Lifespan of tetras in your tank?

[blurrblurr]

Like to know how long is the lifespan for tetra in the tank. seems like tetra can can die easily

[budak]

true or not, i have read articles claiming that neons can live for 7-8 years. Low feeding, cool temperatures and of course good water quality and minimal stress/overcrowding will slow the ageing process.... many people don't provide such conditions, so of course their fish are eager to go to a better place....

[a_scape]

My Cardinal already 4 years old now (I keep 100pcs) and seems very healthy. One of my friend already keep cardinal for 10 years now (4,5 cm length), he still keep 200 pcs (as long as he remember he insert 300 pcs 10 yrs ago).......
Maybe certain tetra species has short life span.
Cheers,

AChen

[plantmania]

More than 4 years... Think those who only survive for a few months are usually contanimated with cynaide.... or bad water treatment...

[budak]

errr..... I have never heard of cyanide problems with freshwater fishes.

[juggler]

Some tetras are farm bred. Due to inbreeding, they are not as strong as their wild brothers. As they grow to adulthood, they are prone to disease and sometimes develop deformaties. So their shorter life-span.

Still, I have kept farm-bred Neon Tetras for a year or so. And I still have some wild Cardinal Tetras that has been with me for 2.5 years.

[ms]

Hi, I just got 20 cardinals over the weekend for my 4ft tank. They are about 1" long. My tank is fully planted and had been running for about 3 months.

Question:
What type of food do I feed them? I want to go on a low feed frequency program, how often must I feed them? I want to stretch this as long as possible without harming the fishes.

MS

[theodore]

Good flakes or granules 2-3 times a week is fine for most fishes. They do appreciate an occasional supplement of bloodworms or other frozen feeds IMO.

Fishes can survive without regular feeding for quite a while - I didn't feed my fishes (pencilfishes and dwarf cichlids) for 10days when I went a trip recently. No casualties though they looked like they could eat a whole cow when I fed them.

[Danio]

Hi,

I checked my own logs concerning the lifespan of my fishes.

Believe me or not, but small fishes can live much longer than you can imagine. In general captive fishes thrive much longer that in the nature, so my oldest Hemigrammus erythrozonus were 8 years old. Now I have several Brochis splendens and Corydoras ambiacus of 10 years old.

Concerning of the TETRA I can't say anything because species named tetra are numerous.

If we talk about Paracheirodon innesi and P. axelrodi -- they can reach 3-4 years and I hope even more, but I never kept them so long.

[StanChung]

Wow, 10 year old Cardinal tetra? Must be using ginseng or some elixir to keep them so long.
My oldest Cardinal tetra was about 3 years. Each time we moved must have shortened it's lifespan by 3 years.

My lemon tetras are at least 4 years old. bought them large-almost 2 inch- they're now almost 2.75 inch. Sharing a tank with Altums who leave them alone.

[crystalreds]

I ever rear neon tetra for a years at 1st brought 100pcs starting water condition not very good die pcs by pcs after a year left about 70pcs. and within the year re-scape the tank the tetra was inside the tank but okie that they never die and very healthy.

[CacaManiac]

the 8 Congo Tetras in my tank have been with me for close to 2 years.. only recently 4 of them died due to bloat.. i blame my father.. i've kept them on a pellet diet.. he went and bought frozen bloodworms for them.. suddenly they fell sick... bloated and scales flared.. poor guys.. good thing the rest are still super healthy.. hoping they live for more years to come...

as for the cardinals... the recent batch i got are doing ok apart from the occasional death... usually the smallest of the lot dies mysteriously.. had 20 specimens.. now left with 12.. over 5 months now.. doing ok.

[bryan]

Bloat, flared scales? Sounds like dropsy. You should check the water conditions first before blaming the bloodworms.

[Shaihulud]

I have some cardinals, actually its my dad's tank that lasted 2 years+ LFS owner told him that their lifespan is only a few mnths, seems to be a common misconception with many lfs owners.

[Caesar]

I have a tank with neons and shrimps, every so often(not for a while) one dies. I noticed a lot of bickering between them, before i see one injured or dead. Was told this was caused by fluctuations in water tempreture, not to sure about that. They eat live or frozen blood worms lots and no ill affects, as they go crazy for live daphnia and i've had them in there for about 1 year 6 months. Hoping they live for a few more years as there is some real character in the bunch. Don't underestimate the humble tetra

[collina]

Mine lasted 2 years and their colour jus fade gradually

[riccia]

my 20 over cardinals have been with me for more than a year. a few of them died when i downgraded to a 1ft cube from a normal 2ft. the rest of them are swimming happily in my cube now. in fact, they have grown bigger, stronger and their colors are also better.

[soulfinder78]

got 300 neons for more than 3 years.... so far only witness 1 death due to sucide. it jump out of tank. still cannot figure out how it did that.

[equidorz]

i gt 100pcs of cardinal in my 4 ft for 1 year already. still growin well and lively but one thing my fish likes to hide behind the moss and drift wood. the only time they swim out is when i feed them. but a small movement will scare them. any suggestions to help improve this symptom?

[yeoyl87]

I read somewhere that you can try tapping your tank glass a bit before feeding them. After a while, they will get used to it and they will swim out whenever you tapped the glass.