Danio erythromicron. How do I get them to come out?

[Death Pony]

I just picked up 6 Danio erythromicron (dwarf emerald rasboras/zebra rasboras) a few days ago. They're in a heavily planted tank with 1 Dario dario (who isn't doing that well, his vision is failing). They're gorgeous little fish, but I never see them! They've been hiding behind all of the driftwood since I introduced them to the tank. How do I get them to come out in the open? Dither fish?

 

[fishycat]

My CPD are skittish - adding Endlers helped to draw them out... Also, they are sensitive to motion outside the tank... I see the prettiest displays when the tank light is on and it's dark in the room (or I'm sitting somewhat to the side & they forget I'm there).

I'd also give them some time to settle in...

 

[Death Pony]

I'll see if I can find Endlers. As stated in my previous thread, my LFS has just about everything but Endlers. There are some sparkling gouramis available. Would those work?

Gah, I just saw a few out in the open! Their colors are completely different from when I first picked them up.

 

[jpappy789]

My sparklers were fairly shy...probably not the best fish to draw another fish out of hiding.

 

[fishycat]

Perhaps another micro species like chili rasbora or Phoenix? How big is your tank? Rasbora espei are smaller than harleys and a possible choice...(?)

Scuppers has a thread going asking about interest in buying endlers, and I'm sure others are selling here.

 

[Death Pony]

My sparklers were fairly shy...probably not the best fish to draw another fish out of hiding.

I guess I have the weirdos then. I had sparklers a little more than a year ago (didn't last long). They were really social and inquisitive. I might try to convince the LFS to order more Darios.

 

[Death Pony]

Perhaps another micro species like chili rasbora or Phoenix? How big is your tank? Rasbora espei are smaller than harleys and a possible choice...(?)

Scuppers has a thread going asking about interest in buying endlers, and I'm sure others are selling here.

It's a 6 gallon, heavily planted and well filtered. I can probably get espei if the filter can handle the bio load.

It would be hard for me to order fish, since I'm at university right now and our mail system is really slow.

 

[stephcps]

What about upping the number of the danio? I wonder if the numbers were bigger, would they feel safer?

 

[fishycat]

I'd be worried about overstocking with the addition of espei. 6 d. Erythromicron sounds about right in a 6g...

If I were you, I'd wait a couple weeks to let them get settled. I had 3 CPD in a 5g cube and they'd make little zipping forays to the front of the tank & back. I'm sure you'll get similar behavior with your guys.

 

[Death Pony]

I had CPDs about a year ago as well. They were much bolder than these guys, except for the camera, they hated that. I'm hoping that these guys will get more adventurous day-by-day. I'm occasionally seeing little flashes of colors from across the room. Hopefully they only get better from here.