CPDs, Amano Shrimp and Me!

[tress29]

Hi everyone, my name is Theresa and I’m new to the forum (and relatively new to CPDs.) I’ve got one male and three females in a 10 gallon with orange sand and some live plants. I did a 40% WC today while I acclimated some new Amano Shrimp. I took out a big rock that was in the tank because the CPDs always hide behind it. Reading through other posts, it seems like they are pretty shy. My computer sits next to the tank, and I’ll often see them swimming about, but they duck and cover when I stand up. Not even food lures them out. Do they need a bigger school?

That’s the first of my two questions. Should I get more CPDs and how many could I stock in this tank?

Or could I add a white betta to my current stock? (The betta is in QT right now.) I’d thought about a dwarf gourami as a “centerpiece” fish with the CPDs, but found a betta I liked before I found a gourami.

I originally setup this tank for a pea puffer, but I’m not gonna let one eat my pricey CPDs!! I really don’t have room for a bunch of species only tanks either though…

We are in the process of converting a 75 gallon garter snake tank to a fresh water tank. One of my boys wants a rainbow shark and I had to explain that it just wouldn’t work in his 5 gallon! He wants to put his gold dust mollies in the big tank, maybe I could steal the 5 gal for a puffer?!

Anyway, that’s my fish story today.

Theresa in Indy

[BallAquatics]

Hi Theresa, welcome to the forum!

@tress29 wrote:

Should I get more CPDs and how many could I stock in this tank?

I had a group of about 15 males in a ten gallon and they were still very shy. I added 6 or 8 Danio tinwini, (another small danio that is very out going), and they have started to venture out more now.

@tress29 wrote:

Or could I add a white betta to my current stock?

A while back, I kept my grand son’s betta for a couple months in a 20 gallon long with a group of about 50 CPD’s…

You can see the CPD’s in the background. The betta would heard the CPD’s around like a dog working with sheep. No one was ever hurt and he soon moved on to another tank.

Dennis

[tress29]

@BallAquatics wrote:

I had a group of about 15 males in a ten gallon and they were still very shy. I added 6 or 8 Danio tinwini, (another small danio that is very out going), and they have started to venture out more now.

So in any case, I should increase the size of their school.

I think I’ll give the betta a try. He’ll look really nice with the live plants and tannin-stained water from the wood that’s in there. I always have my work tank as a fall back. I’ll just rotate the sparkling gouramis home. Hmm, just looked at temp ranges for the gouramis, both they and the betta prefer warmer temps. I’ll have to think about that one!

Theresa in Indy

[BallAquatics]

@tress29 wrote:

So in any case, I should increase the size of their school.

They will definitely feel more at easy even if they are still shy. With all Danios it’s the more the merrier!

As a breeder I think it’s unfortunate that most hobbyists never get to see these fish for what that are. Even a tank of lowly Zebra Danio, when you put 50 of them into a planted 55 gallon tank, well it’s just magical. If you do the same with some of the more colorful Danios like the Danio choprae, it makes a truly spectacular display.

Can you tell I like Danios?

Dennis

[tress29]

When we convert the 75, I’ll have to look at schooling options. Had half a dozen black skirts in a 55 about 15 years ago! Since then we’ve done the nano thing, everything from 16 oz with a snail, to 10 gallons.

BTW, I ended up putting the white betta in the tank. He’s prowling all over the tank, just checking things out. I’m seeing the cpds because they are moving to avoid him! They are a little pale. I’m keeping an eye on them, making sure he’s not chasing them around. I’ll let you know how the experiment goes!

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