CPD floating Problems

[hansgruber7]

I actually have over 30 in there. Its a 15G Fluval Flex. Also 6 Otos, a nerite and lots of malaysian trumpet snails and red rili shrimp. I added 24 CPD in April 18. I have never tried to save eggs or fry so the population stays fairly static. I have had fry and I have lost some. Shrimps eat CPD eggs (so do CPD) and CPD eat shrimplets.

Here's the tank a few weeks ago (I'm not home now to take a realtime pic) - and yes, the CPDs are all in there

And just for fun

Looks great! I love CPDs. They are such a cool fish. I had no idea you could keep that many. I suppose they don't need that much room and they don't have a huge bioload. What is that plant on the right? I bet they love hanging out in there. I have a huge Amazon sword that they all hang out in.

 

[seangee]

What is that plant on the right? I bet they love hanging out in there.

Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis 53B' - Tropica Aquarium Plants

The right aquarium plants

tropica.com

 

[seangee]

I'm not going to feed them any more hikari micro pellets because they don't look very 'micro' to me and i've seen some of the cpds eat them whole. I'll try some peas tomorrow and some tetra flake food that I have already. I also use hikari algea wafers for the otos/shrimp/snails. The cpds don't touch em though. I'm just gonna change food brands anyway i think, not very satisfied with hikari.

Just some observations on feeding.
They eat quite slowly and naturally eat from the middle of the water column. You have to train them to look at the surface with something they really like (the JBL artemia cysts did that for me). Initially they would not take crushed flakes until they learnt that food sometimes appears at the surface. They love food like bug bites but it sinks quite quickly.
This part is just a personal theory and may be influenced by my dark substrate, but their eyesight and smell is not particularly good so they can't find much of what hits the substrate. That is why when I feed sinking pellets I use the little bowl. They can find it easily, there is less left over for the snails and I can remove the leftovers when they are finished. As a bonus if I need to cull snails the bowl will be full of them. On the night I took the video I did feed micro pellets of a different brand.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

They won't work in your case. Limescale is calcium carbonate (CaCO3). The carbonate (CO3) is a pH buffer which reacts with hydrogen ions (the H in pH) to form bicarbonate (HCO3) which neutralises the acid. So anything you add to reduce the pH will be neutralised by the CO3 until the CO3 has all been used up. If you have visible limescale you have a lot of CO3 in your water and this will cause a yo-yo effect on the pH, which is far worse for fish than being in water that is too basic. So its best to leave the pH where it is.

CPD are not prone to overeating or eating too fast (I have over 30). The ones you bought have most likely been starved and will be skinny. They are also likley juveniles so fasting is probably not a great idea. I would make sure the water is clean and fresh and keep a watchful eye.
Here are some of mine

That's a piece of an Omega One veggie round they are attacking. It has a lot less filler than Hikari food and does not swell nearly as much. Other favourites are microworms or something like this https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000GB7G3M/?tag= - you will only need a tiny amount for 6 CPDs.

Just FWIW I would have at least 15 in a 10G. They will be much less shy if there are enough of them.

Every time I see a new photo of one of your tanks and fish, I'm struck by how clean, healthy and beautiful every single thing looks. You've really perfected balancing your tanks! Love them, they're always breathtaking!

Also just realised that my simensis 53B is planted on the right, like yours... I didn't copy that, promise! I got the same sand, and chose frogbit based on your pics, but I'm not just trying to mimic everything! lol

 

[seangee]

Every time I see a new photo of one of your tanks and fish, I'm struck by how clean, healthy and beautiful every single thing looks. You've really perfected balancing your tanks! Love them, they're always breathtaking!

Now you have made me blush. I think many will be shocked to discover just how little time I spend on those tanks.

 

[AdoraBelle Dearheart]

Now you have made me blush. I think many will be shocked to discover just how little time I spend on those tanks.

That's one part of what I mean about how you've struck a balance with lights/plants/ferts/stocking/feeding etc, where the tanks are beautifully balanced, and it shows it in every aspect, including you not needing to do much to maintain them anymore other than your routine water changes. You have a real skill there, want to learn more about how you do it

 

[rom]

I actually have over 30 in there. Its a 15G Fluval Flex. Also 6 Otos, a nerite and lots of malaysian trumpet snails and red rili shrimp. I added 24 CPD in April 18. I have never tried to save eggs or fry so the population stays fairly static. I have had fry and I have lost some. Shrimps eat CPD eggs (so do CPD) and CPD eat shrimplets.

Here's the tank a few weeks ago (I'm not home now to take a realtime pic) - and yes, the CPDs are all in there
And just for fun

What a lovely tank, and some beautiful CPDs. I've had them for a few weeks an they're already some of my favourite fish.. I deffo think the 'CPDs are shy' doesn't apply if you have a thickly planted tank. Mine are skittish yes, but they're out all the time, and love exploring the tank. I've seen them spawn in my hydrocotyle, I didn't think the eggs could survive because of the snail/shrimp population. But since you have bred them, and you seem to have more snails/shrimp than me, i might actually put an sponge on the intake. it would be nice to see babies.

Stop feeding dry foods for a week and use frozen or live. If the problem resolves itself after a week without dry food, then it is air in the fish's intestine that is causing it to float. The air gets ingested when fish take food from the surface and from the actual dry food having air in it.

If the problem persists after a week without any dry food, then it has a swim bladder problem and there is no cure for swim bladder problems, regardless of what some companies might try to sell you.

I think i'm probably gonna do this (feed frozen) combined with peas. The CPD in question looks a little better today, although not completely back to normal, I think the higher temperature has helped. Although his back end still floats upward, he doesn't seem to struggle to keep himself horizontal. I'll try using a dish or something to feed them, hopefully they'll see it better. They do find it difficult to locate food that's not mid-water. I was warned how fragile they could be but I'm kinda determined not to loose any, I've only kept fish like guppies, bettas, (I have one pea puffer too). I'll admit they're not very difficult, and I don't keep many fish at any one time. But i've never lost one to something that wasn't (probably) old age and I don't wanna start now. Maybe i've just been lucky so far but still.

 

[rom]

Hey everyone, Thought i'd update everyone. He seems to be doing well, thanks for everyone's help! I did end up just feeding peas for a while.
And in more good news, saw my first fry today!! they're definitely breeding