Is it every OK to overfeed? Baby Celestial Pearl Danios

I have had 16 young CPDs in quarantine for a little over three weeks. I got them from Aqua Huna. They all arrived healthy, though in water with obscenely high ammonia.

I finished dosing the tank with ParaClens a week ago.

One fish died and all but three seem to be thriving. Three remaining three are skinny but growing. I would say they are a bit frail. They range in length from 1/2 to 3/4 inch long.

I have the fish in a bare bottom 10 gallon.

I try to feed them twice a day, though sometimes one. They get a rotating mix of foods - Aquarium Coop fry food which is dried baby brine shrimp, ground up flakes and Hikari fry pellets.

When I put the food it floats and the fish seem oblivious. It can take minutes before any even eat.

The three weaker fish stay right at the bottom of the tank. It takes forever for them to eat and I am not sure of how much they are actually getting.

I tend to overfeed with the hope that all will get a good meal in. After all of the food sinks I vac the remainder out and add about 2 gallons of water back into the tank.

My hope is that if the weaker fish grow that they will get stronger and thrive also.

My plan is to put them all in a 29 with two guppies and a bunch of cory cats, but I don't see how any of them will get any food if I do that.

Any suggestions on how I can improve? I am new to this.

 

Dim the lights at feeding time.
Feed sparingly until the CPD's start readily accepting the flakes and pellets.

 

New to Fishlore if not to aquaria so fwiw .....

1st, when feeding fry I pulverize &/or soak dry food & put it directly on the bottom. Seems like you have a bunch eating happily from the surface tho so I'd keep that up for them. Do you have a fry net or separate fry enclosure? You might try removing your frail 3 to that in order to feed separately - soaking the food in a bit of tank water before feeding. That would mean no more need to overfeed the tank & perhaps eliminating the water change issues that may be occurring from clean up.

It's good you're changing water of course but if overfeeding doesn't necessitate it, I'd slow it down a bit. Water temp differences with changes of 2-4 gallons a day n a 10 gallon can further stress your guys, especially the frail ones. Keep an eye on your water test results, including ph, as that too can fluctuate with water changes even in a cycled tank, which I assume yours is. In my experience CPD are hardy but regular water testing & watching water temp changes is still important. If there's no illness in the tank & little to no food remaining after feeding, maybe stick to doing a once a week water change.

Too, do you know what caused the death of the one fry? Did it have red gills or injury that might indicate the cause was the ammonia or shock rather than illness? It's possible that if they arrived swimming in ammonia, no matter how carefully you acclimated them, the damage was done to these 3 fish. Have a good look at your frail CPD for anything that might indicate illness that could spread to the others.

Hope it helps & that your little guys improve.

 

New to Fishlore if not to aquaria so fwiw .....

1st, when feeding fry I pulverize &/or soak dry food & put it directly on the bottom. Seems like you have a bunch eating happily from the surface tho so I'd keep that up for them. Do you have a fry net or separate fry enclosure? You might try removing your frail 3 to that in order to feed separately - soaking the food in a bit of tank water before feeding. That would mean no more need to overfeed the tank & perhaps eliminating the water change issues that may be occurring from clean up.

It's good you're changing water of course but if overfeeding doesn't necessitate it, I'd slow it down a bit. Water temp differences with changes of 2-4 gallons a day n a 10 gallon can further stress your guys, especially the frail ones. Keep an eye on your water test results, including ph, as that too can fluctuate with water changes even in a cycled tank, which I assume yours is. In my experience CPD are hardy but regular water testing & watching water temp changes is still important. If there's no illness in the tank & little to no food remaining after feeding, maybe stick to doing a once a week water change.

Too, do you know what caused the death of the one fry? Did it have red gills or injury that might indicate the cause was the ammonia or shock rather than illness? It's possible that if they arrived swimming in ammonia, no matter how carefully you acclimated them, the damage was done to these 3 fish. Have a good look at your frail CPD for anything that might indicate illness that could spread to the others.

Hope it helps & that your little guys improve.

This is so helpful! I like the idea of soaking the food first. I think that will help a lot and result in putting less food in the tank for sure. I will also dim the lights as A201 suggested. All of the fish are in a 10 gallon quarantine tank.

There is a big leafy decoration they can hide in but I take it out when they are eating so I can observe. They seem to be ok with this and all of the fish color up nicely when eating.

I use a digital thermometer to make sure the water going in is the same temp as the water going out so I hope that is not a factor.

I should have looked at the fish that died more closely. It was very thin so I assumed it had a parasite.

I won't add any of the fish to the 29 until they are all eating well and all big enough so I am 100% sure the guppies won't be able to eat them.

Should I assume that since I used ParaGuard in the tank that no one could have parasites now? I don't see any indicators that the fish could be sick except they are a little thinner, but I assumed that is because they are shy.

The water going in should be the same pH as the water in the tank because it is all from the same tap, but I will test anyway. Good thought.

Do you think putting the frail 3 into a breeder box to eat would be good? I am erring towards no because I imagine that catching and releasing them would be really stressful.

If I misunderstood your suggestion please let me know.

Thanks for the time and care you put into your response!

 

This is so helpful! I like the idea of soaking the food first. I think that will help a lot and result in putting less food in the tank for sure. I will also dim the lights as A201 suggested. All of the fish are in a 10 gallon quarantine tank.

There is a big leafy decoration they can hide in but I take it out when they are eating so I can observe. They seem to be ok with this and all of the fish color up nicely when eating.

I use a digital thermometer to make sure the water going in is the same temp as the water going out so I hope that is not a factor.

I should have looked at the fish that died more closely. It was very thin so I assumed it had a parasite.

I won't add any of the fish to the 29 until they are all eating well and all big enough so I am 100% sure the guppies won't be able to eat them.

Should I assume that since I used ParaGuard in the tank that no one could have parasites now? I don't see any indicators that the fish could be sick except they are a little thinner, but I assumed that is because they are shy.

The water going in should be the same pH as the water in the tank because it is all from the same tap, but I will test anyway. Good thought.

Do you think putting the frail 3 into a breeder box to eat would be good? I am erring towards no because I imagine that catching and releasing them would be really stressful.

If I misunderstood your suggestion please let me know.

Thanks for the time and care you put into your response!

Sounds like you're doing everything right down to paraclens & w/c temp. I know some folks treat quarantined animals regardless of observed illness but you'd seen a death & treated accordingly! The little guys could still have been affected by ammonia in shipping & struggling from that. Eating is critical whatever the cause.

Ph can actually change slightly once in the tank especially w/plants & leaves for tannins. I mostly run dark water tanks so it jumped to mind. I'm sure you're keeping an eye on water parameters.

You didn't misunderstand at all. If soaking & placing food on the bottom isn't getting them to eat, I would risk an in tank fry enclosure, even with the stress of being moved. I use a small open mouth jar reserved for that purpose to scoop & move fish instead of a net tho, whenever possible.

I enjoy my nano rasbora & when I kept them, the CPD but feeding can be dicey for both. If they're noticeably starving simply because they haven't gotten the hang of feeding or won't mingle with the other fish to feed, I'd assume they will die & the in-tank move may save them. Only you can determine how long to give the lowered lights & soaked food a try. Fingers crossed that's all it takes & they thrive.

 

Thanks for clarifying. They actually may prefer a breeding box if it is big enough and there are plenty of leafy hides within. I am really hoping they just need some time to eat well and grow.

I’ll try to get a picture of them tomorrow. If you don’t mind taking a look, maybe you will see something I am missing!

 

Thanks for clarifying. They actually may prefer a breeding box if it is big enough and there are plenty of leafy hides within. I am really hoping they just need some time to eat well and grow.

I’ll try to get a picture of them tomorrow. If you don’t mind taking a look, maybe you will see something I am missing!

Love photos! It sounds like you're missing nothing. If you decide to get a separate box there are collapsible net ones that hang inside the tank & those that hang outside the tank & can be set up to share filtration. If you can get your hands on a bit of guppy grass to float it should provide good hiding & entertainment value for them. Either box should be big enough for them as temporary learning how to eat quarters, unless it's an exceptionally small box.

 

aquanata ta and A201 thanks for your help.

How this turned out:

No one was coming out with the lights off so I started turning the light on and tapping lightly three times. Everyone comes out to eat. Then I add a new food that floats for about 30 seconds and then slowly sinks.

Some of the CPD's eat from the surface and the ones that were at the bottom are now and swimming further up.

I didn't realize fish needed to "learn" how to eat, but that seems to be what happened. Everyone has grown quite a bit and while some eat more than others, all are now getting food.

Soon I will move the CPD's to the 29g.

Thanks again for all of your help!

 

aquanata ta and A201 thanks for your help.

How this turned out:

No one was coming out with the lights off so I started turning the light on and tapping lightly three times. Everyone comes out to eat. Then I add a new food that floats for about 30 seconds and then slowly sinks.

Some of the CPD's eat from the surface and the ones that were at the bottom are now and swimming further up.

I didn't realize fish needed to "learn" how to eat, but that seems to be what happened. Everyone has grown quite a bit and while some eat more than others, all are now getting food.

Soon I will move the CPD's to the 29g.

Thanks again for all of your help!

Extremely well done observing the fish & responding just right. Thank you for updating & congrats!