Blue Streak Cardinals

[noirsphynx]

Just wanted to share my new Blue Streak Cardinals with everyone. These guys are destined to be my display schooling fish for my new starfire cube that's almost finished being built. I know they're nothing flashy or fancy but I think they're beautiful and a great schooling fish that stays out & up front. They should hopefully get a bit more color to them as they settle.
http://canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=990
http://canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=991
http://canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=993
http://canreef.com/vbulletin/picture.php?albumid=46&pictureid=992

[subman]

Ahh yes I saw those this week they look like tetra's.
Nice score:mrgreen:

[Ryan]

Nice fish. If you were going to go play at other aquarium store we would have tagged along :D.

Are you going to get anymore or just stick with these 5?

[noirsphynx]

Nice fish. If you were going to go play at other aquarium store we would have tagged along :D.

Are you going to get anymore or just stick with these 5?

I would have totally went salty shopping :smile: I had nothing else to do that day.

If I ever find just a few more I might buy them but I think 5 are good for now. I plan on adding a madarin eventually.

[Fishlips]

Here's a photo of my school. I'll agree that they stay out and up front. I wouldn't hesitate buying a few more but they seem to be hard to come by. I have 1 green chromis that hangs out with them often, he used to beat on them but gave up and joined the crew.

[noirsphynx]

Very nice! I agree, this is the first time I've seen them in the stores. I'm glad I went and checked to see if they were there still because goodness knows when I'd come across them again. If I ever do see them again I'll grab a few more.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I was just looking at a big school of them at J&L. Nice fish!

They seem to stay in quite a tight school too.

[Fishlips]

One of the LFS I went to said they don't get them because they are ugly. While not the prettiest fish they do add something a little different and get along well with everyone else.

[noirsphynx]

One of the LFS I went to said they don't get them because they are ugly. While not the prettiest fish they do add something a little different and get along well with everyone else.

Ugly:sad:.........I guess everyone is entitled to their opinion but I really like them. They have just a hint of color and their iridescent color adds such a nice touch to the reef when they're all schooling together.

[digital-audiophile]

Do they tend to stay as a school as they adjust to their new home?

Tha't one thing that I never cared for in chromis... when you first add them they stick together in a tight school but after a month they all are very independent.

[noirsphynx]

As far as I know from what I've read they do stay in a school unlike chromis. I hope they will because this was the whole reason I wanted these guys.

[marie]

I had 4 and I found they tend to pair off and rather then school together they just hang out in the general vicinity of each other.
They don't swim very much and they probably wouldn't of noticed if they were in a 20g instead of my 175g but the colour around their eyes is the most amazing blue

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Do they tend to stay as a school as they adjust to their new home?

Tha't one thing that I never cared for in chromis... when you first add them they stick together in a tight school but after a month they all are very independent.

My chromis still stick together after about 4 months now. All 9 are still with me (none have been killed) and you rarely see one go anywhere without the rest except sometimes at feeding.

Not sure why mine are so 'close' or feel the need to school but they do.

[digital-audiophile]

Interesting. I've had not much luck with keeping bigger groups of chromis. I've had up to 15 at one point and the number always ends up at three.. I don't know what it is but when I add more.. it always settles at three.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Interesting. I've had not much luck with keeping bigger groups of chromis. I've had up to 15 at one point and the number always ends up at three.. I don't know what it is but when I add more.. it always settles at three.

Yeah thats what everyone told me but this is the second time I have kept a larger group and so far all are still around and the first time I tried years back, only one died. I guess I have just had good luck with chromis.

[Lance]

I've had 12 for about 3 months and they school probably 50% of the time. I also have not seen any pecking order in the group; no signs of chewed fins or aggression. Couldn't tell you why.

[om6acw]

good luck with them, they have pretty short life span, somewhere between 18 - 24 months. But otherwise beautiful fish!

[Snappy]

As far as I know from what I've read they do stay in a school unlike chromis. I hope they will because this was the whole reason I wanted these guys.
They are a very cool looking fish but very timid and not too bright. I used to have some and it's the only fish I have ever witnessed being nabbed and eaten by a nickel sized aptasia. If you have a non aggresive tank I'm sure they'll do great. I wish I could keep them. For the record my chromis tend to school the majority of the time. I have 16 of them in my 400 gal and they sometimes split into 2-3 schools but usually stay all together.:smile:

[noirsphynx]

I always tend to hear about chromis not staying in a school as they get bigger, guess that's not true. My tank will be non aggressive & I have no apistaisa, thank goodness. I want it mainly sps and I have some small shrimp species, pom pom crab, porcelin crab, a pair of ocellairs clowns and maybe one other peaceful bottom dweller so all should be good.

[Snappy]

Dawn that sounds like a nice peacefull mix so those cardinals so do great. As I said I wish I could keep them in my reef.

[fishytime]

Cool little fish and great pics guys! If you want to be technical....even a group of 15 chromis hardly constitutes being called a "school". Probably why "most" groups of chromis end up with one dominant fish that slowly wears down the weaker individuals. Could also be that with no large predatory(or perceived predatory) fish in the tank the "need" to school isnt there. It sounds though like the cardinals may be a better choice for a school as they dont have that ingrained aggressive streak that the damsels have.