Zebra Danio
(Danio Rerio)
Alternate Names:
Zebrafish
Glofish (genetic modification)

Geographic History

These Danios are native to the Himalayan regions of Pakistan, India, Nepal, and Burma. Most often, we make friends with them by going to the Ganges River region of Eastern India to meet them. They are usually found in canals, ditches, ponds, slow-moving stagnant pools, and rice paddies.

Enviornment

These active little guys love to swim across the length of your fish tank and require open water in the middle. They will dart in and out of plants on the sides and back of your aquarium for spawning and cover.

Compatibility

In a community aquarium, this Danio should be kept with other peaceful fish. Having a group of five or more will curb their fin nipping instincts and give you a good show. They work well with other Danios, Tetras, and Corydoras.

Sexing

Telling the difference in the sexes is a pretty simple matter of striping. Males tend to have gold and black stripes, and are torpedo shaped. Females have silver and black stripes, and are more plump in the belly.

Behavior

Zebra Danio are fast little fish that love to school and chase each other. In groups smaller than five they will nip the fins of other fish and generally harrass other fish their size.

Breeding

Zebra Danio become sexually active at three to four months old. Getting your active little buddies to lay eggs is fairly simple. Keeping the adults from eating those eggs is the trick.

When females are ready to spawn, they will become fatter. Move a group of several females and a couple males to a ten gallon tank that has been filled 1/4 way from the bottom. Adding marbles to this tank for substrate allows the eggs to fall into spaces that the adults cannot reach.

Watch for the fish to chase each other around and spawn. Once the eggs are scattered around the bottom they fall into the marble substrate. After a couple hours, remove the adults from your breeding tank.

The eggs will hatch in about 36 hours. The fry will be swimming freely in another 36 hours. They should be fed crushed flake and Inforusia.

Be prepared for a lot of fry. The females lay several hundred eggs and can repeat the spawning process every two or three days.

For more details, see Wikipedia's Zebra Danio page.