Celestial pearl danios worth it?

[Majsa]

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]

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]

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.

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



cheers Darrel

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]

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

 

[Fiske]

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]

Hi all,

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

Hi all,

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]

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.

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.

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

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