Overstocked? And other noob questions

[twistedangel]

Hello all.

I am fairly new to CPDs. Mostly I have just kept betta fish in the past. I have a dozen CPDs that seem to have settled nicely into my 6.6 gallon bookshelf aquarium. It is 24″ long and about 9″ wide, so it has a much better footprint than most smaller tanks, but I am still a bit worried that I may be overstocked, but I have had them in there for nearly 3 weeks now and I haven’t lost one. The tank is heavily planted with java moss, anubias nana, and floating moneywort, and I am doing a 25% water change every three days.

My guys seem a bit shy; sudden movements or someone looming over the tank sends them speeding for the cover of the java moss, but they will come out so I can watch them as long as I am very still and don’t move. Would adding dither fish help them with there nervousness or is this as good as I am going to get? They don’t seem nearly as bad as some that I have read about, that you never ever see. Honestly, I don’t even think I have room for some dither fish in this tank, unless someone knows something that I don’t. I don’t like to keep schooling/shoaling fish in groups less than 10, so I doubt its an option. There is a betta that has caught my eye, but somehow I don’t see that going well, and I already have two betta tanks, so isolating him if it doesn’t work out may cause problems. I think a fourth tank would push some family members a bit too far. Is there anything else I can do to help them feel more comfortable? And should I be concerned about them chasing and circling each other? I haven’t seen any biting or nipped fins… just chasing and this weird little tight spinning circle that some of them (two smaller ones in particular seem to do it a lot) make at the bottom of the tank.

They are eating well. I am feeding a variety of crushed flake and pellets, along with crushed freeze-dried brine shrimp. I have NLS Thera+, Omega One Marine (it was the smallest pellet I could find locally before my order came in, and I am still having to crush it), Omega One Veggie micropellets, Omega One SuperColor Flakes, and Omega One Betta. The Brine Shrimp are Hikari Biopure. I take a small pinch of the mix and release it underwater, so that the current blows it into the Java Moss where they like to forage. Is there anything else I should add to the mix? The other people in my house would mutiny if I cultured my own live foods, but other than that I am open to suggestions.

[BallAquatics]

Hi twistedangel, welcome to the forum!

In my opinion, if you keep up your water changes you should be fine with your stocking. I usually grow-out my CPD’s in 20 gallon long tanks with about 65 fish in each tank. That works out to around .3 gallons per fish. Your current set-up works out to around .55 gallons per fish.

You could try a dither fish, and even a betta, but it still might not produce the desired results. Several years ago I kept a betta for my grand son while they were in the process of relocating. He was in one of the grow-out tanks and did fine with the CPD’s.

As long as your fish are eating well, I wouldn’t worry about feeding live foods. It sounds as though you are offering them a good selection so they should be fine.

Keep us posted on your progress and we love to see photos if you have any!

Best of luck with your CPD’s – Dennis

[twistedangel]

Thank you, Dennis. I will keep you posted and should be able to get some pictures fairly soon. I take it I shouldn’t be concerned about the chasing and circling?

Thanks,
TA

[BallAquatics]

@twistedangel wrote:

I take it I shouldn’t be concerned about the chasing and circling?

I wouldn’t be concerned by it. Most danios are social and it’s just in their nature to play and show-off with each other. I’ve read on the web where hobbyists have said their males were very aggressive towards one another, but I’ve never seen that with any of mine. I’ve kept 10 gallon tanks with all male fish and never experienced any torn fins or other damage to the fish.

Dennis

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