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Celestial Pearl Danio – Complete Care Guide

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Celestial Pearl Danio in plants

Celestial Pearl Danio Information

The Celestial Pearl Danio (Danio margaritatus) is a gorgeous freshwater fish with vibrant colorations and a fantastic personality. It is a popular fish in the hobby and a must have for a planted fish tank. Also known as the Galaxy Rasbora, this species of fish enjoys living in groups larger than 6 because of their social nature. Celestial Pearl Danio’s max size will be around 1 in. (2.5 cm) and it has a lifespan between 3 and 5 years. Overall, this is a very peaceful and fairly hardy fish but it can also be very timid! We will dive into the requirements of keeping this beautiful freshwater fish species.

Aquarium Requirements

This fish remains small, but will require at least a 10 gallon aquarium to be happy. You should be able to keep between 6 and 8 Celestial Pearl Danios in a 10 gallon aquarium. I would add 2 gallons of water for each additional fish added. I would not recommend keeping this fish in anything smaller, such as a 5 gallon or 1 gallon fish tank. Those are too small for shoaling fish.

Recommended Water Parameters

Galaxy Rasboras do well in a wide range of water parameters. They will do well with many other fish species because of this. However, Celestial Pearl Danios temperature requirements are higher than some other species of danio. This fish species will require a heater. If you are looking for cool water fish, check out White Cloud Mountain Minnows, Leopard Danios, or Zebra Danios. Those fish tolerate cooler waters. If you need suggestions on heaters, check out Aquarium Heaters for Freshwater & Saltwater Fish Tanks. The following are the water parameter requirements for this fish species:

  • Water Temperature: 72° – 78° F
  • pH: 6.5 – 7.5
  • KH: 2 – 10 dKH

The water parameters that are required to keep Galaxy Rasboras make it an excellent candidate for a planted fish tank! The parameter requirements for this fish are fairly similar to a lot of different freshwater fish species, but I would still recommend doing research on every fish before purchase.

Do Celestial Pearl Danios Jump?

This, of course is a trick question. Any fish can jump out of an aquarium if they are committed and I would recommend having a lid on. However, to my knowledge Celestial Pearl Danios do not commonly jump out of fish tanks. If they do, it’s suggested that something startled them which would cause them to bolt up and jump out.

Celestial Pearl Danio Diet

The Galaxy Rasbora is an omnivore. This gives us plenty of different options for food! They can eat high quality flake food such as New Life Spectrum’s Optimum Flakes. At full size, they should be able to consume New Life Spectrum Thera A pellet food, which will help bring out more colors in Celestial Pearl Danios. This fish should also readily consume bloodworms, algae wafers, brine shrimp and other small frozen foods.

Fully sized Celestial Pearl Danios should do ok with smaller species of shrimp, such as Neocaridina. Shrimp babies may get eaten but the adults should not become a snack for this fish. If you’re paranoid of losing your shrimp, consider larger species of shrimp such as the Amano Shrimp.

Celestial Pearl Danio Tank Mates

This species of fish are for the most part incredibly peaceful. They will more than likely leave other fish alone, but may chase after one another. The Celestial Pearl Danio should do well with most other community fish. Always consider aquarium size limitations before purchasing fish. Rasboras, Tetras, Danios, Guppies and Corydoras should do incredibly well with this fish. In a large enough and heavily planted aquarium, Celestial Pearl Danio with Dwarf Gourami can be possible but I personally prefer Honey Gouramis.

As stated earlier, very small (baby) shrimp may become a meal for this fish. However, Celestial Pearl Danios and Cherry Shrimp, Red Crystal Shrimp, and other Neocaridina should be fine once the shrimp are adults. The fish’s mouth should be too small to consume adult shrimp.

How to Breed Celestial Pearl Danios

Celestial Pearl Danios will breed fairly easily in an aquarium setting. The biggest thing is finding the fish for sale and figuring out the correct ratio of Celestial Pearl Danios males and females. Usually you would want less males and more females. I often recommend 1 male for every 3-4 females. This will help deter aggression between males and increase spawning opportunities. If you’re really interested in breeding Celestial Pearl Danios, consider setting up a breeding tank that only has this species of fish. Check out this video that goes into a great level of detail on how to breed Galaxy Rasboras at home.

Overall, Galaxy Rasboras are fairly easy to breed as long as their water parameters are inline with what they need. Otherwise, you just need to fatten them up and let nature run its course. Successfully growing fry into adults is where things may get a little more challenging.

Final Notes

Galaxy Rasbora are an incredibly beautiful freshwater fish. If you are looking for a colorful animal to put into your aquarium, consider this species. You will (hopefully) not be disappointed. They’re a little tough to acquire but you may be able to find Celestial Pearl Danio for sale in certain fish stores near you but more commonly online. There are plenty of online pet stores and breeders that are selling this fish!

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