# CPDs (Galaxy Rasboras) super shy



## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

They do that. Give them some time to adjust, and maybe a floating plant or two if possible.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

They will warm up to the tank over time, but they are shy fish. They probably feel exposed due to the lack of hiding places as well. I'd expect them to remain somewhat skittish.


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## HuginMunin (Jan 31, 2014)

I had 5 in a fairly heavily planted 10 gallon tank. They warmed up pretty quick and were suprisingly bold (only other tankmates were otos as well) unless I moved around a lot; until I did a rescape one day during the water change. Then they became very skittish and hid all the time for the next 8 months or so. A few weeks ago I decided to break down the tank and I moved them into my 55g community tank. Now they're super visible and comfortable, though they still prefer the bottom third of the tank. They seem to do well with other tankmates around to help them feel safe (otos not included) and lots of places to hide at hand....


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

I'd suggest maybe you get a different fish, if the tank is going to remain sparse. The CPDs will just be stressed out. 
Perhaps emerald eye rasboras? I love mine. They're this soft greenish-grey color with black tips on their dorsal fins and beautiful bright green eyes. They aren't very brightly colored, but they're active and I like how they look. Also, they are NOT shy. They'll dance around in the top half of the tank, playing chase. 
Though I might be a bit concerned about them jumping. Mine don't jump intentionally, not that I've seen, but they do get hyper. 

I don't know what you'd think of this suggestion, but perhaps add duckweed? Duckweed shouldn't dim the light enough to bother the plants, but I bet it'll help prevent jumping. Also, I think it might match the rest of the tank pretty well.


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## Andrew. (Dec 27, 2013)

CPDs are pretty small and mature at about an inch so yours are probably pretty close to being a mature size. Also, they will swim around all over the tank if they have a lot of hiding places. If they don't have a lot of hiding places then they won't come out. In short, if you keep your tank the way it is they'll remain skittish.


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## TankFreak420 (May 31, 2014)

Mine stopped hiding after about a month in the tank.


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## Dany08fa (Jul 3, 2012)

Thanks for the responses! Ive been doing research and looks like they are on the shy side, but i guess the wild caught ones a while back are the really timid ones. I called the lfs i bought these from and they are somewhat locally captive bred. Ive been reading that the ones that have been captive bred are less shy. Im gonna keep the cpds i have for a month or so and see if they adjust before i decide to buy more. If they are still shy ill try a different species.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Dany, if you're willing to consider adding some tall & mid-sized plants to your tank, they will adjust well & fairly quickly. They feel much more comfortable in a well-planted tank.
And the pay-off is that when they mature to adult size (i.e. reach about or over 1.5"- 2") you'll be amazed at the beautiful coloration they take on !
It's worth the wait.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

2"? CPDs don't get that big. Monster females are just a bit over an inch long. 
You must be thinking of regular pearl danios.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

None of my CPD's are over an inch.

Also, in addition to what I said above, I agree with the additional comments. I'd get a different breed of fish, or give them more hiding places.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Betta132 said:


> 2"? CPDs don't get that big. Monster females are just a bit over an inch long.
> You must be thinking of regular pearl danios.


 Well my friend, I have actually seen 2" CPDs in a display tank at one of our best LFS's here in Vancouver (We have about 30 LFS here). If they weren't 2", they were as close to it as you can get - they'd been in the store's tank for well over 2 years. I had 6 of them for quite a while, and at least 2 of them were well over 1".
Wish I had taken pics of those CPD's at the store, so you could see for yourself.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Really? What were they feeding them? Pretty sure that isn't anywhere near typical...


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## Oceangirl (Feb 5, 2013)

Yep, those are celestials for you. They need a well planted tank and don't really like bright light. I have a finnex planted and they pretty much loose it when I first turned it on. Now that the plants have grown in and I have lots of hiding spots and a dither fish, they are out and more active. I have a single female platy less than an inch long (never grew even though lots of clean water and food), she scoots around the tank and they LOVE it. Try getting a couple small fish and let them lead the celestials.
DON'T get dwarf Emeralds! They are the worst for being shy! and they will actually encourage them to be more shy. 
My hubby actually sat down yesterday and watched the tanks, my heart leapt in my chest!!


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Not dwarf emeralds, emerald eyes. Emerald eyes are awesome.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Betta132 said:


> Really? What were they feeding them? Pretty sure that isn't anywhere near typical...


 You're absolutely right - it wasn't at all typical to me either - I couldn't believe the size they were when I saw them - I knew they didn't grow much more than 1" normally - but as you know there are exceptions to every rule.
They were feeding them live brine shrimp at the store, so I did the same when I got 6 of them that they had for sale - they were barely 3/4" when I got them. I fed them the same way, and kept them in soft acidic water (pH around 6.5), and they got to about 1.25" before I moved to a new home - & sold my tanks & fish for a break, before getting a fresh start at fish-keeping a couple of years later.


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## Betta132 (Nov 29, 2012)

Impressive. They aren't even supposed to get that big in the wild...
What do you suppose would happen if someone gave them ultra-ultra high nutrient food like live mysis? 3" CPDs?


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Betta132 said:


> Impressive. They aren't even supposed to get that big in the wild...
> What do you suppose would happen if someone gave them ultra-ultra high nutrient food like live mysis? 3" CPDs?


 
Live Mysis shrimp ? wow - had no idea you could get them live - you sure can't up here in Canada.
I feed my discus frozen Mysis as a staple part of their diet.


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## Dany08fa (Jul 3, 2012)

im not too sure what to do now. i really don't feel like adding plants to my tank. i have a mini-L (8.5 gal?) drift wood/moss tank. (lots of hiding places) its lower light, no co2 and has a eheim 2213. i could move the 11 CPDs too, but it might be crowded. there are no fauna at all in that tank currently.

if i moved the CPDs over i would most likely just go with neons in the 20L. or cardinals if you guys think i can get away with 20 of them in that tank.

another option is this tank. 12gal long, middle plant is s. repens and foreground is HC. medium light, inline co2, eheim 2213. its almost done cycling, the only thing is whatever fish goes in here i'll never be able to catch with a net...


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## Clear Water (Sep 20, 2014)

There divinely a shy fish. I have had mine for about two years and it took at least a month for them to settle down. Once they feel at home they are like any other fish and will school with other fish. Could you add some other danio's . Every time I add danio's the other fish will be out because of them. I love the gold ring danio's. But this is just one fish that's shy my gold rams have been in my tank for 4 months and still hide like I put them in the tank yesterday.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Dany08fa said:


> im not too sure what to do now. i really don't feel like adding plants to my tank. i have a mini-L (8.5 gal?) drift wood/moss tank. (lots of hiding places) its lower light, no co2 and has a eheim 2213. i could move the 11 CPDs too, but it might be crowded. there are no fauna at all in that tank currently.
> 
> if i moved the CPDs over i would most likely just go with neons in the 20L. or cardinals if you guys think i can get away with 20 of them in that tank.
> 
> another option is this tank. 12gal long, middle plant is s. repens and foreground is HC. medium light, inline co2, eheim 2213. its almost done cycling, the only thing is whatever fish goes in here i'll never be able to catch with a net...


 

I don't think there would be a problem keeping your 11 CPDs in the 8.5 gal tank. Why don't you give it a go.
And put the 20 Neons in the 12 gal long. 
I have 20 Neons in a 10 gal - doing just great. Haven't lost one & have had them for 6 months


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

They will do that you don't have any plants for them to hide. Keep the water lower. They might jump if you keep scaring them with movement.

That 12g looks amazing. Would be a nicer place for them. They'd be sticking around the wood and planted area.


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## garfieldnfish (Sep 25, 2010)

They will jump out of a tank without lid. Neither of these tanks are good for CPDs.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

garfieldnfish said:


> They will jump out of a tank without lid. Neither of these tanks are good for CPDs.


 Beg to differ - that's not accurate. They're no more jumpers than many other fish species. Either one of those tanks is good for CPD's - have a suitable cover for them if that's a concern.
I've never even seen a CPD attempt to jump.


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## AnotherHobby (Mar 5, 2012)

garfieldnfish said:


> They will jump out of a tank without lid. Neither of these tanks are good for CPDs.


I've never had a CPD jump.


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## tiggity (Feb 21, 2012)

I had mine school with neon tetras, helped them get out in the open more. Had some tall stems too that gave them security.


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## TheAnswerIs42 (Jul 10, 2014)

I had 10 CPDs for about 4 months and I hardly ever saw them. Turns out they were wild caught and not accustomed to a lot of movement around the tank. They are still super shy, but less so than before. What changed? 
I found 6 CPDs that were tank raised and added a tonne of pygmy Cories. The Cories are really social and love schooling with other small fish, and the "farmed" CPDs are super social and are always chasing each other. It took me a long time and a lot of reading to figure out that they needed more small fish around them. If there are too few with too little cover they will just cower in the corner the whole time and you will never enjoy their amazing courting displays.

I have a 12 gallon edge (tall) tank and many on this forum would say that I am colete.y over-stocked, however, hrough trial and error, I have discovered that these fish like to be a bit crowded and because they are so small do not add much to the bioload. At one pint a felt really bad that there were so many in there and I split them up, they just went back to hiding all the time.

Key lessons
- you need at least 10 CPDs even in a nano tank
- lots of plant cover and line-of-sight breaks
- good dither fish to help them socialize - pygmy Cories are perfect and a treat to watch
- captive bread and raised - easier to feed and much more fun to watch 
- keep it a little cramped - I have 2 fish per gallon, granted they are each an inch or less in size

As a side note, they do not eat the red cherry shrimp babies if there is enough cover, and I now have a thriving colony of shrimp.... The bioload is completely manageable with weekly 40% water changes.


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