# Will Cardinal Tetras eat RCS?



## Granz (Sep 12, 2009)

Hey All,

So my girlfriend and I were at the LFS and she really likes the cardinal tetras. The only problem is I don't know if they will eat my RCS that I currently have in the tank. Does anyone have experience with these to in the same tank or can give me some advice. 

Thanks.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

They will eat baby RCS, not mid-size/adult ones. If your tank is planted densely and not overstocked there should still enough RCS babies survive to keep the population going.


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## hbosman (Oct 5, 2006)

I have Cherry Shrimp and Cardinal Tetras in a heavily planted tank. Cardinals can eat babies but don't show interest in anything above a 1/4 of an inch. Cherrys breed so fast that Cardinals won't affect the population too much. I have 12 Cardinals, 10 Hengels Rasboras and 8 or more guppies. I year ago I bought 6 Red Cherries to see if they would survive and within a month I had babies measuring 1/8 inch or less all over the tank. They had no trouble living to adulthood. In a year, the numbers are approximating 100 or so. The baby younger shrimp often swim amongst the fish being confident in their abilities to out swim any threat. I think baby shrimp are more capable of out swimming predators than baby guppies are, yet my guppies also reproduce without problem in my planted tank. Also, I don't really specificly feed the shrimp. With the algae, detritus and fish food, the shrimp can easily over populate my tank.


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## Dwarfpufferfish (May 29, 2004)

The idea of keeping any fish with my shrimp makes me shiver! But if your goal is to just have a diverse aquarium the cardinals will not mess with adults but they will eat the young! Young shrimp grow fast and if they have a good amount of hiding places many will survive!


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## Granz (Sep 12, 2009)

Ok. Other options that we are looking into for fish in the shrimp (RCS) tank is nano-fish like the rasboras but I am sure the same information applies to them as the cardinals.


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