# Celestial Pearl Danios



## apc789 (Jan 7, 2010)

Hi all. I am wondering if anyone knows the current status on these little beauties. I know when they were originally discovered they were over harvested in the wild causing a lot of concern. This was a few years ago now and I am wondering if they are in better numbers now in the wild, or if they are still even around in the aquarium trade. I would love to get my hands on some of these little wonders, but only if they are not near extinction or endangerment in the wild.


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## eminemchang2 (Nov 10, 2007)

There were a few postings of CPDs at aquabid.com rite now... I think a good amount of them are captive bred now, no expert tho =T


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Google it.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Here is the Google result:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Cele...d=ie7&rls=com.microsoft:en-US&ie=utf8&oe=utf8


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## apc789 (Jan 7, 2010)

I have googled it but I didn't come across any information about their current status in the wild. It seems most of the information was from round the time they were initially discovered.


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## Newt (Apr 1, 2004)

Margaritatus (Previously Microrasboras sp. Galaxy)
Common Name: Celestial Pearl Danio, Galaxy Rasboras, Fireworks Rasboras.
Maximum Size: 2.5cm / 1 Inch
Origin: Hopong, Myanmar (Burma) South-East Asia.
Family: Cyprinidae (Carps and Minnows)
Order: Cypriniformes (Carps)
Class: Actinopterygii (Ray finned fishes)
Temperature: 20-25°c / 68-77°f
Ph Range: 6-8

Background:
The Celestial Pearl Danio is still fairly new to the aquarium hobby. Being only discovered back in August 2006. It is thought that over collecting these fish nearly brought the fish to extinction in the wild although it has now been discovered that many populations of the species exist in very remote parts inaccessible to foreigners. When they first came into the aquarium trade they were in high demand, so the prices were very expensive though now they have slowly go down to around to an average of £3.00 ($6) per fish. Which is still quite costly for such a small fish.

General:
This fish has beautiful colours of a dark blue base colour covered in pearly spots along with bright red/orange fins. These amazing colours will show best against a planted aquarium with good lighting. They are very quick fish! Trying to get pictures of these fish is near enough impossible! They prefer to be kept in shoals of at least six fish to be generally happier and more active. They can be kept in small tanks, as they will not grow over 1inch long. But should not be kept in tanks less than 5 gallons. Celestial Pearl Danios have small stomachs so be careful not to overfeed, they will accept a wide range of foods and should be fed well on small quality foods such as micro pellets and absolutely love treats of live daphnia.

Sexing and Breeding Celestial Pearl Danio:
In a group sexing can be easy, the females will be overall duller coloured with more pale red fins. They will also be a bit fatter; even though these fish are generally 'chunky' this can be easily seen when with males. The males with also have orangey stomachs and have black bars on the anal fin unlike the females. These fish can be bred quite easily much alike other cyprinidae species. Breeding would be very similar to this article.


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## apc789 (Jan 7, 2010)

Well that is good news. However this is only from one source. Just because something is posted on the net doesn't mean it is correct information.

Either way I guess it won't hurt having them in my care as opposed to someone who doesn't even know what the nitrogen cycle is. LOL


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

Buy captive reared fish and intend to breed them yourself. Problem solved. 

A guy in my LFC (local fish club) bred them easily. Do a water change, siphon near the bottom on the tank, remove some plants, let this sit in a bucket and you'll get some fry. I got hatchlings from him (tiny slivers, no color, barely visible) and raised them easily. 

GL!


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

I, too, was concerned about the wild populations, so bought from a fellow fish keeper that bred them. His are 2nd generation from wild, and mine are now 3rd and 4th. They breed like rabbits in a planted tank for me


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## MagpieTear (Jan 25, 2009)

Aren't these little guys from Myanmar?


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## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

I LOVE these little fish, their coloring is gorgeous! I believe liveaquaria.com has them listed to purchase. You probably can find them elsewhere for less.


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## apc789 (Jan 7, 2010)

I found a local private breeder but they are fairly pricey! 4 bucks each! IMO it's worth it!


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## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

Oh ok! Yeah, that's pricey for a fish that should be kept in schools 

You could pay $7.99 each +shipping at Drs Foster & Smith!!!!! Yikes!

Post pics when you get them.


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## Six (May 29, 2006)

Plus Dr.F&S sell mainly wild stock. The danios are most likely wild. It would behoove you to try a more local source, IME.


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## DarrylR (Dec 5, 2007)

I have some and are breeding as I type, in my 20 gallon tank. I know of many CPD breeders from another forum that could hook you up with some, they will ship or likely be able to have a PU option.

As for how they are harvested, they seem very easy to breed like the zebra danio and many people are breeding their own species tank.

$3-4 are standard pricing per danio on forums I have joined.


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## Knotty Bitz (Mar 11, 2009)

Yea, my lfs gets them captive breed. Like six, I got them very young and reared them with no problems. I really need to try breeding them.


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## MagpieTear (Jan 25, 2009)

I somehow managed to score 18 young ones at my local fish club last Friday for a buck a piece. Took about 3 days for them to settle into the 20 gallon shrimp tank and start getting their colors back. 6 from one breeder, the rest from a different. With any sort of luck, I can have fry by mid summer. Fascinating little fellows, darting about in loose schools, always hovering just above the vegetation. 

But anyhow, the point is, if I got two different bloodlines in my local club, chances are, there should be some locally raised to just about anyone on the board by now. And with Myanmar's regime cracking down on exportation, I'm going to guess that very few you find in the states today are F1 or F2 wilds. The wild populations should be in decent shape in a season or two, they've held up to local fishing demands for many years before the aquarium hobbies found out about them.


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## madtundra01 (Jan 27, 2010)

I saw some at Oddball pets in Pittsburgh last Friday. Absolutely beautiful fish, Looks like i have to set my 29 gal for them. going back next weekend hopefully they'll still have em!


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## Cwhite (Feb 21, 2009)

I love these little guys, I heard that they are easy to breed but never had any luck myself. I tried keeping 10 in a 20 gallon, and they were always very skittish, they did better in a bigger tank.


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## mydragonslady (Mar 11, 2010)

I would like to get input on making an already cycled, healthy, planted tank more ideal for new wild baby galaxy rasboras. (Currently an angelfish and a platy are keeping it cycled but they'll be removed when the new babies arrive.) I'll be getting a dozen soon and want their tank to be as good as it can. I've seen mixed feedback on pH, water temperature and hardness/softness. Wondering if anyone here who is raising them can offer suggestions. I ordered wild babies because it's been impossible to find captive females that are not expired. Supposedly there is more chance of obtaining females bought as wild babies because they are not yet sexed. Already, two large LFS will buy future babies if I can help these survive being shipped.

Currently the tank is 29 gallons with two nice pieces of driftwood and the only plants are brown myra and a lily spreading across the surface. The filter is a biowheel. Live, soft sand substrate. Been using dechlorinated tap water which is slightly hard and pH is 7.0. Temperature is currently 78 for the angelfish and platy, but I planned on lowering it to 74-75 for the new babies.


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

mydragonslady said:


> I would like to get input on making an already cycled, healthy, planted tank more ideal for new wild baby galaxy rasboras. (Currently an angelfish and a platy are keeping it cycled but they'll be removed when the new babies arrive.) I'll be getting a dozen soon and want their tank to be as good as it can. I've seen mixed feedback on pH, water temperature and hardness/softness. Wondering if anyone here who is raising them can offer suggestions.


Mine breed in 76degrees, pH 7.2, GH 7.



mydragonslady said:


> I ordered wild babies because it's been impossible to find captive females that are not expired. Supposedly there is more chance of obtaining females bought as wild babies because they are not yet sexed.


Females that are not expired? I'm curious, what does that mean? They are easy to sex at a very young age, as soon as they start to show color.


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## mydragonslady (Mar 11, 2010)

Thank you for the info!

I'm only finding males. Eventually I found an LFS who placed the order said females are usually not sold to consumers unless they no longer produce eggs. I'm a first time breeder. He said I'd have a better chance of receiving females if they were wild and too small for the breeder to sex.

Does a soft sand substrate work for them as long as there is java moss or christmas moss across the bottom for fry? I thought I'd try to make the tank as close as possible to their wild environment and add moss to the substrate for the fry.


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## darryfish (Feb 15, 2010)

LFSs say a lot of things, and unfortunately sometimes it has more to do with making sales than understanding fish...

I haven't kept CPDs yet, but with other danios that I've kept and bred, the females have continued to spawn throughout all the years of their life (i.e., IME the only "expired" female would be "expired" as in dead).

I have heard of fish having been rendered sterile with chemicals or some other treatment that adversely affects their reproductive system and then sold.

Has anyone else heard about this with CPDs?


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

It was the first time I'd heard the term 'expired females' which is why I asked.

I can tell the gender of CPDs from about 5 weeks old. The black dot on the female develops quickly.

This shows close-up clear pictures:

http://www.celestialpearldanio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=560

The only difficulty is getting them to stay still long enough. Before I send a group out I will put only one or two at a time in one of those plastic containers that hang on the tank (like the LFS uses to dump fish and water into a bag) and watch them closely. They will eventually settle down and can be sexed easily.

From my experience, females continue to lay eggs their entire lives. Its not like they go through 'menopause' HAHA!

As far as the substrate goes, they don't seem to care about it. They go into the thick moss to lay eggs, which I have tied to a piece of driftwood. They've bred in barebottomed tanks, regular 'pet store aquarium' gravel, pea gravel, and aquasoil.


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

mydragonslady said:


> Eventually I found an LFS who placed the order said females are usually not sold to consumers unless they no longer produce eggs. I'm a first time breeder. He said I'd have a better chance of receiving females if they were wild and too small for the breeder to sex.


I think the LFS guy is pulling the wool over your eyes. How would a breeder be involved if they are WILD fish? It would just be an importer. As soon as you can tell its a CPD, you can sex them. Good luck with your purchase. Be sure to post some pics!


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## mydragonslady (Mar 11, 2010)

Wow. Great feedback. More than I expected and thanks to ALL of you :.)

LFS called this earlier this morning to say the babies came in, so I guess I'll find out sooner than expected. He mentioned treating them with erythromycin. Is that standard procedure or will it harm them by killing off good flora they need? The LFS guy said a healthy recycled tank would be sufficient to help them recover from shipping. Am I being bamboozled again?


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

I've never used an antibiotic so wouldn't know how to advise in the recovery of such treatment. The last time I bought a fish from a LFS was maybe 20 years ago, so I don't know if this is a common practice. Perhaps someone that knows will post a reply. 

I've had great luck finding other hobbyists and buying/trading fish and plants that way. I've also bought a few fish directly from a reputable importer.


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

darryfish said:


> I have heard of fish having been rendered sterile with chemicals or some other treatment that adversely affects their reproductive system and then sold.
> 
> Has anyone else heard about this with CPDs?


I have not heard this about CPDs. I think there are enough hobby breeders out there that it wouldn't be worthwhile to try to 'corner the market' now.


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## mydragonslady (Mar 11, 2010)

They look great. Not as young as the LFS was told they were, but they are not grown and there are lots of females :.) These survived transport well. Appear very healthy, regained color after bringing them home within an hour and have already eaten. The next few days will be more telling I suppose.


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

Can you see the females' distinctive black dot? The males have them also, but on their lips! 

Hope you can post pictures soon!


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## darryfish (Feb 15, 2010)

Congrats on the new fish! I hope they do well for you.

Re: your question about erythromycin, yes, some people do commonly treat any new fish with antibiotics and other medications as a "preventive" measure. Personally, I think we should be cautious about overusing antibiotics since the more we use them, the more the germs become immune to them, and the less effective the medicines end up being--and this can ultimately affect us humans, too, not just fish! (O.K., I'll get off my soap box now.)

I would agree that a well-cycled tank, with plenty of privacy, is the best place for the little guys to rest and recover from their relocation stress. If they're getting a tank of their own, then move them right in, but if they're intended for a tank that has current residents, then best to put them first in a quarantine tank for several weeks.


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## mydragonslady (Mar 11, 2010)

^ I agree wholeheartedly about antibiotics. Ugh.

They move constantly and dart away if I get too close so it's been difficult to see any of them up close. Not sure if CPDs can be sexed by anal fins, but before they were bagged at the LFS I believe l was able to determine male vs female comparing faded versus brighter colors. If so, I have 17 females to 13 males. (I picked up another six that from a guppy tank at a different LFS that didn't seem to care they were all males and in too small a group.)

This morning the new CPDs paled AFTER the light came on and remained pale after a few hours. I had left the light off yesterday after putting them in their new home thinking they might stress less with dimmer lighting. I also hadn't considered that the white live sand might be too bright, so I've sprinkled a layer of chipped red jasper across the surface of the live sand for a more subdued effect. Watching to see how that works. Overall though, they're eating and otherwise doing well so far.

As soon as they settle in better, I'll post some pics. I don't know how the flash will affect them so I'm going to wait a bit.


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## mydragonslady (Mar 11, 2010)

Color returned and they're shoaling nicely in two groups. Thinking I'll be able to take pics tomorrow.


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## OrangeCones (Aug 15, 2009)

It's best to take pics with no flash. Just use the light over the aquarium and turn all other lights in the room off. The flash of the camera will normally reflect back and not be a good photo to you. 

If stressed, they can fade to almost completely white so color itself is not a good indicator of sex. The black dot on the female is the sure thing everytime


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## mydragonslady (Mar 11, 2010)

I need to learn how to better utilize camera settings. Only took a couple because I could not turn the flash off. Interestingly the six Endlers have blended in with the CPDs. Not sure how it will go having livebearers with egglayers.


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