[loveflying]

Hi guys,

I recently got some danio erythromicron and I was wondering how I get them to stop being so skittish? Whenever I try to feed them, they hide instantaneously. The problem is the hikari micro pellets that I feed don't tend to sink by themselves to well, so I end up kind of poking them at the waters surface so that the food will sink, and the fish will eat. However, the fish will only eat food that is in the water column and not stuff of the ground. Basically what this leads to is a bunch of food on the ground that the fish won't touch. The dilemma then is that if I don't poke the food, it won't sink and the fish wont eat it, but if I do they hide and won't get to the food before it sinks. I know that they do eat the food. I did see one of them grab a pellet that took longer to sink, but it was just one of many pellets, the rest of which I siphoned out after a few hours. So, how do I get these little guys to not run away every time I try and help them find food? I have some cherry shrimp on the way to act as a clean up crew for missed pellets, but that doesn't solve my issue with them not eating basically. Ideas would be really appreciated

thanks guys

 

[loveflying]

oh and as I understand these guys are very similar to CPDs close cousins. if that helps with your response

 

[dxiong5]

D. erythromicron is extremely shy to begin with, probably more so if they are freshly wild-caught/imported. They always hid in the back among my tall plants and will mostly stay there until I move away from the tank. I also kept them in 10 gallon tanks with only moss for breeding, so there weren't many places to hide.

How many do you have? A larger quantity may make them feel more comfortable and come out more. Or you can add other small fish that may draw them out. (Sawbwa resplendens, Boraras merah, Boraras brigittae, etc.)

I fed mine crushed flakes, decapped BSE, and live BBS. Once the dry foods hit my filter outtake, they scattered into the water column where the fish ate it. I actually was looking at the Hikari Micro-Pellets the other day; will it eventually sink if it stayed on the water surface long enough?

 

[dxiong5]

Crushed flakes --> I worked in a Zebra fish lab where we actually used a small mortar/pestle to crush flakes for the fish, so this is very small in size.

 

[loveflying]

Crushed flakes --> I worked in a Zebra fish lab where we actually used a small mortar/pestle to crush flakes for the fish, so this is very small in size.

In my tank, the pellets don't seem to want to sink. It could be because i am using a spray bar for the output pipe,which might not be causing enough turbulance for the food to sink. I reduced the flow because I thought the little guys didn't seem to like the higher flow I had before. I currently have 16 of these guys in an 11.4 gallon mr aqua tank. the back is pretty packed with stems. I keep the water at 70 degrees and the gh at around 15. ph is 7.8. They are alone, I wanted to keep this as a species tank.

 

[dxiong5]

Wow, I'd say that's a good number. It is reported that Lake Inle (where the fish is from) is sluggish with slow flowing water, but I don't think flow is a bad thing. Maybe you can up it a bit to see how they handle it..? Have you tried any other food? Do the fish look thin/starved?

 

[loveflying]

the fish were from misjinkz and they came looking pretty well fed and healthy. I just hope that they get more outgoing with time so I can feed them more easily

 

[Noahma]

Crushed flakes --> I worked in a Zebra fish lab where we actually used a small mortar/pestle to crush flakes for the fish, so this is very small in size.

+1 for crushed flake, mine will ONLY eat that, and occasionally some of the frozen cyclops I put in the tank. They are by their very nature skittish fish. The areas they inhabit are very densely planted, they tend to live among the roots and other very heavily planted areas. They also like dim lighting, so if your lighting is too much, you will not see them much. I look into my tank more in the early morning before the lights come on, and the only thing lighting the room is some diffused sunlight bouncing through the window, and they are ALL over the tank. Once they get used to who you are, they will be more apt to come out of the plants, it may take some time though. I also sit very still in front of the tank, and they will cautiously come out of the plants and eventually forget that I am there. I LOVE the fish, but they are indeed very skittish.

 

[dxiong5]

Great points, Noahma!

the fish were from misjinkz and they came looking pretty well fed and healthy. I just hope that they get more outgoing with time so I can feed them more easily

Glad to hear they came in well (I'm getting some from her as well). Keep observing them, if they remain nice and plump, then they are getting the food somehow (whether it's when you're watching them or not). If they get progressively thinner, then maybe you should try a different food/feeding method. I'll ask Rachel what she fed them.

 

[atom]

With my shy CPDs I had to mix micro pellets and crushed flake in a small cup of water and then I poor them into the water. My CPD's never came to the surface to feed and only ventured out of the plants when there was food in the tank. They did pick food off of the bottom though. They were pigs, but they never got over their shyness and I had to rehome them to someone with a larger tank. Not sure how they are now.

Have you tried sinking a a flake into the water to get their attention and then pouring the food in? That way you don't have to disturb the water by poking at the food.

 

[Scipio]

My Erythromicron are notoriously shy also. But they seem to have gotten used to me when I approach the 125g. They will actually come out from behind the large Java ferns to see if I am going to feed. Also have lots of other small fishes that seem to make them feel confortable. My 125g is what many would call over crowded but I only have small fish in the tank. Over filtration keeps everyone happy and healthy. Any food I drop into the tank, the Erythromicron will rush out and compete for food. They seem to act totally different in larger tanks then they do in smaller ones. Lots of plant cover also makes them feel happy

 

[In2wishin]

I fed mine crushed flakes, decapped BSE, and live BBS. Once the dry foods hit my filter outtake, they scattered into the water column where the fish ate it. I actually was looking at the Hikari Micro-Pellets the other day; will it eventually sink if it stayed on the water surface long enough?

I have the micro-pellets and they start sinking almost immediately.

 

[loveflying]

I decided to turn the flow up in my tank up and that it is, the pellets are sinking