Cardinal Tetra with Cherry Shrimp ideal temperature

Hello all. So I've had 10 Cardinal Tetra since January. They are in a planted 29 gallon tank and have been happy and healthy. They were living with some albino corydora, but I recently re-homed them because they were exhibiting stress due to a small school (4). After that a friend of a friend offered to give me some Cherry Shrimp because he had TONS of babies, so I added some cholla wood, mineral balls, and indian almond leaves. I drip acclimated the shrimp and everything has been Aok so far, but I read that Shrimp prefer slighter colder water to reproduce. I have been keeping the tank at 77-78 degrees. Would lowering it to 73-74 be okay for the Cardinals? Thanks!

 

I do believe most tetras can hang in that range. Granted, for cardinals, it is listed as the low end of their range.

 

I haven't kept cardinals, but the shrimp should be okay at the 77-78°. They will still reproduce, but the warmer temperature will speed up their metabolism. They will grow faster, and reproduce faster, but also not live as long.

They will keep reproducing in temperatures higher than your tank. I keep them in tubs outside year round. They're in the shade, but I'm in southeast Texas where the summer temperatures rarely get below the mid-70's at night, and regularly into the upper 90's to low 100's during the day. I've never checked the water temperature in the tubs (though I plan to start), but I'd be very surprised if it ever gets below 80° from July until late September.

 

I haven't kept cardinals, but the shrimp should be okay at the 77-78°. They will still reproduce, but the warmer temperature will speed up their metabolism. They will grow faster, and reproduce faster, but also not live as long.

They will keep reproducing in temperatures higher than your tank. I keep them in tubs outside year round. They're in the shade, but I'm in southeast Texas where the summer temperatures rarely get below the mid-70's at night, and regularly into the upper 90's to low 100's during the day. I've never checked the water temperature in the tubs (though I plan to start), but I'd be very surprised if it ever gets below 80° from July until late September.

I wonder if meeting it in the middle (75 degrees) would be better for both? I don't want to stress the Cardinals, but I also want to extend the lives of the shrimp.

 

75 should work. Most of my tetras i keep at 76.

 

I wonder if meeting it in the middle (75 degrees) would be better for both? I don't want to stress the Cardinals, but I also want to extend the lives of the shrimp.

I had cardinals for a little while when I first started keeping fish (before I knew that they don't all like the same water parameters), but apparently they didn't like mine and didn't last long. It's my impression that they prefer warmer water than most commonly kept tetras, but I'd feel better if you get confirmation on that from someone who knows more about them than I do before taking any action.

 

75 should work. Most of my tetras i keep at 76.

Thanks I'm going to go with 75. I've lowered the temp from 77.5 to 76 so far and everyone seems content. I'll go down to 75 tomorrow.

I've attached some pictures of the shrimp. They are even harder to photograph than fish! I think they like the algae I left for them.