Celestial Pearl Danio as Dither?

[Mozzulu]

I'm curious as to some members' thoughts on the CPD as a dither fish for Apistos. I figured it would be perfect for Apistos because it usually frequents the middle part of the water and by nature seems like a relatively shy fish.

That being said, I've been growing out a group of 7 juveniles with 2 Agassizii pairs in a quarantine tank and their growth has really accelerated recently. A few of the larger females in particular seem a bit too friendly with the Apisto around feeding time - going as far as trying to snatch a bloodworm from Agassizii female's mouth.

I'm concerned about the potential of a group attack by the group of CPD's on one female and her brood in the future.

 

[TCMontium]

I can't be sure but I think I read someone say Celestichthys margaritatus snatch their apisto fry one by one. Or they just said the Danios were very active and greedy/aggressive with food and could eat "huge" worms of their size and I made the fake memory that they also ate fry. Not sure.

 

[Drayden Farci]

CPD's are fairly shy, as you point out, and usually hide in the back behind plants. That's not exactly what you want from a dither in my opinion.

 

[Mozzulu]

I can't be sure but I think I read someone say Celestichthys margaritatus snatch their apisto fry one by one. Or they just said the Danios were very active and greedy/aggressive with food and could eat "huge" worms of their size and I made the fake memory that they also ate fry. Not sure.

I have seen them snatch pretty large blood worms but usually just spit them out again when they realize they’re too big. Danios do seem to very shy though until the food arrives!

 

[Mozzulu]

CPD's are fairly shy, as you point out, and usually hide in the back behind plants. That's not exactly what you want from a dither in my opinion.

I intentionally was looking for a fish on the shy side that would populate the mid section of the water column. So far from what I’ve observed is that CPD’s spend the first week or so in a new tank hiding but gain confidence quickly with feedings and will spend most of their time schooling/shoaling in the open shortly after - especially if they’re full-sized and kept in odd numbers (even number groups tend to break off into two).

I ended up dropping in about 5 of them with the Apistos and a female seems to be guarding a cave, so we’ll see what happens.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[Ade205]

Little late to this thread but I'm in the middle of trying something different (for me) regarding dithers and wondered If anyone else had any experience with this fish? The fish in question is Microdevario kubotai or neon Green Rasbora.
I fancied something different as all my apisto tanks have the almost obligatory Nannostomus marginatus as dithers!
Recently acquired a pair of Elizabethae and decided to try something different in their tank so after a little reading plumped for 6 of these little guys. They apparently come from areas with lots of leaf little and roots though not blackwater, but reports dither.
So far I'm loving them. Their tank gets morning sunlight and their colours are spectacular with the green so bright but also an amazing blue that runs down their back and is also present on their abdomen in right light angels. There's also a blue sheen to fins when the sun hits them. They are very active, stay very tight together and hardly ever go deeper than half depth. Time will tell what they are like with fry, hopefully the Lizes will help answer this question!
Would love to hear if anybody else has any experience with these beautiful little fish?

Ade.