# Cardinals not developing red color



## rusticdr (13 Oct 2016)

Its been 2 weeks since I got 25 cardinal tetras for my 4 foot 100 gallon planted tank. Apart from one all the rest have weak to absent red color. The blue neon band is well developed in of them. Apart from the cardinals I have 13 very red nosed rummy noses, 12 bright orange henglei rasbora, 9 pencil fishes, 5 Otos, 3 bn pleco, 2 sae and one neon gourami. Am running two filters eheim 2217 and sunsun 303b. Parameters r normal with 0 ammonia and 10 nitrate. PH is 6.4.. tank has pressurised co2 and is densely planted. I am feeding micropellets, wafers and fd blood worms and the cardinals feed well too. The color is not related to night day cycle. It's always like that 24 x7. Lfs guy says it sometimes takes weeks for them to settle down and develop color.  They don't seem stressed out and no other fish s chasing them. Just can't figure this out.. am I dealing with a bad batch. Attaching some photos. 






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## imak (13 Oct 2016)

Are you sure they are cardinals,  they could be simulans.


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## Aqua360 (13 Oct 2016)

wow, beautiful tank


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## rusticdr (13 Oct 2016)

Simulans.. hmm.. will read up on that. Thanks a ton. Always help to post in a forum. Gives a different perspective. Thanks aqua360.. this s my second tank. 

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## alto (13 Oct 2016)

Another vote for P simulans (or possibly a hybrid fish)

WILD AQUARIUM 3  Ivan Mikolji

Neon tetras, Paracheirodon simulans in their natural habitat
this one has some Q&A with the local fisherman

Note that "tank bred" cardinals are fairly common in the trade, & some "line bred" versions are also available ... it's rare to see wild caught cardinals come in that require 
_weeks for them to settle down and develop color_
though at one time this was not unusual
(local shop would bring in wild caught cardinals direct, fish went into very dark blackwater tanks & were transitioned over several weeks to lighter stained tanks & finally clearwater with fluorescent lighting ... with this method, their losses were minimal - extraordinary to see thousands of cardinals in blackwater 180cm tanks)


Your tank looks great


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## Martin in Holland (14 Oct 2016)

They should colour up after a few weeks providing you give them food them contains astaxanthin or carotenoid. I found that after I sometimes give my fish some leftover (homemade) beef heart mix from my Discus, they show much more colour and red, they also grown a lot bigger and look overall better than ever before.


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## rusticdr (14 Oct 2016)

Cud be a hybrid.. read up on green Neons or otherwise called simulans. Mine do have a faint red color extending all the way to the front which Neons don't have. Anyway am feeding a mixed diet. Will wait for sometime and watch what happens. R cardinals generally shy.. even though they r not being chased or bullied and they have the biggest number in the tank they seem to prefer the densely planted areas rather than swim out in the open. A few do come out and join the rummy noses. Watched very closely for bullies but even the gourami which s the only aggressive character in this tank is happily lost in his own world and mostly topside with the rasboras. Has this happened to anyone.. 

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## alto (14 Oct 2016)

rusticdr said:


> even though they r not being chased or bullied and they have the biggest number in the tank they seem to prefer the densely planted areas rather than swim out in the open.


this sounds pretty typical of _P simulans_ behaviour in planted tanks - try sitting quietly nearby with just room lighting, chances are you'll see them out & about all over the tank IF they're comfortable in their surroundings ... you can try increasing their numbers to ~50, they do seem to prefer larger shoals
OR add a group of cardinals  -  they are usually more forward 

You might go back to the shop & speak with the manager or owner about the fish you were sold - take some photos if possible.


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## Martin in Holland (14 Oct 2016)

Martin in China said:


> you give them food them contains astaxanthin or carotenoid


This won't get them more red if they are indeed Simulan tetras.


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## PARAGUAY (14 Oct 2016)

Martin in China said:


> They should colour up after a few weeks providing you give them food them contains astaxanthin or carotenoid. I found that after I sometimes give my fish some leftover (homemade) beef heart mix from my Discus, they show much more colour and red, they also grown a lot bigger and look overall better than ever before.


The fish house I looked after in the summer I noticed the tetras in a Discus tank made a beeline for beef heart when it was fed for the Discus and they were really well coloured up


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## rusticdr (15 Oct 2016)

alto said:


> this sounds pretty typical of _P simulans_ behaviour in planted tanks - try sitting quietly nearby with just room lighting, chances are you'll see them out & about all over the tank IF they're comfortable in their .





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## rusticdr (15 Oct 2016)

Oops.. small mishap. Anyway will talk to the lfs again. Just one last query.. almost all the fishes have a very faint red color.. does that occur in simulans? Has anyone seen so many simulan all with faint red color. All the pics I cud get they almost completely lack the red. 

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## rusticdr (17 Feb 2017)

Sorry forgot to upgrade this thread.. all the cardinals developed their bright red color a couple of weeks after the last reply. Will post pics soon. Thanks a ton for all ur posts. 

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