Zebra Danios And Bettas

[johnfras]

i just bought a 29us gallon tank and i need to put in some hardy fish to establish it the person at the store recommended zebra danios and red eye tetras i know most tetras are nippy but are zebra danios nippy if they are can you post some hardy fish to establish the tank that are compatible to bettas

 

[BronzeWolf]

I have been using glow light tetras to cycle my tank with.... the bettas have never bothered them nor they them......

 

[ibbledibble]

why don't you try doing a fishless cycle? then you don't have to worry about hardy fish (and even hardy fish will suffer lots and have a shortened lifespan when used to cycle)

 

[stang1]

I agree with ibbledibble, you are best cycling your tank before adding any fish. There is a pinned topic on fishless cycling.

Fishless cycling

Bettas don't make great community fish as they are either likely to attack other fish or be nipped at themselves.
I definitely wouldn't keep them with Zebra Danios as they are quite a nippy fish. I rescued one of my Bettas who was kept in a tank full of Zebras and they had completely shredded his fins.
Read up on the fishless cycle and whilst you wait for it to cycle, you can research some fish to get a better idea of what you would like in the tank.

 

[modaz]

i really do think that people should be re-educated to what is classed as hardy and the first fish to go into a tank, hardy and the first fish to go into a tank are the same thing and should never be used to cycle tanks as they are the first fish to be added after a full cycle and used to mature the tank on ready for the more sensitive fish, the new understanding of water chemistry and the nitrogen cycle is all that should be taken into consideration and to achieve this without fish is an acheivement in itself.
its a shame that some shops are not educating their staff with updated info.

 

[Amunet]

Please please PLEASE do a fishless cycle as ibble and stang have already mentioned.
It's SO much easier to do and you don't have to worry about killing or harming any fish in the process.
Danios are hardy, but that doesn't mean the cycling process isn't going to harm them.
When we first got our 28gal.. we let impatients get the better of us and we got some danios. They were great fish but unfortunatly, the cycling process ended up killing all of them. It's aweful to see such a lively group of fish get red gils from the ammonia and nitrite in the water, and then seeing them laying around not chasing eachother and eventually losing color and dying.


Anywho...I enjoy danios. Now I've head alot of people say they're nippy, but the ones we used to have never nipped. They chased a whole lot, but they never nipped eachother or the other fish (which included male guppies). Now that's not to say that ones that you got wouldn't nip a betta though. Unfortunatly, male bettas' long fins make tasty treats for other fish.

 

[stang1]

That's the trouble with fish Amunet, they are so unpredictable!!
If they are kept in quite a big shoal in a big enough tank, they are not too bad but I still wouldn't risk keeping a Betta with one after the damage they caused my poor little boy.

 

[hollyp0p]

i'd advise fishless cycle too, but on the danio note, i used to have danios with my male betta and he adored them, used to fly about with them sometimes, but some bettas can get stressed out by the constant movement of the danios.