Is this typical danio behaviour?

[Firstfish]

I set up a new tank, and after posting "help" topics in the beginner section, I think I have everything going well.

I currently have 8 danios, 4 zebra and 4 other kind of danio (I think they are leopard danios, I forget what the name is).

I was hoping for a schooling kind of effect with the 8, but now they all seem to be fighting with each other. They are mostly staying at the bottom chasing each other. They seem to play "king of under the plant" one taking charge and chasing every other fish away from it's "territory" at the bottom of one plant or another.

At first it seemed to be one of the largest zebras that was always doing the chasing, and mostly the other danios, not the other zebras. But now they all seem to be quite aggressive towards each other. And when I'm doing water changes and my hand goes in the water, they all come up and nip at it endlessly.

I thought they were supposed to be mid to top swimmers, and nice gentle community fish that will school together. I'm concerned that they are going to hurt each other (my hand will survive). Would you say this is typical? If not, any theories on why they are being like this?

Thanks in advance.

 

[TomK2]

Danios love to chase each other around. Yes, some are more dominant and do most of the chasing. If there are enough of them, the chased can rest inbetween chases. They are very active fish. They will use the entire tank, and after feeding time will scour the bottom looking for missed morsels. They nip at your arm because they are trying to pick off something to eat! Put a container in the tank, and they will swim right into it looking for something to eat. In fact , thats how I catch them. Try with a net and the fast little buggers will take hours to catch. put a clear container in the tank, and just wait for curiousity to make them swim in.

 

[rubysoho]

haha, I love danios for their personality! I think they don't get the respect they deserve. Just wait until you see them trying to swim at the current from the filter. When I first saw them doing this, I freaked out because I was scared they were actually trying to get into the filter. But they were just fine. I got those little guys because they were supposed to cycle my tank and I was going to trade them in later. But, they never left my tank

 

[TomK2]

good point rubysoho. When in a community tank, the danios are just those fish that streak about and try to hog all the food. But when I use them to cycle a tank, they are often alone in the tank, and you get a good look at their behaviour and antics. They are fascinating little guys to watch, much more than cheap, disposable cycle fish. I never traded my danios back either.

 

[Codefox]

One of the best fish I ever had when I was young was a zebra danio in my little 1/2 gal fish tank. I remember giving him to my friend to watch when we went on a two week vacation once and he told me I had a crazy fish when I came back. I think that he lasted me 2 1/2 years or so

 

[Puriti]

Yeah my danios LOVE to chase each other around the tank and if I put like a piece of meat in there, my god they're like SHARKS.

Not to steal your topic but, when my danios eat they don't stop swimming and what not, do they have to keep swimming constantly or something? I've only known my danios to stop swimming when one had dropsy and was being cured for it (survived too)

 

[SeaDana]

The largest and most long-finned of my danios constantly chases the other two around. Like you, I sometimes worry that the danio's too aggressive and will stress all the other fish out. But, I've had them for months now, and not had any problems... So, to second what everyone else has said, what yours are doing sounds like what everyone else's are too-- chasing each other!
By the way, the best schooling fish I have are the silver tip tetras and ghost catfish. So, if you're looking for schools, try them.

 

[TomK2]

Not to steal your topic but, when my danios eat they don't stop swimming and what not, do they have to keep swimming constantly or something? I've only known my danios to stop swimming when one had dropsy and was being cured for it

Danios will stop swimming to rest. They will go off somewhere and hide and rest on a plant, or just hang in the water column. If they catch you eyeing them they will likely move on. If I sneak up on them before lights on they are usually just floating around somewhere.