Worried about my zebra danios

[juriaste]

Hiya,
I have recently purchased six zebra danio's and they are the first fish in my new aquarium

They have been in the tank for about a week now and were doing well together at first. 2 of the danios are a lot larger than the others and we are unsure on the sex of them. First one of the larger ones started to chase the others when they got to close to his territory, the other larger one has started to venture in now and we unsure whether they are now mating or fighting. They completely spread their fins out at each other, whilst circling each other very closely they look like they are attacking the others side. I have not noticed any wounds or marks on them yet.

Could someone please help me figure out whether they are mating or fighting.?

Thank You

 

[Vircomore]

You should first find out which of them are female and which are male.

Female Zebra danios are almost completely silver with black stripes and they will usually have a much bigger belly.

Male zebra danios are smaller, with no belly, and they are much more yellow between the black stripes.

 

[Clownfish767]

When they mate they swim in a tight circle almost attached to each other. If you don't see any injuries or signs of them being harassed there probably mating signs.

 

[eco23]

Hiya,
I have recently purchased six zebra danio's and they are the first fish in my new aquarium

They have been in the tank for about a week now and were doing well together at first. 2 of the danios are a lot larger than the others and we are unsure on the sex of them. First one of the larger ones started to chase the others when they got to close to his territory, the other larger one has started to venture in now and we unsure whether they are now mating or fighting. They completely spread their fins out at each other, whilst circling each other very closely they look like they are attacking the others side. I have not noticed any wounds or marks on them yet.

Could someone please help me figure out whether they are mating or fighting.?

Thank You

Welcome to AA! Out of curiosity, have you cycled your tank? My danios are always chasing each other around the tank. They are very playful and active fish, and unless it seems like actual aggression or there are injuries I wouldn't worry. The reason i ask about cycling is because that can cause stress and odd behavior. It's also a long road ahead of you if the lfs didn't explain cycling to you. We'd be happy to help if your not familiar with the nitrogen cycle.

 

[juriaste]

Welcome to AA! Out of curiosity, have you cycled your tank? My danios are always chasing each other around the tank. They are very playful and active fish, and unless it seems like actual aggression or there are injuries I wouldn't worry. The reason i ask about cycling is because that can cause stress and odd behavior. It's also a long road ahead of you if the lfs didn't explain cycling to you. We'd be happy to help if your not familiar with the nitrogen cycle.

We are cycling our tank, we check our water daily, our lfs told us that these fish will help cycle it faster as they are very hardy, do you think this was bad advice? all six still alive so far though after a week, they are still very active

 

[juriaste]

When they mate they swim in a tight circle almost attached to each other. If you don't see any injuries or signs of them being harassed there probably mating signs.

Thanks for the advice, we are going to keep an eye on them, and watch out for injuries, hopefully they are just mating

 

[juriaste]

You should first find out which of them are female and which are male.

Female Zebra danios are almost completely silver with black stripes and they will usually have a much bigger belly.

Male zebra danios are smaller, with no belly, and they are much more yellow between the black stripes.

We think we have a male and a female as one has a slightly larger belly, however we are not 100% sure as the colourings are very similar

 

[eco23]

Thanks for the advice, we are going to keep an eye on them, and watch out for injuries, hopefully they are just mating

Cycling with fish is always a bad idea. If you're not over attached to the fish and you can return them or find a friend to temporarily put them in a cycled tank...the absolute best thing to do would be to do a fishless cycle. Click on the article in my signature to get a little info about fishless cycling.

If returning them or temporarily rehoming them is not an option, it's going to take some serious perseverance and patience to keep your fish from dying or being permanently damaged :-(. If you have to cycle with fish, read this article- http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html

You have to make sure to keep the ammonia below .25, anything above that starts burning and scarring their gills.

For the future, here's the rules I came up with for fish keeping.
1. Never listen to the guy at the lfs
2. Remember to never listen to the guy at the lfs
3. Whatever the guy at the lfs tells you, do the opposite

 

[juriaste]

Cycling with fish is always a bad idea. If you're not over attached to the fish and you can return them or find a friend to temporarily put them in a cycled tank...the absolute best thing to do would be to do a fishless cycle. Click on the article in my signature to get a little info about fishless cycling.

If returning them or temporarily rehoming them is not an option, it's going to take some serious perseverance and patience to keep your fish from dying or being permanently damaged :-(. If you have to cycle with fish, read this article- http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/i-just-learned-about-cycling-but-i-already-have-fish-what-now-116287.html

You have to make sure to keep the ammonia below .25, anything above that starts burning and scarring their gills.

For the future, here's the rules I came up with for fish keeping.
1. Never listen to the guy at the lfs
2. Remember to never listen to the guy at the lfs
3. Whatever the guy at the lfs tells you, do the opposite

Thanks for the advice, am going to have a look at the website you gave us, thanks