Re: Breeding cardinal tetras

[Mike Wickham <mewickham at compuserve_com>]

Dave,

 >> ...of the millions of cardinals stripped from the wild, less than 1
 >> percent actually survive the shipping and the pet stores.

Where'd you get that statistic? Are you sure of its accuracy? As a former
dealer, I can vouch that cardinals have a higher mortality rate than most
fish, but I doubt that its near 99%.

Indeed, cardinal tetras often arrive at the pet store exceedingly
emaciated. It's partly due to poor care between time of capture and time of
arrival at the pet store. It's also partly natural. Some researchers
actually consider cardinal tetras to be an annual fish-- that is, few
survive more than a year in the wild. The ones collected are collected when
waters are low, when fish are concentrated, and when competition for food
is excessive. The fish are skinny when captured. Many of these fish are
destined to starve, or even dry out, in the wild. Being captured for the
aquarium may actually be a source of rescue for them.

Mike Wickham