Can Cockatoo cichlid Live With Cardinal tetra?

This is the dither fish role the cockatoo cichlid's own description calls for: a small, peaceful shoal that occupies the water above the substrate while the apisto holds its territory on the bottom. The warning on this species is about dwarf shrimp and newly hatched fry, both far smaller than an adult cardinal tetra, so an established cardinal shoal is not the prey this fish is built for.

23 to 29 °C and pH 6 to 7.5 overlap comfortably for both.

Buy the cardinal tetra's full shoal, 8 to 10 or more, so the school holds the middle water confidently above the apisto's territory, and keep one male with one or more females in a 60 litre tank or larger with plenty of leaf litter, driftwood and broken sightlines. Expect the apisto to spawn readily even in this kind of community, and a defending female to turn a bright warning yellow and chase off anything, cardinal tetras included, that gets too close to a hidden brood.