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awakebyjava

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Sep 7, 2008
Messages
35
Just started my first tank. Moved my snake into a larger tank that was on sale and had an empty 10G on my hands. Thus began my downfall. Did research all week, and now the tank is up and running. I found your site today, or i might have tried a fishless cycle first. Went with multiple people's suggestion to use danios to start the tank. (Don't kill me!)

Question: Is it normal for leopard danios to have one dominate the tank? I have 3, and one of the beats the other two into the tiniest places in the tank, dominating all the open room in the middle. The other two are relegated to either behind the filter (Tetra Whisper PF10, which by the way is dang quiet!) or behind the plants. (Golden Swords which look awesome - must get more!)

Thanks much! Pic below.

(And does anyone know a good aquarium irc? Forums are great, but chat is quicker! Thanks!)
 

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Hm, welcome to AA.

I have a leopard danio and 3 zebra danios. The leopard seems to chase the zebras around a lot but it's very harmless and I see it as an act of friendship or courtship even.
 
At the top of the page you'll see a drop down menu for Quick Links. Click on Flash Chat to go to our chat feature. Finding someone in there is hit or miss though.
 
time has caused me to give away the occupants i at one time had...i started with a 10 gallon and ended up with 4 tanks,lol.

my suggestion is since you went ahead and added occupants into the tank, buy a NO2 and NO3 test kit to moniter how its doing, and change a few gallons of the water every few days to play it safe.

you will want to change out a portion of the water weekly after you stock it with fish. my suggestion is to not add any more occupants untill the tank is cycled, which can take anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks on average with your load out. you will see the NO2 (ammonia) spike to almost dangerous levels then level off and disappear to no measurable readings. if it spikes too high, do a emergency water change of about 30% (3ish gallons).

you should be safe to add a couple more fish once the tank is settled, i would reccomend a few more danios...the more fish there are for the dominant one to boss around, the less chance one will get bullied more than the others and stressed to death.
 
Welcome, I've recently come down with MTS too!
 
Another question quick. Guy at the store told me to only feed the danios every other day to stop ammonia building up too quickly. That seems like it would be un-fishmen of me. Would it be better to feed normally and do partial water changes frequently? The thing sits right by my sink, so it wouldn't be hard.
 
i feed my fish once a day...or even twice a day with small portions....i think for a 10g tank once a day should be fine....a water change once a week would be nice :)
 
I love your background and your rocks, very nice. :)

If you have not cycled your tank before adding fish then it would be a good idea to feed every other day to avoid overfeeding and adding to the ammonia problem.

Try to keep ammonia and nitrite below .5 ppm and your fish should be fine....you might have to do daily partial water changes, since it is easy for you no problem there. (I love that about my 10g tank too!) :)

And to the title...."I'm not addicted".....I say....don't worry, you will be. ;)
 
At a point I was feeding 6 fish with one flake a day in a ten gallon I ended up changing the fish up but they did fine on that diet. Occasionally I would add different kinds of food. Such as veggies and live or frozen food.
 
Thanks happygirl65! I wasn't sure about the feeding thing. One of the danios is still bullying the others. Think it might be that its a female and the other two are male. Story of my life.
 
Yah, I have flakes and freeze dried bloodworms. These guys are just my starters, probably return them when I start to stock "fo' realz" as my freshmen say. Not sure what to stock, but I want as many fish as I can get. Maybe a snail.
 
With MTS I am sorry to tell you there is no cure. It is also fed by another affliction STS (shrunken tank syndrome), which is the feeling that your tanks are too full. Which then in turn causes MTS again as you need more fish and more room.

I was once referred by a friend to Dr. Ivana Phishtank. Unfortunately she was no help. :-D
 
Okay, so this might be stupid, as these first fish are just to start my cycle, but here it goes. One of these three fish is just a bully! It makes the other two sit behind the filter intake, and patrols to make sure they stay there! I know they are just fish, and I don't think anything I do can change this behavior, but if I am going to spend a month or more watching these fish while the tank cycles, I don't want to watch this! I took the bully out of the tank and sat it in a tub for a few minutes. The other came out and had a rollicking good time in the tank. Put the bully back in and everything seemed hunky dory. They all got along. Stepped away, came back, other fish back behind the filter. It's frustrating! I want to see all my lovely fish! The bully is a little more drab, and bigger, so I think it might be a female. Would that explain the behavior? I am about to take the bully back to the store and get a nicer fish. Gah! If I am just being stupid, be gentle. Thanks!
 
You could try rearranging the ornaments a bit and see if it helps. Some fish are just more aggressive than others.
 
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