Platinum Cardinal Tetras

[apistoworld(HK)]

Platinum Cardinal Tetras

[yyylarry]

looks abit like cardinal tetra....

[Quixotic]

These ARE cardinals.

[torque6]

so the term platinium is used to describe which feature of these cardinals ?

[Don90]

The term platinum is to describe the metallic sheen on their backs. But they still possess the red and blue lines.

Its something like the golden tetra's colour on their back.

[torque6]

Don,
oh i see, thanks for the clarification.

[honor]

great pictures, if they are yours.

[coltsr2]

I think they just look like a less colourful variety of what is one of the most colourful tropical fish in the world the cardinal tetra proper!.....they are nice fish and would create more variety than just cardinals on their own...but they are not as nice as the full colour morph variety...they just look washed out sick cardinals..

[Captain Telecredible]

Agree with coltsr 2,
These cardinals looks like sick or infected with diseases. I would prefer the wild cardinals which looks much better. Just in my own opinion.

[Don90]

these cardinals look like that because they are in their stress colouration.

[footballe]

maybe TS just got the fishes ? in that case, maybe can post again once they settled down.

[DanGoh59]

Agreed that the posted pictures does not show the
platinum cardinals in an attractive way. Here's another
picture of the same species that shows it in a better
light.

The platinum cardinals are a naturally occuring species
and not tank-bred unlike another similar Gold Cardinals
by Czech breeders where the blue line is replaced by a
gold line. The platinum effect is caused similarly to that
of the Gold Tetra (Hemigrammus rodwayi). As this is a
natural occurence, the results are varied and not as "clean"
as the posted pics. You will get different blotches of
platinum/silver on different caridinals. I have one where
the platinum covers the blue resulting in the fish being
just silver and red. This fish is a rarity with 1 natural
occurence out of a million common cardinal tetras. This
trait also occurs amongst Neon Tetras and False Neon (Green)
Tetras as well.

[Yttrium]

Would these platinum cardinals lose their sheen like the gold tetras?

I read that for the gold tetras it's believed to be due to internal parasites. They seem to lose their gold sheen after a couple of days in my tank so I'm wondering if the parasites have been cleared or is it the water condition that's inducing the loss of their gold color?

[Morgan01]

I personally have doubts about these variations of cardinals - whether green/platinum.

Bought a few green neon from LFS and under my lighting they look just like any normal neon tetras i.e. bluish not green. While other LFS have different shades of cardinals mixed in 1 tank.

Having said they are still beautiful fish to have in a planted tank

[Yttrium]

I personally have doubts about these variations of cardinals - whether green/platinum.

Bought a few green neon from LFS and under my lighting they look just like any normal neon tetras i.e. bluish not green. While other LFS have different shades of cardinals mixed in 1 tank.

Having said they are still beautiful fish to have in a planted tank

Yeah I bought a bunch of green tetras before. They don't really look green to me, more like a different tone of blue and lacking the usual red that the neons/cardinals have.

[Scape]

IMHO, the original cardinals with the red, blue strips are still nicer.

[leclair]

if these platinum tetras are in a school with others, i dont think i will be able to spot them as such. MOre likely i will think that they are the not so nice ones.

But that is just me ...

[sanhas]

Tried to keep them before but always die very fast...wonder what's wrong?
Anyone care to guide me?

[hwchoy]

Yeah I bought a bunch of green tetras before. They don't really look green to me, more like a different tone of blue and lacking the usual red that the neons/cardinals have.

morgan01 and yttrium, the so called "green neon" is a common name referring to a different species from the normal cardinal tetra.

the cardinal tetra is Paracheirodon axelrodi and the green neon is P. simulans. P. simulans is smaller than P. axelrodi but sporting a similar colour scheme with a much reduced red coloration. In dim light and in a large school you will see how beautiful they can look.

the important thing is that these are natural species, they even live in different parts of the river systems in the wild. just because some people have chosen to call them "green neon" should not raise undue expectation of how they should look like. appreciate them as they are, a creation of Nature.


as for all various "platinum" versions of normal tetra, it is believed that they are due to parasites infecting the skin of the fish, which they respond by producing guanine and so producing the bright metallic look.


by the way, the neon tetra is the other member of the genus Paracheirodon, P. innesi.

[Zmallwood]

Interesting looking tetras. Never knew it was the case of parasites infecting the skin and the production of guanine. Thanks for the lesson hwchoy. They do look nice though, with the metallic silver look