# Help trying to breed Celestial Pearl Danios!



## aquariumrookie (Jun 26, 2014)

Hey guys!
I have 4 Celestial Pearl Danios in my 20 gallon planted commu ity aquarium.
2 are male and 2 are female. I used to have 9, but 5 dided due to unknown causes a longish time ago.
I have a lot of questions about breeding these beautiful fish.
First, how many fry will co e after the fish breed?
Second, how do I set up a tank for nreeding what do I need temperature etc.
Third, what should be the male to female ratio for breeding these fish?
I have heard the ratio is 2 females to 1 male.
If this is the case, I would have to remove 3 of my 4 fish and put them in to a breeding aquarium. That would mean that there would be 1 fish that is supposed to school left by himself for a couple weeks.
That fish would be with some White cloud Mountain Minnows which are relatives of the Celestial Pearl Danios I have seen the Celestial Pearl Danios and the White Cloud Mountain Minnows school sometimes.
Any tips help and info about breeding Celestial Pearl Danios would be greatly appreciated!
THANKS!


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## Karl M (Jul 15, 2013)

This is taken from www.seriouslyfish.com. I have never had Celestial Pearl Danios but they are definitely on my want list.
You can read the entire entry on Celestial Pearl Danios at: http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/celestichthys-margaritatus/

Reproduction

Like many small cyprinids this species is an egg-scattering spawner that shows no parental care.

It was first bred by SF members Pete Liptrot and Paul Dixon of the Bolton Museum Aquarium, U.K., only a week or two after entering the country in 2006.

If the fish are in good condition they will spawn often and in a densely-planted, mature aquarium it's possible that small numbers of fry may start to appear without intervention.

However if you want to increase the yield of fry a slightly more controlled approach is required.

The adult group can still be conditioned together but one or more smaller, perhaps 10-15 litre, containers should also be set up and filled with aged water.

Fill much of the available space with fine wool mops, Taxiphyllum or other fine-leaved plant.

Neither lighting nor filtration is necessary although you can install a small air-powered sponge filter if you prefer.

When the adult fish are well-conditioned a single pair or group comprising one or two males and several females can then be introduced to each container, though it's worth noting that the more individuals involved the greater the risk of egg predation, plus males may distract each other from females if there's more than one in the tank.

Spawning normally presents few problems with around 30 mildly adhesive eggs deposited in a typical event.

At this point the adults are best removed as they will eat any they find, plus females need a recovery period before spawning again as they're unable to produce eggs on a daily basis.

In nature it apparently breeds year-round so you could always select another pair and work a rotation system if continuous production is the aim.

Incubation is temperature-dependant to an extent but usually takes around 72 hours with the young free-swimming 3-4 days later.

Initial food should be Paramecium or a proprietary dry food of sufficiently small (5-50 micron) grade, introducing Artemia nauplii, microworm, etc., once the fry are large enough to accept them.


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## barrel (Dec 31, 2011)

a well planted aquarium including moss(preferably) to provide dark, hidden areas.

temperatures , best around low mid 70s. high 70s low 80s can happen.


whenever theyve bred ive never taken out the moss, ill just notice lil babies swimming around and scoop em up.


as for the minnows with em, no. mtns are quick and active and will be an interference for breeding. 
keep the CPDs alone. 


if you do indeed have two males and two females, you likely got a good situation - competition.
its worked in my situation.
however, if you notice one of the males overly hurt or stressed, eating less, then not a good situation.

if you do have two pair you can do 3 different options. 1. leave em alone. 2. seperate each pair into their own tank 2. add only more females to offset the males competitive aggression.

for when going overboard, the ratio ive followed is three females to one male.

in my experience, these fish, the grown males, are unrelenting (alot more when wild than aquarium born) and can cause the weaker male more susceptible to death


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