I have a Zebra Danio and he is very aggressive. So far he has gotten rid of a tetra and a betta and has even attacked a snail. I tried putting other zebra danios in with him but he still seems to be trying to pick fights. They are a slight different type of zebra danio, they have a longer split tail and larger fins on the side. Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can calm him a bit? I am having a hard time getting him to stop attacking the others and they stay near the bottom so they dont even get food because he steals it all! I'm afraid I'm going to be burying another two fish :( Sad Days! Please Help!
THANKS!
2007-06-18 16:08:29 · 5 answers · asked by njshah85 1 in Pets ➔ Fish
Danios tend to be a bit hyperactive, and do best in large schools (6+) - this wat no one fish gets picked on too much. And chances are the aggressive one is a female.
A trick you can use is to take the danio out, move all the decorations around in the tank, then put it back after you give the others a chance to learn the hiding places and escape routes. This way, the aggressive one is almost like a "new fish" in the tank itself and will also try to hide. But I think you won't get a permanent solution until you get enough fish to make a reasonable school.
2007-06-18 16:20:09 · answer #1 · answered by copperhead 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You need more danios and a bigger tank, I suspect.
Danios aren't "aggressive" in a territorial way, but they are nippy, energetic schoolers. They establish a pecking order by nipping, and they're very fast about it. In too small a school, the weakest fish will get nipped to death. Without a school at all, the danio's instincts to nip will get taken out on the other fish in the tank.
I wouldn't personally put danios in anything smaller than a 20 gallon, so that they would not only have enough room for a good-sized school, but because they are so high-energy and so fast. They're small fish but they really like to move around.
2007-06-18 21:07:58 · answer #2 · answered by ceci9293 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
bad danio! they are shoalers -- that means they are best off in a group of about 6. they would then have a small society structure and an alpha danio would have other danios to keep in check and he wouldn't bother with the other fish so much.
the long finned danios are probably slower swimmers than he is so he is likely to find them easy targets like the betta.
if you don't have enough space for your alpha danio and a whole tribe for him then you might want to try to find him a new home.
2007-06-18 16:16:07 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
The simple solution to your problem is to get even more Danios. Increase the shoal to decrease the aggression. If you have 4 then get 2 more. if you have 3 then get 3 more. If you already have 6 then get 2 more.
2007-06-18 16:47:25 · answer #4 · answered by Dustinius 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Instead of purchasing more danios, purchase more of the other fish. If the other fish are in a school and he isn't he won't attack because he's outnumbered.
2007-06-18 16:32:32 · answer #5 · answered by Anne 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋