Cardinal Tetra Scientific Name
Paracheirodon axelrodi

Cardinal Tetra Family
They belong to the family Characidae.

Cardinal Tetra Origin
These fish originated from South America, they are found in Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela

Cardinal Tetra Overview
Cardinal tetras are small very colorful freshwater fish; males are slimmer than females which are larger and rounder. Their bright neon blue line runs from head to tail, much like the Neon Tetra except that the bottom half of their body is all red not part white.

Cardinal Tetra Adult Size
These fish is quite small at 2 inches or 5 cm long.

Cardinal Tetra Life Span
These fish given the right environment can live up to 4 years.

Cardinal Tetra Compatible Tankmates
Cardinal tetras are a peaceful breed of community fish and can co-exist with other fish that are not very aggressive or big enough to eat them.

Social: Community Vs. semi-aggressive Vs. Aggressive
These are peaceful shoaling fish and four more should be good when sharing a tank.
As they are small, they should not be put together with aggressive bigger fish that can eat them like some cichlids and the clown knife fish.

Cardinal Tetra Breeding: Egglayer vs. Livebearer
They lay about 500 eggs which hatch in 24 hours. Spawning usually occurs in the evening. The parents should be removed immediately after spawning. To breed this fish, the aquarium needs to be heavily shaded to simulate the low light conditions of their native spawning grounds.

Cardinal Tetra Care
Tetras thrive in very soft and acidic water but they will tolerate medium hard and alkaline water in tanks. They like to hide out in lots of ornaments and they need sufficient free swimming space.

Cardinal Tetra Diet
They are omnivorous and will eat granural foods and micro-pellets, flake, and a supplement diet of small live and frozen foods.

Cardinal Tetra Tank Size
The minimum recommended aquarium size is 24 inches.

Cardinal Tetra pH
The pH level should be 4.5 to 7.

Cardinal Tetra Water Hardness
They require very soft acidic water below 3 dGH.

Cardinal Tetra Water Temperature
The temperature should be 72 to 82 degrees Fahrenheit or 22 to 28 degrees Celsius.