Cardinal tetra are a kind of beautiful fish. people loves their striking color. Unlike their look-alike brother - neon tetra which still have shining neon blue stripes but less color. What's the difference between cardinal tetra and neon tetra. this two fish do looks a like. But if you see carefully, you can differentiate them. So this is how you differentiate them.

cardinal tetra have the red color skin from belly to the tail. It makes them looks more red than neon tetra. besides cardinal tetra can grow larger than neon tetra, their can grow up to 2.5inches. See picture

neon tetra are smaller fishes with maximum length of around 1 inches. Notice their belly is silver coloured. Red stripes only appear after the belly area to the tail.  See picture.

Cardinal tetra is more likely loved by fish lovers and is highly demanded. Most beautiful aquariums includes them. They are  usually more expensive than neon. But for both, they tends to die quickly if no proper care is provided. This is due to their very sensitive to water pH, temperature, hardness... etc. changing aquarium water often will kill them.

keeping cardinal tetra really is worth it even for the price. Because it reallys make the aquarium looks more... tropical, nice, beautiful or shall i say perfect?