Zebra Danios are known by a few variations. You may hear people referring to the Long Finned Zebra Danio, which is, as you can expect, a longer finned variety.
| Common name: | Zebra Danios are known by a few variations. You may hear people referring to the Long Finned Zebra Danio, which is, as you can expect, a longer finned variety. Zebra Fish is another simplified name which is probably the most common of all the names used. |
| Scientific name: | Danio Rerio |
| Care Difficulty: | Easy |
| Adult Size: | Up to 2 inches (5cm) |
| Original Origin: | India |
| Tank Size/Setup: | 10 gallons or 40 litres. Even thought they are only little fish, they should be kept in groups and given a bit of swimming space. Zebra Danios are active swimmers that tend to spend their time in the top region of the tank where a little vegetation will suit them. They also enjoy some movement in the water. |
| Temperament / Compatibility: | While they can be fin nippers, these fish are considered to be very peaceful. The fin nipping issue normally relates to not having enough Danios in the school. It is widely recommended that they are kept in groups of 6 or more. You shouldn’t have any problems keeping these Zebra Fish in community tanks with other peaceful fish. |
| Water Temperature: | 18°C to 28°C (64°F to 82°F) |
| Water Hardness: | 50 to 220ppm (3 to 12°dgH/kH) |
| Water pH: | 6.5pH to 7.5pH |
| Fish Food: | They are omnivorous and by no means fussy eaters. Basically, if it fits in their little mouth they will eat it. It doesn’t matter if the food is frozen, live, flaked or vegetable matter. |
| The Sexes: | Males have gold stripes in between their blue stripes. The female’s stripes are silver in colour. The females are also slightly bigger than males and have a more rounded shape. |
| Zebra Danio Breeding: | Zebras are egg layers and are very easy to breed in the right conditions. You should be aiming for a temperature of around 27°C (80°F) for best results. One point to note would be that these fish tend to choose a mate and stick to them. So if you notice a pair breeding the chance is that they will stick together for life. It is best practice to have a spawning tank available for breeding to protect the fry while they are growing up as the adults tend to eat the eggs. The tank should have coarse gravel or marbles on the bottom, onto which the female will lay her eggs (about 400 eggs in each batch). Once the eggs are laid, the adults should be removed from the tank. The eggs take roughly 2 days to hatch and within the next 2 days you should see the tiny fry swimming about. They fry can be fed finely ground dried foods, or look out for specifically designed foods for fry. |
| Average Lifespan: | Around 4 years |
| Comments: | Zebra Danios are very popular for a number of reasons. They are easy to keep as they have a wide tolerance for different water conditions, which makes them good for beginners. They are widely available which makes them quite cheap to buy, even when you are buying 6 or more at a time. I think what draws people to them the most is their lively nature. They are active swimmers and seem to be constantly playing games. Other shy fish seeing this behaviour may encourage them to come out of hiding. |
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