black phantoms, I have these and would highly reccommend them. They're lovely little fish, very active, change colour and I don't find mine to be shy at all. I don't have any reds but the combo would look great together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southerrrngirrl Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 I say go with Cardinals. They are great and IMO sooooo much nicer and brighter than neons. I've had my little group of six for nearly a year now, no deaths.. *touches wood* they look great when they school though Any chance of slowly building up the school, that way you'd be able to spread the cost of the cardinals over a period of time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted February 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 I would go with the cardinals; they're bigger, longer lived and can tolerate higher heats. They're also quite hard to breed so will be a nice challenge I dont really want a challenge though, I want to keep things simple and have a stunning display tank without needing multiple tanks setup to breed fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brianemone Posted February 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 I say go with Cardinals. They are great and IMO sooooo much nicer and brighter than neons. I've had my little group of six for nearly a year now, no deaths.. *touches wood* they look great when they school though Any chance of slowly building up the school, that way you'd be able to spread the cost of the cardinals over a period of time? I definatly agree about the colour of the Cardinals, they are far more attractive than the neons (and most other tetra's) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Fair enough. Yea, I had a nice school of 20 and they just look stunning. I think the only way you could do it if you're worried about the price is as southerngirl says, just slowly build the school up. I'm sure it'd be worth the extra money in the end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fattythecatty Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 Ok, so this has got me thinking. I was considering a school of neons to live in a 2 footer with my male Betta but what about cardinals? My Betta is a beautiful red boy and I thought the neons would look good with him but maybe cardinals would look better!! Considering the tank is small, how many would be a good number? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted February 8, 2007 Report Share Posted February 8, 2007 I was looking at getting cardinals and then saw the price compared to neons. is there a particular reason the price difference is so high? ie difficulty or breeding or something similar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shiuh Posted February 9, 2007 Report Share Posted February 9, 2007 i have a school of wcmm, poor mans neon...ahhaha around 150s... easy to care, breed, live longer and no need for heaters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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