# Other Aquarium Forums > Freshwater Fauna > Characins >  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

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## 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....

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## 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  :Smug:

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## plantmania

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

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## budak

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

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## 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.

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## 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

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## 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.

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## 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.  :Shocked:  

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.

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## StanChung

Wow, 10 year old Cardinal tetra?  :Shocked:  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.  :Roll Eyes:  

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.

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## 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.

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## 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.

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## bryan

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

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## 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.

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## 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  :Smug:

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## collina

Mine lasted 2 years and their colour jus fade gradually

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## 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.

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## 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.

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## 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?

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## 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.

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## riccia

My cardinals are behaving a little different from yours. They are swimming freely around the tank. However, whenever someone approcahes the tank, they will go hide behind the driftwood or at the back of the tank. Of course, they will come towards me during feeding time. :Smile:  




> 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?

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## equidorz

oh thanks riccia and yeoyL87 for the advices given, acutally my fish also same sympton as you. they normally swim freely but tends to hide when any one approach or have any movement. but i bought 16 rummy nose today @ c328. the cardinals seem to be braver after i add in *the* rummy nose. haha boast the cardinals confident. hope my cardinals will be braver after some time..

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## Heiko Bleher

Hi all of you checking on characin ages...

this is Heiko Bleher collecting tetras (and all other fishes) for several decades now and I wanted to tell you:

1. Cardinal tetra live in nature normally never more than one year, but in aquaria, well kept, 10 years is not rare. As a matter of a fact, my dear friend who unfortunately past away last year, Jacques Gery (see www.aquapress-bleher.com under Special Events), and who has described many characoids including the Paracheirodon simulans (and a new neon I found last year, to be published soon) had in one aquarium a few Cardinal tetras for almost 12 year, without a filter or air stone in it...

2. One must naturally distinguish as there are more than 1600 different characoids in America and Africa, and some are very predatory fishes. But I would say that an age of 2-3 year is normal for most, and well kept, most of the will live much longer in aquaria. 

3. And remember: in aquaria all fishes if kept well (and definately the best is to keep them according to their habitat and nature, which by fat is best - have alook at my Biotopes, that is the way fishes should be kept - in their own communities within their authentic habitat) live much longer than in nature. Ie Hemigrammus bleheri (the brilliant rummy nose) and Cardinals, both in larger groups, make a perfect environment, they live together...

All the best

Heiko

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## Diskus

so far my cardinal has been with me for 6mths

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## DazzleDiscus

I've had two for about two years now and the other four about one year.

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## CacaManiac

one of my 3 year old Congos just died on monday... he was the alpha male... left with 2 females now

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## redcaptrio

i bought 16 neon tetras since march and only 13 survived to this date but all have grown bigger since.. hoping to find a good source for cardinals... much tougher than neons i think but rare in our LFS...

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## Shaihulud

Heheh 5+years now and going...

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## k3nlim

ember tetras are with me for 2 years and counting...

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## 于诗然

I have raise Inpaichthys kerri  for 2 years 
this picture is their children
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## daguldfisher

most of my cardinals and black neons survived 2.5 years+. now dying 1 by one when i mixed with 2 female guppies. i think due to over crowding as 2 female guppies were preggy and did not stop giving birth until the next generation was old enogh to continue breeding process. so from 2 guppies i have like 30+ guppies. and from around 40 tetras, i now have only 15.  :Sad:

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## stormhawk

4 Cardinals in my tank, approximately 4 years old. Acquired as juveniles, now huge adults.

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## apistomaster

Most of the South American Characins I prefer to keep have lived between three and five years for me.
I have had an Nannostomus eques live close to seven years but it outlasted it's mates by about three years.

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## ivanthensf

my neons seem to be quite aggressive, think they will kill each other before they reach old age... some have bite marks but they are a pretty active bunch

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## felix_fx2

My neons a few are on the 3rd year. Had like around 30, now around 15. 

Most died are from finrot

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## Toxotes

My recorder tetras:

Congo tetra - 6 years
Black widow - 5 years
Diamond tetra - 5 years
Blue emperor (Royal ) tetra (I. kerri) - 4 years
Serpae tetra - 3 years

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## Neptune, the Mystic

My water pump was giving off a humming sound and I peeped into the hidden chamber to look. There in that cylindrical box was a tiny neon tetra that I though was eaten by a gourami and I had the culprit removed. (regret! How did it get there?!)

It survived 6 weeks without food and in strong current within a confined space while its cousins are already twice its size. So much for the remarkable resilience of tetra.

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## kapitan

> My water pump was giving off a humming sound and I peeped into the hidden chamber to look. There in that cylindrical box was a tiny neon tetra that I though was eaten by a gourami and I had the culprit removed. (regret! How did it get there?!)
> 
> It survived 6 weeks without food and in strong current within a confined space while its cousins are already twice its size. So much for the remarkable resilience of tetra.


I disconnected my Ehiem for cleaning yesterday and found two shrimps very much alive..... but due to my fat fingers, I killed them while trying to get them back into the tank  :Sad:

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## alchemistkc

Hi, I've got my cardinals for 2 months but their colours are still dull from the time I got them.

Any suggestion to improve their colours this? I'm feeding them pellets and occasionally brine shimps.

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## Urban Aquaria

> Hi, I've got my cardinals for 2 months but their colours are still dull from the time I got them.
> 
> Any suggestion to improve their colours this? I'm feeding them pellets and occasionally brine shimps.


Whats the pH and TDS of your tank water? Cardinal tetras prefer lower pH and lower TDS water (ie. soft acidic water), so that may affect their overall condition and colors.

Maybe you can try feeding them pellet food with color enhancing ingredients, can try brands like New Life Spectrum Small Fish Formula, it works well for my fishes.

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## Mystikboy

They may be stressed. Is your tank a new one?

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## Gregg

I have a small shoal of 4 black skirt tetras in a 20 High with another shoal of bloodfin tetras and white cloud minnows. The black skirts are 2 years old now, but some I have had in the past lived much longer, and survived some incredibly low temps in Alaska with power outages. I think them the toughest of the tetras. 

Gregg

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## RenesisTurbo

I bought my 24 pieces of Black Phantom tetras in June 2015 as juveniles.Lost 5-8 of them but the rest all growing well.

Recently mixed in 25 pieces of juvenile albino Glowlight tetras,one committed harakiri after a night.The rest all doing well.

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