Got my first CPDs last Sunday

[Richard]

I have been admiring pictures of these fish for some time because they are so beautiful and because I like small fish. The main reason I had not gotten them before is because they all seemed to be at least $6.00 (US) and available only online, which meant shipping brought their cost up to around $10.00 a fish.

Then last Saturday I was in one of my LFS, and they had a small tank of them for $2.99 (US) each! Well that was all I needed to see. I asked them to hold ten but got eleven (that last one was free) when I picked them up the next day. I got them home and put them in a 10 gallon, moderately planted with a large drift wood feature in the center of the tank, that I have had up and running for weeks, just waiting for the next small fish to catch my fancy. Well, I’m rambling, I guess.

Anyway, in the short time I have had them, they have behaved much as people here have described their CPDs. They hide when I approach the tank, but if I sit still and wait, they are usually soon out again. But if I move, even slightly, they dash into hiding again. Interestingly, the boldest ones are the three that looked starved when I got them home – concave bellies and one with a head that looks like a skull. I couldn’t see this in the store because they were on such a low countertop, that it was hard to see into the side of the tank, so I saw them from above only. The most starved looking one also has an odd “gait” – it moves as if it were on a rocking horse – up down, up down as it moves forward. Hard to describe. I am not sure this one is going to make it. But all of them have now started a bit of roundness in their bellies, so I have hope for them. Maybe they are out more because they are so hungry. All the others, though not yet adult size, are nice and plump.

(By the way, the LFS said they were tank bred, but when I saw how starved these three looked, I began to doubt that. They look as if they have traveled long distances. Any opinions?)

I have been feeding live baby brine shrimp, Omega One flakes crushed very fine, and Hikari micro pellets. The shrimp brings them out the fastest and they seem to love them. The flake and pellets draw them out, but they are clearly not eager to go to the surface. Some will dash toward the surface and abruptly turn back when they get within an inch of the food. Others will go up and take a bit or two. Now I make the flake and pellets sink, and they seem happier with that – which fits what I have read here.

They are in the tank with 5 Leptolucania ommata which are VERY laid back fish. They move very slowly and deliberately, and often they are just hanging in the water, but I think their presence and calm behavior makes the CPDs a little more confident than some of the fish described here.

I notice some people keep them with White Clouds to bring the CPDs out, and I have a tank of White Clouds also. But I wouldn’t mix them since they have such different temperature requirements. My White Clouds are in an unheated tank, in an unheated room, and the water temperature ranges from 60F to 70F. Their colors are brilliant – more so than ones I have seen in heated tanks. The CPDs seem to like 75F to 80F.

On another site, I saw several people recommend a larger tank to encourage more activity – a 20 gallon long was highly recommended.

So, that’s my story, that and the fact that when they are out, they are as pretty and interesting as I had hoped they would be. Just have to remember to stay very very still.

Cheers.

Richard

[tedr108]

Our experiences are very similar…

I bought 12 CPDs a couple of months ago, but I paid a lot more than you! $8 a piece.

I have them in a 50G tank with 24 cardinal tetras, 11 panda cory cats, 7 cherry shrimp, 2 amano shrimp and 1 true SAE — I had 3 SAEs, but 2 of them jumped from the tank one nite. All of these fish get along very well and even seem to enjoy each others’ company. Cardinal tetras must be very gentle — mine are about 2″ long (maybe more), but they leave the little CPDs alone, even during feeding time.

My CPDs (and tetras) are shy also, but are definitely improving after these couple of months. One simple thing I can do to get them to come out is to get down on my knees next to the tank. They do not like me standing there as a towering figure. As soon as I kneel down with my chin at gravel level, they come out and swim right up to the glass even.

My CPDs have never eaten from the surface — I wish they would, so I didn’t have to bother wetting and sinking the food at feeding times.

If I sit in my room about 8 feet from the tank and wait long enough, my CPDs will seemingly play during the day, especially after a BBS feeding. They chase each other around in a playful way. One CPD even swam up and broke the surface of the water the other day during play time. I hope the CPDs won’t jump from the tank as they get older.

I’ve heard that it is tough to get almost-starved fish healthy again, but if you are getting them to eat baby brine shrimp (BBS), I’d think that most of your scrawny ones will recover. Mine love BBS also (I feed these 3 times per week usually).

I’ve been out of town on business trips 3 of the last 4 weeks. When I get home, I want to try breeding these little things. I have a 10G tank set up and ready to go.

Regards,
Ted

[celestialdude]

Hello guys and welcome to the forum!

Haha tedr108, I can totally relate. My CPD aquarium is on a stand and I have to view it below gravel level so as not to scare the Celestials. They don’t take floating food, and their favorite is frozen bloodworms — although they don’t seem to have a big “storage capacity” for these. 2 worms per adult and they’re done for that meal… and even 3 worms per day seems to be the limit for each fish.

What I’ve noticed is that, now that they’re in a tank with a small group of Furcata Rainbows, they seem to be a bit bolder than if they were alone. The Furcatas are quite lively and energetic, so I think that gives the Celestials some confidence. They are indeed a timid fish.

[tedr108]

Celestialdude,

Thanks for the welcome and the tip … I’ll give frozen bloodworms a try. Before I got the BBS breeder, I went out and bought some live bloodworms occasionally. Unfortunately, only a couple of the CPDs were usually able to get one because the cardinal tetras usually beat them all to the punch. This may have been more because of a lack of interest on the CPDs’ side, because they definitely get their share of BBS. I think my CPDs were a little too small for live bloodworms … it would take one minutes to swallow the entire thing. Frozen bloodworms are easier to swallow probably.

[Richard]

Hello Ted and Celestial Dude – Nice to meet you.

I do have high hopes that they will become accustomed to me and not be quite so shy. After all, watching our fish is one of the pleasures. And they do come out when I am sitting still by their tank. I want to keep just them and the L. ommatas in this tank, but if necessary I’ll get some kind of dither fish in there.

I feed frozen bloodworm to all my fish but I usually chop them up first – while they are still frozen. I have learned to only chop as much as I will use for that feeding. Otherwise, the “blood” seems to drain from them. That is, overnight they get real pale, so I wonder if they have lost nutritional value.

Tonight, two of the CPDs took food from the surface, perhaps encouraged by the ommatas who do feed at the surface some times. . But most of them waited until I sank the food. By the way, Ted, one way I sink food is to take a pinch of it and put my fingers under water before I release the food. That sinks it right away.

Ted, I am hoping that I am going to be able to pull the scrawny ones through – in fact I see them eat more often than the others. I think the rest scavenge the tank after all the food has sunk. The one with the rocking horse gait is far more stable today.

And time for me to eat now.

Cheers.

[altaaffe]

Nice to meet you Richard.

Mine were timid but since their move to a 50g planted they come out & watch me when I sit in front of the tank. They share the tank with Amano shrimp & Ottos although it might also have something to do with knowing they have dense cover in their very close vicinity.
As for feeding, mine go wild for live white worms. A bit smaller than bloodworm and they can take a whole one (just !!) but they are all now taking Tetrapro colour as well

[Richard]

Thanks for the tips, Altaaffe. I’m going to look around for white worms. I just fed them bbs which is what they seem to get most excited about. And they are showing more interest in the Omega One flake. They are odd, though, in that they eat some of the bits incuding some of the bbs and spit out other bits.

And they are also getting bolder. They panic when I first approach, but they are soon out again. I think all is going to be well.

Cheers.

[Author]

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