Bad Wolf

Are cardinal tetras the same as neon tetras but with a different color?

Nick Goody

Cardinals have more red in their bodys and grow slightly larger than Neons. They are also immune to neon tetra Disease. They cost a lot more too.

Bad Wolf

i'll say, i saw them once, they were $24 for 3!

Bad Wolf

oh and what excatly is the neon tetra disease? i once bought 15 neons and they all were dead within 10 days. that was the first and the last time i ever bought neons. i don't trust them any more.

Nick Goody

I don't know exacttly what it is. Just a disease that kills Neons. I do know that Neons today are nowhere near as hardy as they were 20 years ago.

aquarist48

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/di...eondisease.htm
Above is a link for Neon Tetra disease. Have a good day!

Bad Wolf

thanks

cerianthus

$8 for each? Ouch! Probably the freight charge to Australia or high losses. Hopefully cardinal s will be captive bred soon. I dont know the reason why farmers dont commercially breed them since not really difficult, imo. And such practices will definitely reduce the chance of possible endeangering the natural population.
BTW, Cardinal are as equally susceptible to NTD if not more (all have to do w/ how their trip was; conditions of water they came in). Most hobbyists may not see such since such infections usually occurs during and/or right after the transit where such batch may not make it to your LFS.

Lucy

Zowie, 8 bucks? They sure are pretty. I've also read that they're not suseptable to NTD. That's one reason I chose them over neons...that and their color.

Bad Wolf

at the place where i saw them neons were like $4 or $5, but at one of my LPS they are $3.30 and at my other LPS they are $2.50 then i saw another petshop that neons were only $1.29! then my friend found a place where neons were only 10 for $4!!! the cheapest cardinals i've seen were for about $4 each.

this leads me to another question, why do prices on fish vary? eg. i've seen assorted danios for $2 and up to $5 and 2 inch gold comets as low as $1 to as high as $6.

cerianthus

I guess depend on quantity one buys. If directly obtained form supplier from SA or tranship which is about anywhere from 300-600/box depending on size of fish, would be low in cost. If buys in small quantity from middleman/wholesale, cost usually are high.
Lowest I ever paid for small Cardinals were 3/$1.00 but long time ago, I think, amybe 2/$1.00. Usually .99/ea and 6/$5.00. Lately, due to high shipping cost i think, it seems to be around $1.50-$2.00/ea in my lfs in NYC who gets them directly.

$2.00 for Danio, Huh? Wow! thats pretty high! I remember zebra danio for either 0.29 or 0.39 cents.

Bad Wolf

that's australia for you. fish here are a fortune, especially common plecostomus's. they are $49.95 for something that's 4 cm, nearly an inch.

Lucy

I just got a bunch of cardinals, but I didn't pay attention to the price.
My husband took me to a fish store for Mom's day and I just said I want 10 of them.

Bad Wolf

you're lucky,

Nick Goody

Cardinal Tetras cost $12 here in NZ. I spent $50 on two baby Borelli Cichlids at the weekend. Fish here are horribly expensive.

Bad Wolf

it must be something with the Australasian or Southern countries.....