Danio Question

lola · Jun 8, 2008

I got some zebra danios today. One of them keeps chasing the other two around the tank. I don't know if they're playing or if I have a bully. They're so fast its hard to tell what exactly is going on. I was also thinking that maybe the aggressive fish is a male and the other two are female? The aggressor is smaller and narrower than the other two, but they all seem to have the same coloring. The larger two also have more flared tail fins. Opinions or experiences?

Lokis_Daddy · Jun 9, 2008

Yeah, they tend to chase each other around. I'd suggest getting 3+ more since they are schooling fish, and that would help diffuse some of that behavior.

Thomas 2507 · Jun 9, 2008

how many do you have? danios are shoaling fish so should be kept in groups no less that six in my opinion but the more the merrier.

males are slimmer and smaller and usually have more gold colouration.

zebra danios will chase each other and maybe nip a bit but it's just playful - no harm is done, although depending on how many you have this could be more serious.

you could also find that they are breeding in your tank even though you don't find eggs (they will eat them) so the chasing coulod be part of that.

also what's the tank size? i assume your tank is cycled?

lola · Jun 9, 2008

Thomas 2507 said:
how many do you have? danios are shoaling fish so should be kept in groups no less that six in my opinion but the more the merrier.

males are slimmer and smaller and usually have more gold colouration.

zebra danios will chase each other and maybe nip a bit but it's just playful - no harm is done, although depending on how many you have this could be more serious.

you could also find that they are breeding in your tank even though you don't find eggs (they will eat them) so the chasing coulod be part of that.

also what's the tank size? i assume your tank is cycled?

I only have three in there right now because I didn't want to add too many at once to a new tank. I do intend to get at least three more as soon as I feel comfortable with how these are doing. Its a 10 gal. which I believe is cycled as I had 0 readings after adding ammoia for several weeks. I'm just not sure because I've never done it before. None of the fish look hurt, so I think I'm just being paranoid.