Cpd & Rcs - So Happy Together??

I have been looking for a fish to add to my community tank for about 7 months now. I keep coming back to the Celestial Pearl Danio. I am considering a school of 12. Currently I have 6 male fancy guppies, 6 white cloud mountain minnows males & females, 1 female bristlenose pleco (she's staying on the smaller side), multiple snails (mystery - both males, black devil spike, few types of nerites), amano shrimp and red cherry shrimp. 55 gal tank, temp 75F, 7.4 ph, gh & kh still lower than I'd like, but I've been slowly raising... last test showed 5 for both. TDS at 140. 0/0/5. The majority of my plants are fake, but there are a few live plants and there are lots of hiding spots and breaks in line of sight but still open area for swimming. If I had a good clear picture of the whole tank, I'd post... I know it doesn't show the whole tank, but my profile pic is from my tank and may give you an idea.

While most comments I have read say CPDs are peaceful and shy, more than one person has indicated the little fish will actively hunt and predate upon grown RCS. I don't have a large shrimp population. At all. I've only had them since July 13th. I didn't jump in and order a whole lot until I saw how they'd do in my tank. My order was for 15 & 13 made it through the shipping. This afternoon, I counted 8. Now, as mentioned above, my tank has tons of hiding spots so I don't know the exact number of RCS I have at the moment, but somewhere between 8 and 13. While I do have some females berried at the moment, I want to order more.

I know that fish will behave differently based on too many variables to count; but, I would love to hear your experience with this beautiful little fish. In particular, in your experience...

1. Do they actively hunt adult RCS?

2. Do they pick at snail antennae?

--- And, I've read that they are prone to TB, and in the last half year or so, it seems there's been an issue with people receiving infected specimens.
3. Does anyone have any input on this topic?

Thanks!!! I look forward to your input!!

 

Honestly if your guppies and wcmm are not hunting them then I'd be very suprised if celestial pearl danios do.
They are very shy so make sure you have plenty of hiding places. Having lots of hiding places will help the shrimp too.
Before you add any fish id slowly lower the temperature to around 72f, 75f is on the warm side for celestial pearl danios and is too warm for white clouds.

 

Honestly if your guppies and wcmm are not hunting them then I'd be very suprised if celestial pearl danios do.
They are very shy so make sure you have plenty of hiding places. Having lots of hiding places will help the shrimp too.
Before you add any fish id slowly lower the temperature to around 72f, 75f is on the warm side for celestial pearl danios and is too warm for white clouds.

Oh! I am so glad you mentioned temp! I did not mention that I am only looking at captive bred CPDs, which, by my reading, have a temp range slightly higher than wild caught. It seems 75 is right about the middle of the temp range. I do not want wild caught.

Yes, it is a couple of degrees higher than desirable for wild caught WCMMs. Again, these are (supposedly) captive bred, and from my research, I'm at their upper end. Plus, I prefer they not spawn, and at this temp they shouldn't. They were taken in by me from a gentlman in town, as there was no where else for them to go. Supposedly about a yr and a half old when I got them back in Aug 2017. Although I like them, they aren't fish that I plan to keep indefinitely.

My thoughts exactly about the hunting! But, I want to ask from someone's personal experience. I've read for months on this topic, and thought I'd ask before jumping in and purchasing them.

 

Hi, I have kept Cpd’s with cherry shrimp & they ignored them even the baby shrimp.
I do agree there seems to be something going on with them lately as some batches seem to not do well at all & just fade away, though imo people jumping straight to saying they have TB without scientific proof happens a bit too readily to my mind, it could be something quite different.

 

Honestly if your guppies and wcmm are not hunting them then I'd be very suprised if celestial pearl danios do.
They are very shy so make sure you have plenty of hiding places. Having lots of hiding places will help the shrimp too.
Before you add any fish id slowly lower the temperature to around 72f, 75f is on the warm side for celestial pearl danios and is too warm for white clouds.

Agreed, except you're gonna want to rehome the guppies. All your other inhabitants require much colder temperatures than guppies. 72f is too cold for a guppy

 

Hi, I have kept Cpd’s with cherry shrimp & they ignored them even the baby shrimp.
I do agree there seems to be something going on with them lately as some batches seem to not do well at all & just fade away, though imo people jumping straight to saying they have TB without scientific proof happens a bit too readily to my mind, it could be something quite different.

Thank you! With the current issues, whatever it might be, I know I'm going to wait if I do decide to try CPDs. It just gives me more time to research!!! The one thing I found lacking from comments on CPDs attacking adult RCS was things in their environment, such as school size, feeding structure, tank setup, etc. So, thought I'd get some feedback here from people who have had the two together. What do/did you feed your CPDs?

Agreed, except you're gonna want to rehome the guppies. All your other inhabitants require much colder temperatures than guppies. 72f is too cold for a guppy

I respectfully disagree with you. Blanketing "all your other inhabitants" is a false statement according to my research. The only inhabitant that prefers lower temps is the WCMM. And, since I do not want the WCMM to spawn, I do not want to lower my temp. I spent a couple of months with the gentleman I got them from, discussing WCMM in addition to my research. He had 60+ years of fishkeeping experience. I feel very confident at 75 for them and have experienced no health issues at all. They don't spawn, which is what I am aiming for. In fact, the only inhabitants I have that should be able to reproduce successfully in my tank at the moment are the RCS. I am fully aware that it could shorten the WCMMs lifespan, but, for captive bred WCMM, all indications I have found point to I'm only 1/2 - 1 degree above their temp range.


EDIT
Just in case it wasn't clear in my earlier posts, I did not actively seek to own WCMM. I was asked if I could, we went over a compromised temp for a community tank, and this is where we landed. 75F. I absolutely don't want WCMM fry. His only other option was to euth these 6, as his family didn't wish to care for them when he went into the nursing home. He has since passed, and I'm just upholding our agreement.

 

Mine were fed hikarI minI pellets, crushed flakes,frozen cyclops, bbs, decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, minI bloodworms, quite a variety really. One thing I found with mine is they very very rarely went to the surface so foods that floated were a no go, the fry though headed straight for the surface & pretty much stayed there amongst the taller plants for cover.

 

Mine were fed hikarI minI pellets, crushed flakes,frozen cyclops, bbs, decapsulated brine shrimp eggs, minI bloodworms, quite a variety really. One thing I found with mine is they very very rarely went to the surface so foods that floated were a no go

Thanks! Great info!

I believe in variety feeding wholeheartedly whenever possible! Writing down your suggestions now. I've thought about feeding my guppies on one side of the tank first, then CPDs on the other side. I'm hoping this will allow the slow sinking foods to get down midtank before the little piggies (a/k/a guppies) can gulp it all down!! LOL

 

HI I have cpd’s and cories in one tank and a ton of rcs in another so I’m glad you asked. I plan to put a few in with the cpd’s just to see what happens. I don’t want a massacre lol. They do not mess with my snail’s antennas at all so hope it goes well. I was scared about the tb stuff too, in fact I have one that looks a bit deformed and darker than the others. She eats fine and schools around seemingly happy. A week after they came in I decided to medicate my entire tank for two rounds although I hear tb has no cure. No other fish seem affected, it’s been months now. I’m sure she won’t live as long as the others but I’ve decided not to qt her, she would surely die without the school. A chance I’m willing to take.
Wow, I wrote a book. Sorry.

 

HI I have cpd’s and cories in one tank and a ton of rcs in another so I’m glad you asked. I plan to put a few in with the cpd’s just to see what happens. I don’t want a massacre lol. They do not mess with my snail’s antennas at all so hope it goes well. I was scared about the tb stuff too, in fact I have one that looks a bit deformed and darker than the others. She eats fine and schools around seemingly happy. A week after they came in I decided to medicate my entire tank for two rounds although I hear tb has no cure. No other fish seem affected, it’s been months now. I’m sure she won’t live as long as the others but I’ve decided not to qt her, she would surely die without the school. A chance I’m willing to take.
Wow, I wrote a book. Sorry.

Don't be sorry!! I love reading!!!

I'm very interested in how it goes when you add them!! Please let me know how things go!

 

Don't be sorry!! I love reading!!!

I'm very interested in how it goes when you add them!! Please let me know how things go!

Will do. It’ll be in the next hour or so after a water change.

 

Will do. It’ll be in the next hour or so after a water change.

Wow, I'm excited and it's not even my aquababies!!!!

 

Wow, I'm excited and it's not even my aquababies!!!!

So far, so good. Turned lights out and added 6. Fish are hiding and the shrimp are out and about. Funny thing, a shrimp and a cory came face to face and they both screamed and went opposite directions. Lol

 

Thank you! With the current issues, whatever it might be, I know I'm going to wait if I do decide to try CPDs. It just gives me more time to research!!! The one thing I found lacking from comments on CPDs attacking adult RCS was things in their environment, such as school size, feeding structure, tank setup, etc. So, thought I'd get some feedback here from people who have had the two together. What do/did you feed your CPDs?



I respectfully disagree with you. Blanketing "all your other inhabitants" is a false statement according to my research. The only inhabitant that prefers lower temps is the WCMM. And, since I do not want the WCMM to spawn, I do not want to lower my temp. I spent a couple of months with the gentleman I got them from, discussing WCMM in addition to my research. He had 60+ years of fishkeeping experience. I feel very confident at 75 for them and have experienced no health issues at all. They don't spawn, which is what I am aiming for. In fact, the only inhabitants I have that should be able to reproduce successfully in my tank at the moment are the RCS. I am fully aware that it could shorten the WCMMs lifespan, but, for captive bred WCMM, all indications I have found point to I'm only 1/2 - 1 degree above their temp range.

Captive bred fish have the same temperature requirements as the wild ones. Being 1 or 2 degrees above their range is a bigger deal than it seems. 72f is their maximum, not their ideal. They do best around 60-67f.

 

Captive bred fish have the same temperature requirements as the wild ones. Being 1 or 2 degrees above their range is a bigger deal than it seems. 72f is their maximum, not their ideal. They do best around 60-67f.

Thank you for your input. Can you site any studies for captive bred WCMM kept at 75F for me to look into and research? I'd appreciate the information.

So far, so good. Turned lights out and added 6. Fish are hiding and the shrimp are out and about. Funny thing, a shrimp and a cory came face to face and they both screamed and went opposite directions. Lol

LOL I wonder what went through their little minds when they saw each other!

What do you feed your CPDs?

 

LOL I wonder what went through their little minds when they saw each other!

What do you feed your CPDs?

I feed fluval tropical flakes, omega one shrimp pellets (for the cories but they love them too) and just started frozen bloodworms but I need to make them smaller. Lol and apparently they like the algae wafer I put in for the shrimp.


Found the hangout.

 

My wcmm's favourite food has always been frozen daphnia. Close second would be frozen brine shrimp.

 

View attachment 467855 Found the hangout.

So, how's everyone doing? Shrimps still seem confident and have the CPDs figured out the shrimp aren't sharks?

I'm going to see if I can post some pics... not sure how many I can post at once. That way y'all can give me some feedback regarding cover. Mind you, these aren't great. My phone doesn't have the best camera. This weekend I'll try to get my good camera out and get some better pictures.

 

Okay, let's see if I am doing this right. Should be 5 pics....






Yay! Seemed to work. Now gonna try the other option I see to upload and see what that does. Again, should be 5....







Okay, here are some pics giving you a better idea of the tank as a whole....

 

And a few night pics, LOL. You can't tell much about them but I think they look kinda cool.

 

My wcmm's favourite food has always been frozen daphnia. Close second would be frozen brine shrimp.

I haven't used frozen daphnia. Is it small enough for CPDs?

I feed fluval tropical flakes, omega one shrimp pellets (for the cories but they love them too) and just started frozen bloodworms but I need to make them smaller. Lol and apparently they like the algae wafer I put in for the shrimp.

I have some omega one shrimp pellets, the fluval flakes and somw algae wafers already, so that's a plus. I'm adding frozen bloodworms to my list, now, too!

I haven't used any frozen foods, yet. Is it possible to have them shipped? I haven't checked at Petco, but that's the closest place for me to actually go get stuff, well, there's a Wal-Mart there, too. That's a 45 min drive. Otherwise, it's a 3 hour drive to get to a LFS/LPS (is that still considered local????).

And totally off topic... but how did I get the pics to post the way they did in that 3rd post of pics? That's the way I'd like to do them. I know exactly which option I picked on 1, 2 & 4, but I lost con as I was posting 3, so not sure how it did that. Is there a thread on this I can read?

 

So, how's everyone doing? Shrimps still seem confident and have the CPDs figured out the shrimp aren't sharks?

I'm going to see if I can post some pics... not sure how many I can post at once. That way y'all can give me some feedback regarding cover. Mind you, these aren't great. My phone doesn't have the best camera. This weekend I'll try to get my good camera out and get some better pictures.

I still count 6 this morning, I think it’s going well. Nice photos of your tank!
Oh and one molted, so yay.

 

So glad it's going well!

I have spme questions for you, if you don't mind.

1 How many CPDs are in this tank?

2 What feeding schedule do you have (meaning how many times per day, how many times per week, how many varieties of food per day and how often do you rotate the different foods)?

3 Does your CPD school seem very aggressive, shy, or energetic? (Judgement call, I know.)

4 Do they spawn in your tank, and if so do you have fry at the moment?

5 At what temp do you keep your tank?

6 How many hours do you run your light?

7 Do you have any other tank mates besides the CPDs and cories? -- or if anyone else has input, what do you keep in the tank with the CPDs and RCS?

8 Is there a lot of cover or moderate, etc, amount? (I know this is a complete judgement call on how to describe your cover. I say I have lots of cover in mine, but what I mean is I have lots of cover at the bottom, kinda moderate in the middle and pretty sparse at the top. But, I'll take however short or in depth ...or a pic!... I can get as an answer!!)

And, any other information you might find pertinent to thread topic.

Coradee, do you mind weighing in on this, too?

Anyone else, ESPECIALLY if you have had your CPDs eat any/some/all of your RCS, please add your two cents!!!

Thanks in advance, guys!!!

 

So glad it's going well!

I have spme questions for you, if you don't mind.

1 How many CPDs are in this tank?

2 What feeding schedule do you have (meaning how many times per day, how many times per week, how many varieties of food per day and how often do you rotate the different foods)?

3 Does your CPD school seem very aggressive, shy, or energetic? (Judgement call, I know.)

4 Do they spawn in your tank, and if so do you have fry at the moment?

5 At what temp do you keep your tank?

6 How many hours do you run your light?

7 Do you have any other tank mates besides the CPDs and cories? -- or if anyone else has input, what do you keep in the tank with the CPDs and RCS?

8 Is there a lot of cover or moderate, etc, amount? (I know this is a complete judgement call on how to describe your cover. I say I have lots of cover in mine, but what I mean is I have lots of cover at the bottom, kinda moderate in the middle and pretty sparse at the top. But, I'll take however short or in depth ...or a pic!... I can get as an answer!!)

And, any other information you might find pertinent to thread topic.

Coradee, do you mind weighing in on this, too?

Anyone else, ESPECIALLY if you have had your CPDs eat any/some/all of your RCS, please add your two cents!!!

Thanks in advance, guys!!!

First, let me say the tank police here totally disagree with my stocking. It’s a 10g. I had mixed reviews but talked with successful keepers and so I made that call. I can tell you all day long how happy they are and someone will say “no they’re not.” So there’s that. Your questions...
1. 12 cpd’s/5 corydoras habrosus (wanted 6-one was shipped doa)
2. Feeding. I use flakes in the am and just before lights out at night I put in pellets. Everyday unless I’m gone for the weekend, then they miss a day (longer than that, my sitter will feed once per day) sometimes I’ll skip the evening pellets and give bloodworms or freeze dried daphnia or mysis (this was a Betta variety pack) I also put in zucchinI or green beans maybe once a week for snails.
3. Cpd behavior is very energetic, no aggression but they do the sexy dance a lot which is just the males spinning in circles around the ladies. Sometimes they school but mostly just scatter about doing their thing.
4. They seem to court but I’ve yet to see any eggs.
5. My tank is at 71*
6. My light is a big experiment right now since I bought a brighter one for plants and using ferts. Battling algae. As of now, it’s on 4 hours in the morning, off for 5 hours, then on again 3.5 hours in the evening.
7. I have 2 mystery snails and a nerite, plus now the 6 rcs.
8. I feel I have too much ground cover and not enough at the top. Which is why I’m trying different plants now that I have a better light. I’ll attach a photo. I do tend to move things around a bit on water change days but this is this week. Haha. I have Java fern, anubias, 2 marimo balls, alternanthera Reineckii, ludwigia Ovalis, lava rock and cholla and a couple fake wood decorations.

I use play sand from Home Depot, I run a fluval C2 filter with a sponge on the intake, along with an air stone, my heater is an adjustable aqueon 100watt. Oh and that’s bamboo sticking out at the top right.

 

First, let me say the tank police here totally disagree with my stocking.

This is always a concern, and can lead people to not be honest in posting, so I greatly appreciate you putting it all out there. Some people just repeat what they've heard, no research or experience; some people do a little research (like look at one or two things online and take it as the gospel) and have no experience; some people actually do lots of reading and studying but no experience; some lots of research and experience; and some just experience (and a myriad of in-between, or even formally educated). The problem is, you usually don't know which type is responding to your post. Or, there are those who have tons of experience, lots of knowledge, but think that fishkeeping is just black and white. What works in one tank may not work at all in another. But, unless people can post without being (basically) attacked or shamed, there won't be posts with all the honest details, good/bad/ugly, so that we can open our minds to different possibilities of what might actually work in a tank's ecosystem or get all the details to really help someone having an issue -- Okay I'm getting way off topic. LOL....

Where were we? Oh, yes!

Thanks for all the great input!!!

1. I am looking at a school of 12, too! So, I'm hoping that your info will correlate well with what I'm trying to learn.

2. I feed twice a day, too. Morning and evening, but about an hour before lights out. ...However, my pleco has learned that if she sits in her little feedbowl, I will feed her diectly. She usually will do this about 10-15 mins before lights out twice a week. The amano love to steal her food, and I had a problem with them grabbing it and running off before she ever made it to her bowl. I have one pretty large female that can carry pretty big stuff. I need to try and measure her the next time she's near the glass. She's bumping 4"! So, the bn learned (or did she teach me?) that sitting in her bowl indicates she's ready to eat and she can claim the food before the amanos show up. ...I have several types of flakes, crumbles, pellets, wafers, gel and feed fresh veggies as well. I mix things up and don't have a set regime, like these two particular foods every Monday morning and these 3 every Monday night, etc. Long and short of it, a twice a day schedule, works for me!

3. I've read this a lot; seems to be the typical behavior for CPDs

4. I'm not too concerned about breeding. If it happens, great! If not, that's okay, too. I'm not going into CPDs thinking I can make $$ off of them. I expect that the guppies will eat a lot, if not all, the fry. (More on this subject in a later #, too)

5. Have you kept them at any other temp? If so, notice any change in behavior, loss of or gain in weight, change in color?

6. I just changed to LEDs just a few months ago! I'm fine tuning my timing, but I run 9.5 hrs straight currently. I think I'm within 30 mins of where I'll end up. Have you found any benefit to running a split time? Do the CPDs seem to be active enough with the lights out to actively hunt at night? Do your RCS seem to be out in the open more with lights on or off? (I know you just put your RCS in the tank, but can you watch for this?)

7 I love snails for some reason LOL. I watch them as much as the fish! They have their own little personalities, too

8 This is something I've thought about after Coradee's response about the fry hanging out in cover at the top. But, I go back to do I want to try and breed them or am I completely ok the fry being guppy treats? I have time to consider options. I'm thinking I might look into setting up a temp fry tank when the time comes, and just try to raise enough to keep my school. I have very few plants at the moment, but I am looking into trying more. My anubias seems to be doing well. My moss balls, just fine (I think one is getting "babies" as it looks like 3 tufts are forming on it, more reading there, too!!). But, both of my java ferns... well... I think my black devil spikes like to munch them. I think the decision is going to be keep the bds and if I want plants, try diff plants and see what they don't eat, rehome them, or wait until they pass. Trying diff plants can get pretty expensive, though. Another topic I'm reading up on, LOL.

Thanks for sharing!!! All great info for me!!!

 

Hi, Wtfish has given you a lot of good information & I can’t add that much different except mine were kept in a 60 litre (I think that’s around 15 Us gallons) with aspidoras instead of corys at 72/3F.
Just want to add about breeding, Wtfish’s comment about the males “sexy dance” reminded me.....
Cpd’s once mature ime tend not to spawn in one large go like a lot of egg scatterers, they’ll spawn over a period of days so if you have several females it’ll seem like they’re constantly spawning & you should see fry on a regular basis if they have plenty of cover to hide in, btw adults will eat both their eggs & fry if they find them.

 

This is always a concern, and can lead people to not be honest in posting, so I greatly appreciate you putting it all out there. Some people just repeat what they've heard, no research or experience; some people do a little research (like look at one or two things online and take it as the gospel) and have no experience; some people actually do lots of reading and studying but no experience; some lots of research and experience; and some just experience (and a myriad of in-between, or even formally educated). The problem is, you usually don't know which type is responding to your post. Or, there are those who have tons of experience, lots of knowledge, but think that fishkeeping is just black and white. What works in one tank may not work at all in another. But, unless people can post without being (basically) attacked or shamed, there won't be posts with all the honest details, good/bad/ugly, so that we can open our minds to different possibilities of what might actually work in a tank's ecosystem or get all the details to really help someone having an issue -- Okay I'm getting way off topic. LOL....

Where were we? Oh, yes!

Thanks for all the great input!!!

1. I am looking at a school of 12, too! So, I'm hoping that your info will correlate well with what I'm trying to learn.

2. I feed twice a day, too. Morning and evening, but about an hour before lights out. ...However, my pleco has learned that if she sits in her little feedbowl, I will feed her diectly. She usually will do this about 10-15 mins before lights out twice a week. The amano love to steal her food, and I had a problem with them grabbing it and running off before she ever made it to her bowl. I have one pretty large female that can carry pretty big stuff. I need to try and measure her the next time she's near the glass. She's bumping 4"! So, the bn learned (or did she teach me?) that sitting in her bowl indicates she's ready to eat and she can claim the food before the amanos show up. ...I have several types of flakes, crumbles, pellets, wafers, gel and feed fresh veggies as well. I mix things up and don't have a set regime, like these two particular foods every Monday morning and these 3 every Monday night, etc. Long and short of it, a twice a day schedule, works for me!

3. I've read this a lot; seems to be the typical behavior for CPDs

4. I'm not too concerned about breeding. If it happens, great! If not, that's okay, too. I'm not going into CPDs thinking I can make $$ off of them. I expect that the guppies will eat a lot, if not all, the fry. (More on this subject in a later #, too)

5. Have you kept them at any other temp? If so, notice any change in behavior, loss of or gain in weight, change in color?

6. I just changed to LEDs just a few months ago! I'm fine tuning my timing, but I run 9.5 hrs straight currently. I think I'm within 30 mins of where I'll end up. Have you found any benefit to running a split time? Do the CPDs seem to be active enough with the lights out to actively hunt at night? Do your RCS seem to be out in the open more with lights on or off? (I know you just put your RCS in the tank, but can you watch for this?)

7 I love snails for some reason LOL. I watch them as much as the fish! They have their own little personalities, too

8 This is something I've thought about after Coradee's response about the fry hanging out in cover at the top. But, I go back to do I want to try and breed them or am I completely ok the fry being guppy treats? I have time to consider options. I'm thinking I might look into setting up a temp fry tank when the time comes, and just try to raise enough to keep my school. I have very few plants at the moment, but I am looking into trying more. My anubias seems to be doing well. My moss balls, just fine (I think one is getting "babies" as it looks like 3 tufts are forming on it, more reading there, too!!). But, both of my java ferns... well... I think my black devil spikes like to munch them. I think the decision is going to be keep the bds and if I want plants, try diff plants and see what they don't eat, rehome them, or wait until they pass. Trying diff plants can get pretty expensive, though. Another topic I'm reading up on, LOL.

Thanks for sharing!!! All great info for me!!!

You worded that so perfectly, love it. Not sure if I said before but I’ve only had these species for approximately 4 months, I’m in no way an expert, learning everyday. There are experts here I’m sure, just sharing my experiences thus far
Wow, sounds like you have a very smart pleco on your hands, that’s fabulous!
I’m not looking to breed either, I have no room for fry tanks. So I’m letting nature take its course here. Ha!
I try my hardest not to run the a/c, so when it got pretty hot here my tank was near 80 at times, the cories seemed to be less active, the cpd’s had no behavior change. This was for a few days before I finally floated frozen water bottles to cool it down. Or I bit the bullet and turned on the a/c. Lol. But no color or weight changes.
The only benefit from splitting the lights for me is that’s when I tend to like to watch most, I’d love to leave it on 12 hours like I use to but algae. Ugh When the lights go out the cpd’s are still swimming about as normal but I have lights on in the room, dim. I have no idea what they do when it’s pitch black after bed. Right now I can see 4 of the 6 rcs out and about. In my main rcs tank the light is on 12 hours and they are active, less active at night.
I love how you’re doing some serious research first, that is awesome. Can’t wait to see what you come up with! Good luck!

 

Hi, Wtfish has given you a lot of good information & I can’t add that much different except mine were kept in a 60 litre (I think that’s around 15 Us gallons) with aspidoras instead of corys at 72/3F.
Just want to add about breeding, Wtfish’s comment about the males “sexy dance” reminded me.....
Cpd’s once mature ime tend not to spawn in one large go like a lot of egg scatterers, they’ll spawn over a period of days so if you have several females it’ll seem like they’re constantly spawning & you should see fry on a regular basis if they have plenty of cover to hide in, btw adults will eat both their eggs & fry if they find them.

That’s interesting info, thanks for sharing. I do notice when it’s cooler that “sexy dance” seems to drag out longer. Lol, even after a water change. I’m sure they e just been eating eggs or someone has probably.
Also, thanks for not policing me

 

I love how you’re doing some serious research first, that is awesome.

Well, I decided to try and learn as much as I could before choosing to do something in my tanks. First, I love learning. But, moreso because of the first things I kept in an aquarium. I'll keep this brief as possible, so a lot of details won't be here...

An adopted stray outside cat of mine was playing with, due to its movements, a baby bird she must've hurt. I go to get the bird to assess it's damage, and it wasn't a bird! It was a mother crayfish carrying her babies and trying to fend off the cat!
I gather the mom, babies attached, and as many of the babies I could find in the grass. I put them all in a bowl to see if any of the babies that had fallen/been knocked off would climb back up onto mom's tail. All of them did!!! ---except two. So, I took mom and attached babies down to the pond behind the house where they'd be away from the cat. But the two that didn't cling to mom were so tiny. I was afraid they wouldn't make it on their own yet... why else would they be with mom, still? Not knowing a single thing about aquariums or keeping crayfish, I "ran" to Wal-Mart (1.5 hrs driving, so ran is probably not the best choice of words LOL) while the lil guys stayed in the bowl, grabbed some things that made sense to me as to what they might need, and ran back home. I put water, gravel, some ornaments and rocks (from the yard) all in the tank, and plop! in went the babies. I grabbed some shrimp food at Wal-Mart, cuz they're sorta like shrimp, right? Then, I jumped online to see what they should eat. --O--M--G-- You're supposed to remove chlorine from the water??? I desperately read as fast as I could through some basics of what they'd need and ran right back to Wal-Mart. Luckily, found some of the things I'd jotted down, unluckily the Petco was closed, so I knew I'd be making ANOTHER trip the next day. But, ya do what ya gotta do! I'm already committed to helping these guys if I hadn't already killed them! So, after the initial frantic "what do I do?" but thinking "this aquarium stuff is so cool!!" and knowing how helpless I felt starting out, I decided I'd try and look into things before I chose what to do with the aquarium after the crayfish were big enough to return to the wild. And that's why I try to soak up lots of info, which to me includes not just the actual results of scientific studies and natural habitat, but actual experiences of people. And even then, every tank will have something unique that plays into how and why it works.... or doesn't.

Just in case you're curious, I did get the two little crayfish big enough to escape the aquarium life. Here's a few pics along that journey....

 

Well, I decided to try and learn as much as I could before choosing to do something in my tanks. First, I love learning. But, moreso because of the first things I kept in an aquarium. I'll keep this brief as possible, so a lot of details won't be here...

An adopted stray outside cat of mine was playing with, due to its movements, a baby bird she must've hurt. I go to get the bird to assess it's damage, and it wasn't a bird! It was a mother crayfish carrying her babies and trying to fend off the cat!
I gather the mom, babies attached, and as many of the babies I could find in the grass. I put them all in a bowl to see if any of the babies that had fallen/been knocked off would climb back up onto mom's tail. All of them did!!! ---except two. So, I took mom and attached babies down to the pond behind the house where they'd be away from the cat. But the two that didn't cling to mom were so tiny. I was afraid they wouldn't make it on their own yet... why else would they be with mom, still? Not knowing a single thing about aquariums or keeping crayfish, I "ran" to Wal-Mart (1.5 hrs driving, so ran is probably not the best choice of words LOL) while the lil guys stayed in the bowl, grabbed some things that made sense to me as to what they might need, and ran back home. I put water, gravel, some ornaments and rocks (from the yard) all in the tank, and plop! in went the babies. I grabbed some shrimp food at Wal-Mart, cuz they're sorta like shrimp, right? Then, I jumped online to see what they should eat. --O--M--G-- You're supposed to remove chlorine from the water??? I desperately read as fast as I could through some basics of what they'd need and ran right back to Wal-Mart. Luckily, found some of the things I'd jotted down, unluckily the Petco was closed, so I knew I'd be making ANOTHER trip the next day. But, ya do what ya gotta do! I'm already committed to helping these guys if I hadn't already killed them! So, after the initial frantic "what do I do?" but thinking "this aquarium stuff is so cool!!" and knowing how helpless I felt starting out, I decided I'd try and look into things before I chose what to do with the aquarium after the crayfish were big enough to return to the wild. And that's why I try to soak up lots of info, which to me includes not just the actual results of scientific studies and natural habitat, but actual experiences of people. And even then, every tank will have something unique that plays into how and why it works.... or doesn't.

Just in case you're curious, I did get the two little crayfish big enough to escape the aquarium life. Here's a few pics along that journey....

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Omg I love this story! Bless your heart! Those are so very cute, I bet it was a bitter sweet day when you released them. Awww Ever think of getting a crayfish? Lol
P.S. where in Ok. do you live if you don’t mind me asking?

 

Omg I love this story! Bless your heart! Those are so very cute, I bet it was a bitter sweet day when you released them. Awww Ever think of getting a crayfish? Lol
P.S. where in Ok. do you live if you don’t mind me asking?

I'm down in SE OK. Out in the middle of nowhere LOL. It is really pretty, though.

I do think about another crayfish now and again, but I really like the fish and shrimp. So, I just look at other people's pics of crays to get my fix

 

I'm down in SE OK. Out in the middle of nowhere LOL. It is really pretty, though.

I do think about another crayfish now and again, but I really like the fish and shrimp. So, I just look at other people's pics of crays to get my fix

Oh ok, very beautiful there. I grew up in Guthrie, not so beautiful there. Lol we use to go SE to see nice things. Lol.

 

Will do. It’ll be in the next hour or so after a water change.

How's the "test" going? CPDs coming out and investigating? Shrimp still all accounted for and grazing openly?

 

How's the "test" going? CPDs coming out and investigating? Shrimp still all accounted for and grazing openly?

I see 4 this morning, lights are still off though, I’m sure they’re hiding. No one is bothering them. They swim right up to a group and no one acts differently. Yay, I’m hoping they’ll clean up a bit of algae. Ha.

 

I see 4 this morning, lights are still off though, I’m sure they’re hiding. No one is bothering them. They swim right up to a group and no one acts differently. Yay, I’m hoping they’ll clean up a bit of algae. Ha.

Seems like the test is going very well!

 

While we are waiting to see how WTFish's test is going...

Does anyone else have any experience with CPDs w/RCS.... especially if your CPDs "actively hunted" your RCS?

 

Hi, from my expirence, and I’ve kept cpd and crs for about 8 weeks. Although my shrimps did not disappear, the population did not thrive, so my guess is that cpd or the 2 otociclus halted the growing my crs. After the experience I watched or read a video/article that stated that cpd are great hunters and that they hunt and chase crs until they are about 3 weeks.

Here’s my 2 cents for the discussion

 

Hi, Nelson! Thanks for your input!! That is exactly what I was wondering. My guppies and WCMM don't seem to be "actively hunting" my shrimp fry. I'm sure that they might be grabbing a random baby that goes out in the open too soon, but I haven't seen any behavior that I'd call "actively hunting." And that specifically is what worried me about the CPDs after some reading.

So far, my RCS colony is growing. I started with putting 13 in the tank. They've already noticeably increased in numbers, and tonight I counted another 9 or so saddled girlies.

I'm really on the fence still about CPDs. I have plenty of time to figure it out, though. I don't want to make an uninformed decision!!!

 

My cpd’s and rcs are getting along quite well. Although I have not seen any shrimplets, far too soon I believe.