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Which one do you prefer?

Cardinals vs. Neons

15K views 37 replies 22 participants last post by  okiemavis 
#1 ·
Now I'm driven by my curiosity as to which fish you prefer and why.:mrgreen:

Cardinals maybe. I have problems with the neon lot.:blink: Due to mass production and inbreeding, I'm driven to an extent that I will refuse to buy any more neons. 'Tis always advisable to quarantine these fish before introducing them to your tank to prevent the risk of Neon Tetra Disease(NTD) caused by Plistophora.
 
#3 ·
Poll added. I voted for cardinals due to the problems with neons. To be honest, neons are more troublesome than the rummies.:redmad: :frustrated: They may not die during transport which rummies are often known for but their susceptibility to NTD even though it rarely occurs drives fear in myself not to introduce them anymore in my tank. Maybe I'd rather get a new tank and keep neons by themselves.:dunno: They're a bit irresistible to me.:checkedout: :shake:
 
#6 ·
Argh!! I'm so stupid for being late to get more cardinals.:frustrated: Ended up only 4.:sob: Why is it I'm always late for batches of tetras?:shake:

I'm late for red phantoms and got 11 as the last batch..
I'm late for black neons and got only 1.
I'm late for flame tetras and got only 1.

And now the cardinals? I don't believe this.:frustrated: :blink:
 
#10 ·
You know..for one thing..I was amazed at how the cardinals adapted too fast in my tank.:shock2: I still have some more tetras to get.:mrgreen: :crazy:

I'm rehoming my remaining three young angels in a new tank so they will stop harassing any new fish.:)
 
#11 ·
kateyoup said:
Hey.. you looking for a fight?? :p
That's the problem with some of us.:blueshake:

:wink2:
 
#15 ·
Def cardinals as they are awesome in colour when fully grown..

Note to Blue.
I used to have problems with neons all the time until I changed my supplier 2 years ago and since then I take in 100-200 every week and I haven't lost 1 to NTD..
There are good supplies of neons out there it is just a matter of sourcing them.
 
#16 ·
xingumike said:
:shock2: indeed!!!

thats scandalous, if i lived in oz id go salty and catch em myself!!

If thats the case then i dont blame ya for choosing neons Flamalam
:shock2: Prices are indeed outrageous, not scandalous:)tongue: ).:shock2:
I'd rather go fish-watching on lfs.:blink:

See here. For Pete's sake, neons cost 25 pesos each and cardinals are 75 pesos each.:blink:

Derek-M said:
Note to Blue.
I used to have problems with neons all the time until I changed my supplier 2 years ago and since then I take in 100-200 every week and I haven't lost 1 to NTD..
There are good supplies of neons out there it is just a matter of sourcing them.
Thanks, Derek. Might have to ask my friend where he got those neons.:)
 
#18 ·
Yeah, neons are like a third of the cost of cards. Cardinals are a little bit prettier, but not 200% prettier, and even if I lose half the neons I get to disease (and I am running about 20% losses to date), I'd still say they're the better fish for me.
 
#19 ·
I guess I prefer the neons because they are smaller, I love the blue-green color, and they are such a classic fish. Cardinals seem to very popular right now, and because of that neons actually seem 'different', if that makes any sense.
 
#20 ·
I stick with neons personally. Cardinals arent easily found around here and cost almost 4 times as much as neons. Maybe I've gotten lucky in terms of disease but I havent lost a neon to sickness in quite a while...also could be that I spend more than a half an hour inspecting almost everything in the tanks at the lfs before actually buying anything. If anything in that tank looks like it has even a trace of disease I won't be buying anything and the people that work at the smaller local shops (who see me rather regularly) know it lol. I'd like to think that keeps them more inclined to keep healthier fish knowing they can't sell anything to me that is even living with another sick fish.
 
#21 ·
I voted for cardinals just because there's no option 'both'. Indeed cardinals seem to be more vivid in colour, neons however are more exquisite in built. It is unfair that because of the longer red stripe cardinals should cost so much more than neons.

In this case I am lucky to live in a place where a cardinal on average costs about 2,5 dollars compared to 2 for a neon. Prices may differ from place to place but the ratio is about the same. It is still underestimation for neons, but people seem to prefer brighter objects :wink: to pick.

I would like to keep both varieties if I am able to establish suitable conditions and healthy schools.
 
#23 ·
I've also found neons to be much much hardier than cardinals. I still have more than 3/4 of the neons I purchased in the last year. None of the cardinals survived.

/ In fairness, this may have been a problem with the tank rather than the fish. Likely it was, really. Still, it put me off cardinals for a while.
 
#24 ·
I find cardinals better because they dont mind the high temps, the red bar runs along their whole body, at night they turn vivid purple and seem to have much better survival rates. Wow I would never spend $7 on cards I am lucky I found a malaysian importer that sells them for $3.20 I got all my discus under $40 from them (a blue diamond for $20 :shock: )
 
#25 ·
I am beginning to like cardinals a bit better since they seem to be friendlier :) . Some of my neons tend to fight sometimes.

What about black neons? i would like to add a group of them to my family. I haven't come across these guys in pet shops. I will keep looking.
 
#26 ·
Black neons are nice but bigger and hardier.
 
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