will cardinals eat small boraras?

[loupgarou]

just wondering... once my boraras urophthalmoides makes past my quarantine period, I'm thinking of moving them to the main tank, the cardinals are least 5 -10 times their size.

[taz_boy]

So far nv heard abt cardinals eating other fishes cases before, normally cardinals are eaten by other fishes ....lol

cardinals are generally peaceful schooling fishes, even though the are 5-10 times bigger, dun think they'll attack the smaller fishes...

but if u wan play safe, then make sure ur cardinals are nv hungry......
or

keep ur boraras in ur quarantine tank till they grow bigger then introduce to the main tank....but that's gonna take long time

[JT]

Yup..it is quite safe with tetras.(community fishes - friendly) However boraras are very small in nature...the worry u might have is how to feed them or if they can "win" in the fight for food vs the tetras....tetras snap up food very fast(lightning shot to the surface n dive back down)....boraras may not have a go for food....

[mitsukake]

i dont think that their mouth is big enuff to eat other fish .. unless its small fries..
then its another story..
hope it helps

[stormhawk]

Don't mix the cardinals with the boraras if they're larger than the boraras.

Tetras are still predators in a sense and will not hesitate to harass, kill and eventually eat a Boraras if its alot smaller.

If you don't think this will happen, try it and you'll see what I mean by harassment.

I've had pencilfish kill my boraras, even black widow tetras did that and almost all other tetras with the exception of the darters, have always attacked fishes smaller than them.

[benny]

Usually, if it fits in the mouth. Don't even try.

Cheers,

[mab]

I have 10 dwarf boraras (est 0.5 to 0.7 cm each) + 6 neon tetra + 1 pencilfish in my 2 ft heavily planted tank; it's been a week since; so far so good. I'll monitor & update if there's any casualty.

[stormhawk]

Mab, if the neons are small then its alright. I hope your pencilfish is not the hockeystick pencil Nannostomus eques.. otherwise you'll have a very territorial fella on your hands.

[mab]

Mab, if the neons are small then its alright. I hope your pencilfish is not the hockeystick pencil Nannostomus eques.. otherwise you'll have a very territorial fella on your hands.

Stormhawk,
It's a single line pencilfish; Nannostomus unifasciatus i think. This + the boraras were given to me by fellow hobbyist who's going to US for 6 mths. My two boys have been urging me to buy more pencilfish as they claim this guy..or is it a gal? is lonely. I intent to buy 3 more. Is it ok? Will this Nannostomus unifasciatus be territorial as well?

Cheers

[stormhawk]

Hi Mab,

If you keep pencilfishes in shoals of less than 6, they will develop a pecking order in which the territorial aggression might spillover to other fish. While its certainly a good thing to provide more individuals of its own kind, its certainly not that lonely if its the only pencilfish in the tank.

I had a beckfordi that lived more than a year as the lone pencilfish in my tank.. but that was only after it had successfully badgered and murdered the other beckfordi in the pair that I bought.

If it makes your kids happy, go out and get some but ensure that they're of the same size as the one left in your tank. Any smaller or bigger and they'll begin establishing that hierarchy in the tank.