Detailed Information About the Zebra Danio Aquarium Fish

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Brief Overview

The Zebra Danio is a VERY hearty and VERY active fish that is commonly recommended to beginners to help establish a new tank. They are extraordinarily active and are fun to watch swirling and twirling around your tank. Their epic heartiness allows them to survive diverse water conditions which is why they are such a great starter fish. Zebra Danio do not school well as they are all often headed in different directions; such is life when you are so active. Once in a while you will see the long-finned version of this fish and they can be more susceptible to fin nippers. Some good tankmates for these fish are Corydora Catfish, Molly's, Guppy's, and Pearl Danio's.

To watch a Youtube video of this fish click here.

Detailed Wikipedia Information

The zebrafish or zebra danio, Danio rerio, a tropical freshwater fish belonging to the minnow family (Cyprinidae). It is a popular aquarium fish, frequently sold under the trade name zebra danio, and is also an important model organism in scientific research.

Physical description

The fish is named for its five uniform, pigmented, horizontal blue stripes on the side of the body, all of which extend to the end of the caudal fin. Males are torpedo shaped and have gold stripes between the blue stripes; females have a larger, whitish belly and have silver stripes instead of gold. The zebrafish grows to 6.4 cm (2.5 inches), lives for around 5 years, and produces 300-500 eggs per spawning.

Distribution

The zebrafish is native to the streams of the southeastern Himalayan region. It arose in the Ganges region in Eastern India and is also native to Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Myanmar. It commonly inhabits streams, canals, ditches, ponds, and slow-moving to stagnant water bodies, including rice fields.

Zebrafish have been introduced in aquariums in Japan, Canada, the United States and Australia. They have also been sighted in Colombia, presumably having escaped from an aquarium.

In the aquarium

Zebrafish are hardy fish and considered good for beginner aquarists. Their ease of keeping and breeding, beauty, price, playful nature and broad availability all contribute to their popularity. They thrive best at temperatures above 22 degrees Celsius (71.6 degrees Fahrenheit) and below 27 degrees Celsius (80.6 degrees Fahrenheit). They feed on worms and small crustaceans and on insect larvae. They also thrive as shoals of 6 or more, although they do interact well with other fish types in the Aquarium. However, they are susceptible to Oodinium, or Velvet disease, Microsporidia (Pseudoloma neurophilia), and mycobacterium species.

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