# Celestial pearl danios worth it?



## mort (11 Sep 2018)

Anyone have these and regret adding them? I know they are tiny and can be shy but do they simply disappear in a heavily planted tank? Ive read about them as much as i can but there is nothing like personal experience.
I've always liked them and am happy to setup a dedicated tank for them but want to see them as much as possible.

If you have had them and wouldn't get them again, is there anything you've swapped them with, with good results?


----------



## doylecolmdoyle (11 Sep 2018)

I kept them in a 30cm cube, probably way to small really, even tho they are tiny fish I am sure they would have preferred more room, I started with 10 fish about 2 years ago, I think they are now all gone, I never noticed a dead fish but for the life I me I cant see any in the tank anymore. My experience was they where very shy, hid at the back in the plants, they did venture out for food. Very nice fish to look at when I saw them but dont think I would bother with them again.

I have read they are very easy to breed.


----------



## tam (11 Sep 2018)

They hung out back for me too, very shy, wouldn't get again. I like the fish in the (not very good) photo in my profile pic (sundadanio), a smidge smaller than the CPDs but always dancing around the front of the tank. Harder to find in LFS though and probably won't look great until your bring them home.


----------



## Jack G (11 Sep 2018)

My experience with these little guys has been generally negative. Beautiful little fish, but I've bought stock from three different retailers and all succumbed to the same affliction (classic concave stomach and bent back) I've treated my tanks with various medications and have had no issues with any of the other fish I've kept.

Will definitely come out more if kept in a large group, but a very shy fish in general.


----------



## Sarpijk (11 Sep 2018)

I kept  them along with white cloud mountain minnows. They were not shy , I could see the all the time. The tank was a high tech 60 litre. I even managed to save a small fry.

I believe the main problem with them is that they are extremely overbred and it's really difficult to get your hands on good stock.


----------



## Iain Sutherland (11 Sep 2018)

As the above comment, good stock hard to find but in a healthy tank, even high tech, then they should be pretty bold.
See below video, start at 7 mins, close up at 9 mins mid water free swimming.



Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


----------



## Matt @ ScapeEasy (11 Sep 2018)

I found mine shy too, though I suspect I also had bad stock... they didn't last long... dropsy seemed to get them though my water was perfect for them...


----------



## azawaza (12 Sep 2018)

They need dither fish which are bold to swim in the open or up to the front of the tank. Without these, they are shy and timid and will hide at the back or behind cover of plants.

P. Gertrudae, D.Tinwini and Endler’s guppy may make suitable candidates as they are a little bit larger in size (by about 0.5-1cm) and don’t swim too fast to outcompete the CPDs during feeding.

Definitely worth it once they colour up!


----------



## rebel (12 Sep 2018)

Where I live, they can be up to $20 per fish, so difficult to afford as I would prefer at least 15.

Has anyone kept them with the mosquito rasbora? Could be a good dither combo.


----------



## Madhav (14 Sep 2018)

mort said:


> Anyone have these and regret adding them? I know they are tiny and can be shy but do they simply disappear in a heavily planted tank? Ive red about them as much as i can but there is nothing like personal experience.
> I've always liked them and am happy to setup a dedicated tank for them but want to see them as much as possible.
> 
> If you have had them and wouldn't get them again, is there anything you've swapped them with, with good results?



I added 10 of these in my planted 2x1x1.5 ft tank, very densely planted with thousands of shrimp.
I didn't see them until I tore the tank down to replace the tank with an ADA 60P

Now in ADA tank, no soil just the xmas moss tied to rocks. Same story. 
So I go and buy 10pc of cherry barbs and I am very very happy with the bright orange color they have developed.

I don't feed this tank, all the fish hunt the shrimps...during the day time they(Cherry Barbs) are busy hunting in the moss, and only come up to open waters during night when the lights are out.
CPD are too tiny and shy for my liking and I wont buy them again but I don't regret adding them to my tank.

may be once or twice in a week only I will have a glimpse of the CPD chasing/hunting baby shrimp.. Plants and black background makes it even more difficult for us to spot them.


----------



## mort (14 Sep 2018)

Thanks for all the advice. Seems like they would be an expensive and rarely seen project.


----------



## dw1305 (14 Sep 2018)

Hi all, 





Madhav said:


> I added 10 of these in my planted 2x1x1.5 ft tank, very densely planted with thousands of shrimp.
> I didn't see them until I tore the tank down to replace the tank with an ADA 60P
> 
> Now in ADA tank, no soil just the xmas moss tied to rocks. Same story.......I don't feed this tank, all the fish hunt the shrimps...during the day time they(Cherry Barbs) are busy hunting in the moss


This is going to sound really strange, but I like fish that you don't see too often, and tanks where the fish can disappear when they want to. 

It at least gives me the illusion that the fish are happy and living their "natural" lives.  

This tank (from @Tim Harrison's "Windswept Eternity") is just about perfect.




 

cheers Darrel


----------



## sparkyweasel (14 Sep 2018)

I'm with you, Darrel, I don't like to see everything all the time. It's like looking into a natural habitat, when you know what species live there, but you don't know what you might see today.


----------



## alto (15 Sep 2018)

They are one of those fish where it seems 20 is more of a minimum shoal number for active visible fish

C margaritatus does seem much more outgoing than C erythromicron 
They seem happier (more relaxed) with another small species fluttering about - ember tetra, pseudomugil gertrudae are 2 mixes I’ve observed (local shop display tanks - I’ve yet to keep these micro rasboras as there are other fish I just like better)



rebel said:


> Where I live, they can be up to $20 per fish, so difficult to afford as I would prefer at least 15.




They were crazy expensive locally some years ago, but now range from $4-$9 depending ...

I’ve noticed that some groups that ship in are much more outgoing than others - some appear wild caught, others tank bred (often more expensive), I’ve also seen recent (tank bred) shipments that arrive at significantly larger than the reported maximum size (of wild populations)
Part of the cost of these fish is they can be fragile to ship


----------



## Parablennius (15 Sep 2018)

sparkyweasel said:


> I'm with you, Darrel, I don't like to see everything all the time. It's like looking into a natural habitat, when you know what species live there, but you don't know what you might see today.


Same for me, my tank's densely planted and I like fish to behave as naturally as possible, milling around amongst or at the edge of stands of plants. A quick head count at feeding is sufficient for me. After all, it would be a stupid, short lived fish that advertised itself in open water in the wild.


----------



## mort (15 Sep 2018)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, This is going to sound really strange, but I like fish that you don't see too often, and tanks where the fish can disappear when they want to.
> 
> It at least gives me the illusion that the fish are happy and living their "natural" lives.



Whilst I am with you in one respect, where I love seeing true natural behaviours, it would be also quite nice to see alot of them. I know that however I plan the tank it will eventually turn out as a heavily planted jungle style tank as that's how mine always go. At the moment I have a dozen or so beckfords pencilfish and I only ever see a few at a time because the tank is so heavily planted. I'm happy with that as they are decent sized fish and I still get to see males sparring, breeding behaviour and the odd little one pop up. The fact is though I get to see a lot with only a limited view of their lives and with small fleeting glimpses I think I would miss too much of this behaviour. My plan was a single species tank so I'm not sure I get enough out of them to warrant a whole new setup, if that makes sense.


----------



## Tim Harrison (15 Sep 2018)

I've kept them twice, and it's like Iain mentions above. If they're kept in big enough numbers, and in a heavily planted tank, they can be quite bold. I'd buy at least 10.

Dither fish also help. My current scape is perhaps a little over stocked with too many species for some folks tastes but I've found that my Boraras have benefitted and become very bold. They hid all the time in my other scapes; except for otos they were the only species. Now they're more often than not swimming in the open; safety in numbers.

The real problem is finding good stock. All the ones I've seen over the last couple of years have been very poor specimens; probably a result of inbreeding. They usually succumb very quickly to stress and diseases like TB.


----------



## mort (15 Sep 2018)

Tim Harrison said:


> I'd buy at least 10.
> 
> 
> The real problem is finding good stock. All the ones I've seen over the last couple of years have been very poor specimens; probably a result of inbreeding. They usually succumb very quickly to stress and diseases like TB.



This is probably the reason why I'll go for something else tbh. I don't mind shy as long as I see some of them but they are a fiver a piece round here and I figure I'd probably need 20 to get a final 10 (if I'm lucky). Im happy to pay a premium for healthy fish but don't really like contributing to the detriment of the species by encouraging poorly bred stock.


----------



## Tim Harrison (15 Sep 2018)

What alternatives are you considering mort?


----------



## mort (15 Sep 2018)

Tim Harrison said:


> What alternatives are you considering mort?



Not really considering anything tbh. I just saw some cpds and then an article in pfk which got me thinking. I'm happy to wait for something interesting and don't tend to go looking very often. My pencilfish have been the only fish in their tank for 2 years as I haven't seen anything I want to go with them, well I have but only a couple left at the lfs when I want a group of 10-15.


----------



## Majsa (15 Sep 2018)

Just to share my experience (not to change your mind mort), I purchased a group of 15 CPD's in January 2017 and I still have them all. Just moved them to a bigger tank I call "Galaxy" just because I made it for them and they seem to like it (not a great picture, sorry). The tank still needs to grow in, but the fish seem to like the fact that the tank is not too deep (30 cm) and with the floating plants the bravest ones even come and feed from the surface before the food sinks. If you look good you see the fish being curious about what the shrimp are eating. It's funny to see how they peek from behind the stone before they decide whether they should come forward.

I must have been very lucky, I bought them from a gardening centre for € 2,50 each and hardly seen healthier CPD's. The CPD's I see in shops are mostly pale, almost grey. My CPD's have survived my son's attack with fish food, and one even got stuck in the CO2 flipper I had in their old tank. I am still amazed he survived, he was half way inside the flipper, gulping the CO2 bubbles. It wasn't easy getting him out of there.

Now that their tank is bigger, I'm considering adding another school of small shoaling fish, but not sure which. I am afraid they won't compete for food very well with bolder species.


----------



## azawaza (20 Sep 2018)

Tried to take a pic of one of my CPD using my dated iphone 6, and caught a Sawbwa Resplenden as well 





Oh and they don’t hide in my tank at all. I’ve dither fish so that could be it.


----------



## Aqua360 (21 Sep 2018)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, This is going to sound really strange, but I like fish that you don't see too often, and tanks where the fish can disappear when they want to.
> 
> It at least gives me the illusion that the fish are happy and living their "natural" lives.
> 
> ...



Lol I know what you mean, I dislike strongly lit, barren tanks for the most part, as the fish just look extremely uncomfortable in them. Shaded areas, while many argue don't look aesthetic etc, I prefer!


----------



## DutchMuch (21 Sep 2018)

simple answer for the title,
yes they are worth it.


----------



## Fiske (8 Oct 2018)

Bit late to this, just want to give my €0.02: Adding shoaling fish to my 45P was a Sysyphus job. Add Boraras; they all jumped. Try lampeyes; they all jumped. Add CPDs. Not. One. Jumper.

Sure they can be a bit skittish, and hide when you approach the tank; then in 5 seconds they are out begging for a treat. I have 11 and will probably double up since they have a bigger tank now.

So yeah, to me they are worth it.


----------



## dw1305 (8 Oct 2018)

Hi all, 





Fiske said:


> Try lampeyes; they all jumped.


<"Lamp-eyes are great jumpers">, I wouldn't keep them in an open topped tank, and even with a lid I'd make sure it was a good fit. 

As an aside I was looking for some Norman's Lamp-eye (_Poropanchax normani_) recently and I could find any for sale locally. 

A couple of years ago I gave away my last ones, because they produced a constant trickle of fry, and I didn't have anywhere to put them and nobody wanted them. 

cheers Darrel


----------



## mort (8 Oct 2018)

I nearly bought some lampeye the other day but they were tiny. I know they come in small and often don't look much but these were the smallest ones I've ever seen (not much bigger than guppy fry), so will see if they grow quickly and maybe get a decent group later. I think the problem with them is they need to be mature and in number to show themselves off.


----------



## david watson (15 Oct 2018)

i have 8 cpd's and they constantly swim all over the place, really stunning fish i wish i had got them when i started the tank as i would have got more!


----------



## hitmanx (13 Dec 2018)

Both Celestichthys margaritas (cpds) and Celestichthys erythromicron (emerald rasboras) are GREAT fish... they have fascinating behaviour...

No they aren't mindlessly swimming about all the time like a lot of other fish, but when you sit still and really watch, these fish seem to navigate your tank and aquascape with purpose, interacting with their environment... they bring greater depth to the whole package... 

The only reason I have other more boring fish is to act as a dither so the c. margaritas and erythromicron do come out a little more than usual...

I've had them in aquascapes for the last 5 years and would not trade them in for anything...


----------



## Kalum (13 Dec 2018)

Just to give a bit of a different opinion they are probably my favourite fish I've kept so far, had a group of 12 which is down to 8 but have not been shy at all from the start and love exploring and even playing in the current, for me they have been less shy and skittish than my green neons 

Really inquisitive wee fish with fascinating behaviour. 

Would have in any future tank in a heartbeat and I'm going to be adding another 10 to my new tank to bring up the numbers once cycled


----------



## Majsa (13 Dec 2018)

hitmanx said:


> No they aren't mindlessly swimming about all the time like a lot of other fish, but when you sit still and really watch, these fish seem to navigate your tank and aquascape with purpose, interacting with their environment... they bring greater depth to the whole package...



I agree! Love to sit and watch them. Now that my CPD's have been in their new tank for a few months they have become more bold and seem to love it in there. They are much less shy than they were in their old tank. At WC time I have to be careful that there isn't a CPD between the scissors!

I decided to try to breed them and have set up a 20L tank for this. Great to observe their behaviour...The first attempt failed, now at attempt #2 and yesterday evening I saw a couple of eggs! Lot to learn here so I hope I won't mess this up...


----------



## dw1305 (13 Dec 2018)

Hi all, 





Majsa said:


> The first attempt failed, now at attempt #2 and yesterday evening I saw a couple of eggs! Lot to learn here so I hope I won't mess this up...


I'd try a <"really thick wodge of moss">, it gives the fry some where to hide, it generates some food, and it snags Micro/Banana or Walter-worms if you feed them (and I would).

Fry raising is always easier if you feed them some live food, it is the movement that stimulates the feeding response.   

cheers Darrel


----------



## Midwife (15 Jun 2022)

Fiske said:


> Bit late to this, just want to give my €0.02: Adding shoaling fish to my 45P was a Sysyphus job. Add Boraras; they all jumped. Try lampeyes; they all jumped. Add CPDs. Not. One. Jumper.
> 
> Sure they can be a bit skittish, and hide when you approach the tank; then in 5 seconds they are out begging for a treat. I have 11 and will probably double up since they have a bigger tank now.
> 
> So yeah, to me they are worth it.


I watched a video on YouTube from Rachel OLeary on Lampeyes a couple of years ago. She said they are not prone to jumping. Mine did.



dw1305 said:


> Hi all, <"Lamp-eyes are great jumpers">, I wouldn't keep them in an open topped tank, and even with a lid I'd make sure it was a good fit.
> 
> As an aside I was looking for some Norman's Lamp-eye (_Poropanchax normani_) recently and I could find any for sale locally.
> 
> ...


Did you breed them in hard water? Did you separate the fry from adults ? Thanks in advance


----------

