Cardinal Tetra

The cardinal tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi) is the neon tetra's larger and, to many aquarists, better-looking relative. It comes from the Rio Negro and Orinoco drainages, water stained brown by leaf litter and very soft indeed. The easy way to tell the two apart is the red: on a neon it covers only the back half of the fish, while on a cardinal it runs the full length of the body beneath the blue stripe. In a shoal against dark substrate the effect is considerably richer.

Aquarium care

• Reaches roughly 4 to 5 cm, a little larger than a neon.
• Peaceful and well suited to a community tank.
• Keep eight or more. Small groups behave badly and colour up poorly.
• Prefers warm, soft, acidic water; a mature, stable tank suits it best.
• Mid-water swimmer.
• Omnivorous: small flake, micro pellets, frozen and live micro foods.

Good company includes corydoras, hatchetfish, pencilfish, dwarf cichlids such as apistogramma, and other small South American species. Like neons, they are prey to anything appreciably larger, so keep angelfish and adult cichlids out of the equation.

Stock rotates with each shipment, and livestock is sold for local pickup at our Lethbridge store. Browse the current tetras.