Danio's Breeding Too Much?

[Marla]

Hi everyone I'm new here and have been searching for a forum to help with some basic questions I have. I live in Florida and have a little 5-gal tank set-up on my desk at work. After a lot of trial and error I have finally achieved perfect levels in my little tank world and have maintained them for quite a few months now I have three fancy-tail male guppies, two male leopard Danios and one very busy female zebra Danio. I also have a beautiful golden Apple Snail who is "Queen" of the tank...

That's a little about my background. I keep my tank at around 80 degrees, which I'm starting to think about lowering as my Danio's never seem to stop breeding. My Zebra Danio seems to lay eggs every other week. I have rescued some fry from one batch and have them safely enclosed in a fry net hanging in my tank. They are very healthy and are doing great. I will have to give them away of course as I'm already overstocked for my little tank... I'm just very worried about my female as she seems to have become a major egg-laying machine. Any advice on what would be best for her?

 

[iairj84]

Well nothing is forcing the danios to breed. If the female has eggs then she is ready to breed so to speak. The only way of slowing it down would be to separate the males and females. I wouldn't worry about it too much and let the fish eat the eggs/fry if you want to keep the numbers down..

This is sorta how I ended up with like 5-6 tanks myself... haha

 

[Marla]

Thank you so much for your reply! I had tried to read up the best I could on their breeding habits and couldn't find any sort of answer. One article said that it could sorten their lives by breeding so much and other articles said by turning up the temp to 80-82 they would start breeding. I keep my tank at 80 so maybe that's why they breed all the time. I just hate to mess with the temp now as all the fish seem like they're doing fine. Your answer sounds good so I will continue to let them vamp it up and not worry about it!

My - you do have a lot of tanks... I can see how it could get started with raising fry

Thank you again!

 

[iairj84]

Haha Ya thats how it started, and the rest is history... I just wish I had the space/time for a full fish room. Someday!

I wouldn't mess with the temperature at all. The thing they probably meant by it shortening their lifespan was because the temperatures are probably a little higher ideally than what they would normally be at for danios. When the temperature is warmer you tend to get greater growth out of the fry and juveniles/adults which in turn is said to shorten the lifespan. Although I have my doubts, and I keep all my tanks at 80 also.

 

[Marla]

Well it seems you're off to a pretty good start for a fish room...

Okay - the temp things sounds good and puts my mind to rest, thank you!

I have another question for you or anyone who happens by, if you don't mind... If I need to open a different topic please tell me as I don't know forum etiquette so well.

My PH seems awfully low - around 6.0. Altho my Danios seem perfectly fine my guppies sometimes seem like they are struggling a bit. I realize the PH should be a little higher for guppies but I've been reluctant to try to raise it. I do a one-gallon water change on Mon, Wed & Fri but maybe I'm not getting enough organic build-up out with my vacuuming? Any suggestions on what may be wrong or should I try a PH stabilizer?

thank you!

 

[Amunet]

If your ph stays stable at 6.0 then leave it. It's better to have a low stable ph than try to change it and have it fluctuating everywhere.
As for your danios. You really can't stop them from breeding. As iairj said, just let them eat the eggs or the fry when they hatch.

You should really think about getting yourself a larger tank b/c you are overstocked right now. Although danios are small fish, they're very active and need alot of room to swim around.

 

[Marla]

Thank you Amunet! I guess I should be lucky that everything is stable... I was just worried because there are so many articles about PH, temp etc.... Okay - I do feel much better about my levels and the breeding thing! Yes - you are absolutely right that I am overstocked. I am unable to have a bigger tank at my office so I am thinking of getting one together at home. I feel bad that I had new tank fever and bought small fish knowing they would grow larger to max out my tank I just kinda got stuck as I watched them grow and they seemed so happy (but knowing it's too cramped). Thank you so much for your advice and I am definately working towards solving that problem!

I'm really glad I found this site as I was going crazy trying to find answers in a million articles - ha ha...

Thanks again!