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CPD's and Anabantoid's???


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Hey y'all!!!

I have a little tank in my bedroom that I originally purchased to be my hospital tank, but I ended up putting my Celestial Pearl Danios in it instead.

But I've decided i really could do with a hospital tank, and my CPD's are so shy, it sort of seems a waste to have them in their own tank when you don't see them!

I have a 60 litre tank set up with my male Siamese fighter, 6 sparkling gourami's, 2 pencil fish and 3 pygmy cory's - I have been told that you can have CPD's in a community tank, but would they be OK with the above mentioned fish? I don't want any of my fishies to suffer, and I don't want to risk losing the CPD's as they are still rare and expensive.

Should I do it?

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Well, I stood in front of my tank, and asked them nicely to come out of hiding and line up in front so I could have a good look at them - unfortunately they were not very obliging, LOL :roll:

I have had them for a while, and even after having another look again this afternoon when they finally came out for long enough, I still think I have males. There is still MAYBE ONE that is questionable, but they generally are all darker in colour, LOTS of colour on the anal fins, and very slim looking.

I guess I'm happy to wait until I get more females, although they're hard to come by - I really do want more though, they're a beautiful fish :bounce:

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I've been on the CPD forum and had a good look at pics posted of the differences between the sexes, so I'm 99% certain, but you just never know.....I think I might put some Java moss in my 60 litre and chuck them in to see how they go, maybe in a few days....

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I'd love to take pictures of them, but my cam,era really isn't good enough (waiting to win Lotto to buy a new one!) and I can't get them to sit still!!!! :roll:

The other query I have is the temperature - I know their ideal temp is about 24C, but my 60 litre is a bit warmer than that, by about 4 degrees!

Will they be ok once they acclimatise, or will the higher temp be too much for them?

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I'd love to take pictures of them, but my cam,era really isn't good enough (waiting to win Lotto to buy a new one!) and I can't get them to sit still!!!! :roll:

The other query I have is the temperature - I know their ideal temp is about 24C, but my 60 litre is a bit warmer than that, by about 4 degrees!

Will they be ok once they acclimatise, or will the higher temp be too much for them?

Ideal temp is 24? News to me. I keep mine at 20-22. They are at most marginally tropical and prefer shallow cool water from my experience.

Very active fish and my adults are all very shy. The juveniles that are raised separately from the adults are very outgoing and rush to the front of the tank for feeds, still can't get a decent pic tho!

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Did some research on the temp... I read that one person experienced their fry not being so active or eating very well at temps lower than 24 degrees celsius. adults are fine between mid to low 20s. Also found this on their ecology:

"Water temperature in January was rather low (22-24°C), but as the habitat is very shallow, it would heat up quickly during hot spells and thus D. margaritatus is probably tolerant of temperatures in the low to mid 20s."

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestichthys)

And the pics as promised...

MaleCPD.jpg

FemaleCPD.jpg

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Hey, thanx Luke, I might have another good look at them next chance I get.

Another thought I had....I wondered if I could put a particular killi in with my male fighter and sparkling gourami's; it's one i saw on Trade Me and I like the look of it and think it would LOOK stunning in the tank, just need to the ok temperament and parameter wise.

It's called Austrolebias nigripinnis 'nancy', it has a blackish look to it with blue flecks/spots.

Is there anyone out there who could tell me if I could pout them all together?

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Are you saying I shouldn't have the fish if I do not intend to breed it and do not have killie breeding experience?

Despite the fact I will be able to provide it a great home, have an interest in the fish and will get a lot of enjoyment from owning the fish?

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Anyways.....

Over the week I have been slowly adjusting the temps of the two tanks involved - decreasing one and increasing the other.

Today is my regular maintenance day, so I have put the CPD's in the tank with Clifford our male Siamese fighter, and the 6 Sparkling Gourami's, 4 pygmy corys and 2 pencilfish....

What a difference it has made....I can actually see my fish!!!! :o :bounce:

I have been keeping an eye on them and so far they seem to be very happy, no aggression showed by the other fish, and they don't seemed stressed.

I did get a chance to have another good look at them while they were being floated, and I am still of the same opinion - there is a chance that only one of the 6 is a female.

Thanks to the extraordinary pics posted by Luke, mine all coloured up just like the males do, other than this one...'it' has strong colour, but is slightly plumper than the others, but the colouring in the anal fin is still a bit of a throw off. I think I may have to keep watching them and see if anything starts to happen now they are in a bigger tank.

Long term, I will get some more females, when availability and money allows!!!! :bounce:

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