cardinals or harliquins?

Harliquins are more hardy than Cardinals in the beginning but once accumilated Harliquins are pretty much a hardy fish, IMO. Yes, both would do well with shrimp.

I would pick harlequins, they school much better i find.

my 6 are schooling very well, or is it just a front? will they school later on?

Harlequins are great, I've had 9 of them in a quarantine tank since xmas eve and noticed this morning they are spawning on the underside of some java moss covered driftwood branches.

As far as choice goes, try and think about how your fish relate to the tank dimensions & composition (elongated fish go better in more panoramic tanks) and also the colours of your hardscape and plants...

From my past experience, harlequins are much more likely to school in small groups, although I found that with time they tend to not school as tightly.

i can't choose..... they both look good and my scape is perfect for both haha.

These fish are rather gentle there one of the most sensitive tetra.
Anyways good luck, if you plan on breeding them i recomend to take
the shrimps out since they will try and eat the eggs/fry.

im sticking to cards rasboras on my next tank since some cards lived

I have both. I've had bad batches of both, with huge attrition. My most recent batch of Cardinals--small ones (now grown)--had 0 losses.

Make sure the shop you buy from has had them a while. It makes all the difference.

As far as schooling behavior--that's a great question. Either will school well out of the bag. I have a 26-G aquarium that is 3 ft. long. When I had 4 Cardinals after a big loss, they stuck together well. When I added more (now 15), they often break apart in 2 sub groups. I still have 3 Harlequins and they stick together quite well, although 2 posture a lot to the exclusion of the other.

Soooooo ... I suggest buying about 6 of one or the other for a 26-G. Too many without enough room, and they won't school. Too few, and they won't thrive.

Re: shrimps--I have never seen a Card or a HR go after my juvenile or adult Cherry Shrimp. The shrimp are reproducing without incident.

turtlehead said:

im sticking to cards rasboras on my next tank since some cards lived

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Huh?? Please translate, or use punctuation......