Week 1: Cardinal Tetra
This week's Fish of the Week is the extremely popular Cardinal Tetra.
This brightly coloured community fish originates from South America and grows to a maximum length of around 5cm. The Cardinal Tetra has a striking neon blue and red band which runs from their nose to tail. Best kept in shoals of 6 or more, in a tank size of around 50 litres, these fish are perfect for planted aquariums. Cardinals are very easy to keep and will tolerate a range of aquarium conditions. They will be more than happy with a temperature range between 22 °C and 27 °C and a pH between 5.0 and 7.0. In the wild Cardinal Tetras primarily feed on worms and small crustaceans, however in an aquarium environment they will eat a general mix of foods including live, fresh and flake foods. Do you have a thriving shoal of Cardinal Tetra in your tank at home? Why not share your photos of them with us on Instagram? Give us a follow using by clicking on the Instagram logo on the right hand side of this post and tag us in using @pondplanet for a chance of being featured in our future blog posts!