Cardinal is the name of aquarium fish popular among aquarists. It belongs to the family of cyprinids, the genus tanaceae. It lives in the south of China in numerous rivers and mountain streams with a fast current. These aquarium fish have a very beautiful, bright color (photo). And they got their names due to the presence of red in color.
The body of these fish is narrow, elongated, flat on the sides, about 3-4 cm long. The color of the fins is lemon yellow, partly with a red tint, the pectoral fins with a black edging. The abdomen is silver, the top is brown-yellow, and in the middle along the entire length is a strip of golden red. Like most fish, males are slightly brighter, smaller and slimmer than females. Females have a more rounded abdomen and smaller fins.
Aquarium Maintenance
Cardinal fish live in packs, so it is best to keep more than 5 individuals in an aquarium. Their puberty occurs after 4 months, it can be determined by the disappearance of a longitudinal flickering strip along the body.
Cardinal - a fish (see the article for a photo), caring for which will not cause much trouble for the owners. For 5 individuals, a rectangular aquarium with a volume of about 15 liters is enough. For soil, it is best to choose river sand or pebbles. So that the bottom of the aquarium is well lit, do not plant algae too thick, it is better to additionally float floating plants on the surface. As an underwater flora, fern, ludwig, elodea are suitable.
The peaceful nature and small size allow cardinals to peacefully coexist in the same aquarium with other fish. Very well they get along with neon and zebrafish. But scalars, laliuses and gourami, because of their calm nature, will not be able to exist normally with high-speed cardinals.
The aquarium, which contains cardinal fish, needs to be set close to natural light sources, but you need to protect the fish from direct sunlight. In winter, pay more attention to artificial lighting. Organize good filtration and aeration systems, and remember to change a third of the water once a week.
As practice suggests, it is best to buy live food, then the color of the fish will be much brighter. A pipe maker, corpetra, daphnia and bloodworm are well suited.
Breeding Cardinals
Cardinals live fish for about 2 years, you can breed them at home. The spawning period lasts from March to October. There are two breeding methods: spawning or a common aquarium.
Breeding in a common aquarium is possible if you have a species aquarium. The number of fry will be much smaller, but this is quite enough to maintain the total number of fish. The breeding process does not require your intervention and lasts about a month.
For spawning, you need a well-lit aquarium with a capacity of 10 liters, on the bottom of which you need to pour coarse dark sand. Optimal water parameters: temperature 21-24 ° , pH 7, dH 4-15 °.
Manufacturers are fed plentifully for two weeks. Then two rounded females and one male are placed in a spawning aquarium. If everything is properly organized, then the female will lay 30 to 40 eggs every day, and in one spawning their number can reach 400 pieces.
The eggs ripen for about two days. When the young cardinal fish swim, they need to be fed “live dust” and ciliates. Rotifers, nauplii of brine shrimp and cyclops will accelerate the development and growth of fry.