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Some Science. Ichthyologists get a little more complicated. For instance, here in Iowa we have minnows and suckers filling the same rung in the food ladder. Minnows have hard-rays in the fins -- represented by the imported carp. Suckers have soft rays -- represented by our endemic buffalo fish. Actually, a lot of those suckers we sold as minnows were really suckers. The most common minnow sold these days is the fathead minnow. We call them rosy reds. Any other questions? What’s a “Danio?” The phrase itself is a shortening of their old scientific name Brachydanio. Danios are bite-sized minnows from the cooler water areas of India. Note: Danios do not require aquarium heaters. Another Note: Info from the University of Oregon says their real name was Danio all along -- not Brachydanio. Schoolers. Danios come in a raft of closely related species plus extra color varieties and fin types within each species. Most danios school (and breed) with their own species and any of their remotely related cousins -- except the giants. Color and fin type make no difference to danios. Pesterers. Single danios pester other species to entice the other species to school or play with them. Danios insist on being in schools. The more the merrier. In the wild, you would find them in shoals of thousands and thousands of silvery, darting danios.
Zebra Danios. Everyone recognizes the horizontally striped zebra. Many people use them as test fish because they cost very little. Adult males are skinnier and bluish-tinged. Females are chubbier (full of eggs) and yellowish-tinged. The long-finned zebras are a beautiful improvement over the original short-finned bait fishes. The fins on mature long-finned zebras can be as long as their bodies.
Gold Zebra Danios. These color variants, as their name implies, are really zebra danios. They make a great contrast mixed in with a school of zebras. Of course they come in a long-finned strain.
Leopard Danios. These guys have a tiny spotted pattern that predates the 101 Disney spots on TV. Different species, same modus operandi and same size as the zebras.
Pearl Danios. These shiny, pearl-colored minnows iridesce when front lighted. Their pearl luminescence flashes pale blue highlights when they turn in the water. We can’t recall ever having seen a long-finned pearl.
Blue Danios. The blue on these attractive danios deepens as they mature. Because they cost a bit more than zebras sell for, they are less often seen. For some reason blues are available mostly in the long-finned strain. They make a great addition to any danio school.
Green Six-Barred Danios. These guys suddenly became available again this year. They grow larger than most of the danios. They love to jump out for the slightest reason. Keep them well covered. To find them in reference books (remember them?) look under Platypus zacco whatever.
Fluorescent Red Danios. Supposedly these guys glow brighter red under black lights. Perhaps. They also reportedly breed true. While new, they cost six times the tab for normal zebras.
Glo-Fish. Obviously they've been working on these genetically modified danios. You can now easily find them in red, green, and orange. They currently cost 10 times as much as normal danios. But (and this is a big BUT) they are vastly improved over the first versions.
Giant Danios. Mix these honkers only with larger fishes. You usually see them for sale at two inches and up. These are nowhere near full grown. Their playful nips can cause severe stress in a community tank. They even make same size oscars nervous. They mix best with barbs, larger gouramis, and larger tetras. Disease Threat. Velvet kills danios (and bettas, gouramis, and bala sharks). Velvet is a tinier than ich (about the size of talcum powder) parasite that fatally afflicts danios unless treated quickly. Use an ich cure and darken their tank. Velvet Diagnosis. Danios clamp their fins and drop to the bottom. Each scale looks trimmed in the tiniest gold talcum-powder-sized flecks. Normally active, infected fish cease swimming and look obviously sick. Velvet Treatment. Velvet thrives on light -- like a plant. That’s why it hangs on forever. Ich is easily treated. Velvet hangs on like a winter cough and is extremely contagious. Removing a corpse with a net enables the velvet to leap to the next tank where you use that net. Darken your tank to discourage velvet from multiplying. Then use any ich remedy or copper treatment. Remember that copper kills live plants. Copper kills velvet fairly rapidly. Velvet Prevention. Keep your danio water clean. Dirty water encourages the growth of velvet. This means light feedings and frequent partial water changes. Adding salt discourages velvet. Feeding. Danios eat any food you offer them. They are always at the front of the chow line. Several small meals per day work best. All danios respond very well to color foods. Color foods bring out their black pigmentation and iridescent colors. Spawning. You cannot stop danios from breeding. Parents and others eat their eggs and fry. Remove all the fish from any tank containing zebras and tiny eye-lash size fry start showing up in a few days. Your brood size goes way up when you put a layer of marbles on the bottom. Feed the fry infusoria.
Decor. Schools of danios look best in planted aquaria. They look good with live plants and plastic plants – even in bare tanks. Thick planting in the background brings out their potential colors and causes them to swim front and center. LA. ©
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