Hello to all aquarists! This post will focus on the pink zebrafish. Let me immediately explain that this species belongs to the breeding form of zebrafish (lat. Danio rerio), and not to those fish that, in comparison with the breeding ones, are considered real pink zebrafish (lat. Brachydanio albolineatus), but also, like zebrafish, live in India.

True pink zebrafish (lat. Brachydanio albolineatus)

It should be noted that the work of the breeders was not in vain and the pink zebrafish gained enormous popularity, but at the same time, I think, some kind of disadvantages appeared.

Pink zebrafish is a breeding form of zebrafish (lat. Danio rerio)

For example, according to my observations, pink zebrafish are more prone to diseases; besides, the selected fish are somewhat smaller than ordinary zebrafish. But now the elegant pink danios are still just as nimble and cheerful and very interesting to watch.

Description

All zebrafish belong to the carp family of the order Cypriniformes. These include long-known and popular among aquarists: longhorned beetles, zebrafish, loaches and spined loaches. They are common in Europe, Asia, Africa and North America. All cyprinids lack an adipose fin. Longhorned beetles and zebrafish are in many ways similar to characins and occupy an ecological niche in Asia that belongs to the latter in America. When keeping zebrafish, they need to be given herbal supplements. Carp-like animals do not care for their offspring.

In an aquarium, zebrafish grow no more than 5-6 centimeters. Their body is elongated and painted silver with bright blue stripes. Young veiled species have short fins, and when they grow back they form a veil. The edges of the fins may be yellow. Distinctive feature The difference between a female and a male is the abdomen - in the female it is much thicker. Males, as a rule, are always slimmer than females. Average duration The life of a zebrafish is 3 years.

Danio pink content

Keeping pink danios just like their ancestors zebrafish is not at all difficult. Although zebrafish are not demanding of a large volume of water, they love clean lake water, so an aquarium for keeping pink zebrafish must have a fairly strong biological balance, which cannot be created in small aquariums, so the minimum aquarium volume is 50 liters. Hydrochemical parameters of water: hardness 5-15°, acidity 6.5–7.5.

It should be noted that the recommended water temperature parameters for keeping zebrafish from different sources may vary. For example, somewhere you may be recommended 21-25° degrees or even 18-23° C. This water temperature should be considered conditional because in real conditions, when keeping zebrafish in a common aquarium, it will have significant deviations.

Think for yourself, no one will recommend that you keep fish in a general aquarium at a temperature of 18-23° degrees, knowing full well that the rest of the fish will die out from hypothermia and disease. I keep zebrafish at a temperature of 24 to 26° degrees.

Pink zebrafish tolerate temperatures of 28° degrees well, but at elevated temperatures, females’ eggs quickly mature and the risk of developing a cyst increases significantly. Danio rerio are to some extent considered cold-water, but when kept in a community aquarium, they adapt perfectly to warm water.

What to feed pink danios

Danios are omnivores and do not refuse dry gammarus, daphnia and artificial food specially produced by the industry. As a herbal supplement, they can be given steamed and well-washed semolina or just crumb white bread. Among artificial foods, grated beef heart is loved. But the fish menu should not consist only of dry and artificial food. To maintain health, they need to be fed with live food.

Among the live foods zebrafish love are: small bloodworms, coretra and daphnia. If necessary and especially in winter time You can also cultivate live food for them at home. For example, Daphnia moina is well suited for these purposes.

Zebrafish are fast and preferentially stay in the upper layers of water and, when food is added, they eat first.

Danio pink compatibility with other fish

All zebrafish are peaceful species. Friendly, medium-sized fish species are well suited for joint keeping: guppies, mollies, swordtails, platies, gourami, neons, thorns, barbs, angelfish, catfish, tarakatums, corydoras and others.

Zebrafish diseases

Pink danios are quite hardy and unpretentious, but they get sick just like other species. The most common disease is ichthyophthyriosis . Symptoms of the disease: scratching of the fish on the ground, compression of the fins and appearance on the body of the fish and fins white plaque in the form of small grains (semolina).

I have bred zebrafish many times and I will tell you that these fish are very easy to breed. Young individuals willingly go to spawn, and spawning can be observed even in a community aquarium. Once I had the opportunity to observe the appearance of fry preserved in the thickets of plants. The fry, feeding on ciliates and leftover food, grew up, became bolder and joined the flock.

There are two ways to arrange zebrafish spawning, with and without preparation. In the first case, approximately a week before the planned spawning, it is necessary to separate the males and females. For example, this is how I do it: I put males in a spawning tank and after 4-5 days I add females to them. The second method depends on random spawnings in a common aquarium, and since such spawnings are unexpected, there is no need to plan them for some time.

However, if you change half or a third of the water in the evening, then spawning will most likely begin in the morning hours. In this case, you need to catch the spawning fish and place them in a spawning tank where spawning, as a rule, can continue successfully. I have used this method many times and I can say that it is 99% trouble-free.

Zebrafish Spawning

This time I am breeding pink danios. There is absolutely nothing new for me. I have live food and a well-established technique for raising fry. I breed these fish because they are beautiful and a grown school should definitely decorate my aquarium. I brought pink danios from the city of Ruzaevka when I was there on a business trip.

Initially, I didn’t plan to buy, but just before leaving I decided to visit a pet store to buy some fish as a souvenir. Since zebrafish are hardy fish, and it took me more than 12 hours to travel home, I chose pink zebrafish. And upon arrival home, I planned to breed pink danios there in Ruzaevka.

Danios are undemanding about the size of the spawning tank, and anyone who bred these fish knows well that you can use just an ordinary three-liter jar for a spawning tank. But this option is considered not preferable because the hatched fry will still have to be moved to a nursery aquarium, and this is associated with a certain risk of their loss.

Well, if that’s the case, then it’s time to move the fry from the jar to the nursery aquarium correctly. There is no need to suffer and catch the fry with a spoon, ladle or net. Also, you cannot pour them out of the jar, but you just need to put the jar in an aquarium in which the water level is higher, then place a hose with a sprayer in the jar and quietly turn on the aeration. A small stream of water will help the fry get out of the jar.

To breed pink danios I will use a 20 liter spawning tank. I will install the aeration and set the heater to 26° degrees, and as a protective net I will use a synthetic rope untangled and crumpled, and then pressed on top with stones.

The net does not cover the entire bottom of the spawning tank, but as they say, this is beneficial and I will not need to eliminate the excess part of the fry. I will place the mesh in the center because I think this is where the middle part of the spawned eggs will be preserved.

Danios can spawn in pairs, but if the males are no longer young, then two or more males are added to one female. In the evening I added one female to four males. Among the selected males there were males with the following color variation: two males bright Pink colour, one with a dark pink tint and another male with a variation of the rerio which, for some reason, did not participate in the spawning at all.

The next morning, spawning began. It lasted about an hour, after which I immediately transplanted the breeders into a common aquarium. On the third day the larvae appeared, and on the fourth or fifth day the fry swam.

Pink zebrafish fry

Since the Daphnia nauplis were still large for the tiny fry, I used boiled yolk as a starter food. But I only managed to feed the yolk for two or three days because the fry had already begun to eat the daphnia, which I added to the fry as soon as they swam.

I always used ampullaria snails as orderlies, but this time I didn’t have them, and I added a small ancistrus to the fry, which also did a good job of eating the fallen yolk particles from the bottom.

The fry fed the yolk from his finger, that is, without washing the yolk, since the milk, consisting of microparticles of the yolk, which muddies the water, was eaten by the daphnia, and the water was always clean and transparent. Today the fry are three weeks old. They are already eating scraped beef heart and the largest of them can begin to be transplanted into a common aquarium.

The growing school contained fish with different color variations: pink, dark pink and white albino. The appearance of albinos suggests that the pink zebrafish, as a selected species, is easily split and to preserve it, constant selection must be carried out.

Usually it does not create any problems during the growing process. But, like other inhabitants of the aquarium, she can get sick and therefore you need to know how to cure your pet.

When purchasing Danio, Special attention Pay attention to the integrity of the skin and fins. At the same time, faded color does not always indicate illness; simply moving or replanting during the sale process could cause shock.

But even if the zebrafish looks healthy, it must be kept in a separate aquarium in quarantine for a couple of weeks.

Zebrafish are very disease resistant. And yet, despite the fact that she gets sick very rarely, you need to have aeration in the aquarium.

For proper maintenance and prevention of diseases in zebrafish, the regime is very important. clean water. When feeding her, you must adhere to the rule - it is better to underfeed than to overfeed. Overfeeding is usually the cause of illness.

Also, to prevent diseases, you need to follow simple rules. All items brought into the aquarium must be disinfected: in a solution of manganese, in boiling water or using other disinfectants.

Let's look at the main diseases and methods of how to deal with them in order to meet the problem head on!

Main diseases of zebrafish

Bloating

Danio pink very thick

The first signs of the disease are an increase in the abdomen by 2 times. Some aquarists confuse this with overeating or spawn, but in most cases it is bloat.

Zebrafish are prone to it and very often their owners encounter this problem. Danio lies on the bottom, practically does not swim, does not come into contact with fish, and its belly is much larger.

Treatment: metronidazole (1 tablet per 30 liters of water). In a week the disease should go away. For prevention, you can also “drink” other inhabitants in the aquarium - there is nothing wrong with that.

Pink Danio swims sideways

In some cases, the fish begin to swim in a circle, but remain quite active and react to other participants in the “movement”. As a rule, this behavior occurs during poisoning. Some individuals are very sensitive to the amount of nitrates, so you just need to replace the water with normal composition and periodically (once every 3 days) change 1/3 of the aquarium water.

Growths

There are practically no such growths on zebrafish, but if such a disease occurs, then you just need to increase the salinity of the water and the temperature. Place the fish separately in a jar and add 2 tablespoons of salt. Keep it there for 15 minutes at +28 degrees, then put it back into the general aquarium. The fluffy growths will die and come off in a couple of days.

Bug-eyed

Most often they suffer from bulging eyes. The disease usually affects them at the age of several years during spawning. The color of the body does not change, but the abdomen noticeably increases, which looks natural during the spawning period. Over the course of two weeks, both eyes protrude more and more out of their sockets, then one after the other they fall out. The blind fish dies from exhaustion. Upon autopsy, a thick mass is found behind the eyeball white, which causes bulging eyes. The reason is poor quality water. Treatment: partial water change every 2 days.

Danio pink turned white

Trichodinosis

The causative agent is the ciliate Trichodina, which has spine-like processes with which it attaches to the fish. Localized on gill filaments and skin. Enters the aquarium along with plants, soil and food if they have not been properly disinfected.

Signs of the disease: the fish begins to rub against hard objects and plants, and more often than usual swims up to aeration bubbles. As the disease progresses, the color of the fish fades, and a grayish-white coating is visible on the skin, which is separated in flakes. Treatment of trichodinosis: increased aeration, increased water temperature to 31 degrees. Therapeutic baths are made in a separate or common aquarium with table salt or trypaflavin.

Danio pink loses weight

Tuberculosis

How to carry out treatment? It is best to feed fish food with kanamycin or rifampicin.

You can simultaneously add these medications to the water of the aquarium or special aquarium in which the treatment is being carried out.

If the fish no longer eats, but you really want to save it, then you need to remove it and add medicine to the water.

Kanamycin - 3 g per 100 l, rifampicin - 600 mg per 100 l of water.

Antibiotics should only be added to the aquarium if absolutely necessary. They kill nitrifying bacteria in the soil and filter, and disruption of the biological balance is inevitable when using them.

Add antibiotics to the feed the best solution Problems. The easiest way is to soak bloodworms (live ones are better, but high-quality ice cream will do) in a strong solution of kanamycin (0.5-1 g per 50-100 ml of water) for half an hour to an hour, and then feed it to the fish.

One feeding per day should be with this food. Noticeable improvements occur after a week's course.

After two weeks, the fish begin to look quite healthy and treatment can be stopped.

For prevention, it is worth conducting monthly weekly courses. It is difficult to saturate other foods with antibiotics. It will be washed out very quickly, which will negatively affect the beneficial microflora of the aquarium. So bathing bloodworms in medicine is the right thing to do.

Danio pink loses color

Alkalosis

Symptoms:

  • Cough,
  • Excited behavior
  • Jumping out of the water
  • Labored breathing
  • Scratching
  • Bloating
  • Lightening the color
  • Spread fins
  • Excessive mucus production

Acute alkalosis: the fish have dull skin, splayed fins, rapid breathing, mucus is released from the gills, the fish begin to rush around the aquarium, trying to jump out of it.

Chronic alkalosis: signs are less obvious, including difficulty breathing and "coughing", excessive mucus production and itching of the skin as a result of irritation caused by increased acidity or water alkalinity. Problems with osmoregulation caused by chronic alkalosis can lead to bloating

This condition occurs when the pH of the aquarium water is above the pH range that is optimal for the fish of that species.

This disease does not necessarily affect all aquarium inhabitants, because fish different types differ from each other in the range of pH values ​​acceptable for them.

The disease may be acute if the change in pH occurs quickly, or chronic if the change occurs gradually over a period of time.

Alkaline water irritates the external surface of the fish's body (including the gills) and can cause adverse physiological changes.

Treatment

A suitable pH level must be set. This can be achieved using a suitable pH buffer (available from a pet store).

To slowly adjust the pH, it is better to use repeated partial water changes, and fresh water should have a pH close to neutral. This is the most The best way solutions to pH problems, since repeated partial water changes will eliminate main reason- reduce too high content minerals which usually lead to chronic alkalosis.

Preparations:

  • pH buffer
  • timely water changes

Prevention:

Prevention. Alkalosis can be prevented by selecting fish species for which the aquarium water has a suitable pH value, or by changing the pH level so that it suits the intended inhabitants of the aquarium, while they themselves must be compatible with each other in relation to pH.

Choose the design of the aquarium in such a way that it does not have an adverse effect on the desired chemical composition water. Check the pH value regularly to detect the first signs of leaching due to calcium contained in aquarium decorations.

Acute alkalosis: Survival of sudden large changes in pH is unlikely unless the pH is immediately returned to normal levels. If the pH is returned to normal gradually, then the fish will be exposed to the harmful effects of an inappropriate pH for too long.

However, acute alkalosis is usually fatal, even if corrected quickly. Therefore, it is very important to determine the cause of the problem and take necessary measures to prevent it from recurring.

Chronic alkalosis: The pH needs to be slowly adjusted to bring it within the optimal range for the fish. The rate of pH change should not exceed 0.3 units. per day so that the fish have the opportunity to gradually adapt to the changes.

There is a risk of infection that accompanies or follows alkalosis. This infection is possible as a result of stress-induced suppression of the fish's immune system (especially if the problem is chronic).

Due to inappropriate pH values, gills and skin membranes are damaged, making them vulnerable to secondary infections.

Danio rerio is a small aquarium fish. The length of her body is only 6 centimeters, and in natural conditions 15. She has an elegant and elongated figure, 4 mustaches on her lips. The body has blue stripes that extend onto the fins. In the wild it can live for about a year, and at home - three to four times longer.

Description

It can be distinguished from other zebrafish by the stripes that run along the fish. Danio rerio is one of the very first aquarium fish. Well suited for inexperienced aquarists. This is a pretty cute and inexpensive aquarium fish. Its color may vary.

Thanks to their unpretentiousness, zebrafish are quite easy to grow. It will not be difficult to feed and breed them. Danio rerio is a schooling aquarium fish, so there should be at least five of them in the aquarium. They can get along with other peaceful and small fish.

The zebrafish was bred back in the 19th century. It was first discovered in Asia, Pakistan, India, Bhutan, etc. These fish live in various bodies of water. Their place of residence varies largely depending on the time of year. In the wild, their diet includes seeds and insects. During heavy rains they can be seen in puddles, but after drying out they migrate to their usual body of water.

As already mentioned, the fish is unpretentious in food and maintenance; it eats a variety of food and tolerates any water temperature well. This is explained by the fact that they live in the surface layers of water, where the temperature is usually low.

Danio loves to eat tubifex and brine shrimp. Eats live, artificial and frozen types of food. Of course, it is better to choose live food. Usually it feeds from the surface or middle of the aquarium; it will not eat from the bottom. It is best to feed the food 2-3 times a day in small portions. It is necessary to avoid overeating, as this negatively affects the health of the rerio.

An aquarium with a volume of 30 liters is suitable for these fish. But it is advisable to purchase more, since fish love to swim and love space. The optimal volume of an aquarium is considered to be 50 liters, and it is better if the aquarium has an elongated shape.

The ideal water temperature for keeping them will be 18-23 degrees Celsius. At this temperature, the fish feel good and are more resistant to various diseases. Water hardness should be between 5 and 15.

Pebbles or gravel are usually placed at the bottom. You should leave the fish a bright and spacious area for their quiet swimming. The water needs to be changed every two weeks.

The fish will also get along with other inhabitants of the aquarium. Danio rerio sometimes chase each other, but this is not anger at each other, but their way of life. They do not destroy themselves or other inhabitants of the aquarium.

If fish sense any danger, they may jump out of the aquarium, so it should always be closed. To prevent the fish from getting hurt when it jumps out, you need to leave about 5 cm from the water to the lid.

It is worth noting that the fish are genetically modified and have different bright colors. For example:

  1. Pink;
  2. Green;
  3. Orange;
  4. Blue;
  5. Bengal;
  6. Firefly;
  7. Olive.

Reproduction

It is quite easy to distinguish a female from a male, because male in his size smaller female . Females have a rounded belly, this is especially noticeable when she has caviar in her belly.

As mentioned above, breeding them will not be difficult, because the offspring of these fish grow very quickly and there are quite a lot of them after the first offspring.

For breeding, it is better to fill the aquarium with water to about 10 cm, and place plants or a protective net at the bottom.

The frequency of reproduction depends on living conditions. The better they are, the more often the fish will reproduce. Puberty in fish it can occur during the period from four months up to a year.

The only problem with reproduction is that parents often eat their caviar. An increase in temperature will stimulate reproduction. Spawning usually occurs in the morning. The female lays 300-500 eggs. After the male inseminates them, the pair should be removed from the aquarium to avoid being eaten.

The offspring will hatch in a few days. The fry are quite small, so you need to treat them with special attention. They require special nutrition: egg yolk and ciliates. Then you should be accustomed to larger food. Thus, the matured offspring eat live dust and cyclops.

Diseases

As already mentioned, aquarium zebrafish rarely get sick, but this does not mean that you do not need to monitor their health and condition. When purchasing you should pay attention appearance fish, if it is pale, then most likely the fish is sick.

For proper care To maintain the health of these fish, it is necessary to include a water purification regime. Danios can become obese, so overfeeding them is strictly prohibited.

Rerio a disease such as bulging eyes may occur. The symptoms of this disease are as follows:

  1. The abdomen increases;
  2. The eyes bulge and then fall out.

The blind fish begins to die. The causes of this disease are dirty water. As soon as symptoms of this disease are noticed, it is necessary to change the water in the aquarium every 2 days.

Another popular disease for fish of this species is trichodinosis. The causative agent of this disease is an infusoria, which has spine-like processes, with the help of which it sticks to the fish. It can get into the aquarium along with food or plants.

Symptoms of trichodinosis:

  1. The fish rubs against hard objects;
  2. Often swims up to aeration bubbles;
  3. The color of the coat fades;
  4. A light coating appears.

Trichodinosis can be cured by increasing aeration and raising the temperature to 30 degrees Celsius. You can make medicinal baths; for this you need to add table salt to the aquarium.

As you know, it is better to prevent a disease than to treat it. Therefore, in order to avoid zebrafish diseases, the following rules should be followed:

  • Do not overfeed the fish;
  • It is necessary to ensure correct temperature and water hardness in the aquarium;
  • The water in the aquarium should be changed regularly;
  • It is more rational to first disinfect all objects that will be placed in the aquarium in a manganese solution.

If these simple rules are followed, zebrafish will delight the owner with their existence for a long time.

Types of zebrafish

Pink zebrafish

This species was bred in the 20th century. The fish are unpretentious and have an affectionate and friendly disposition. Due to the fact that these fish get along with all the inhabitants of the aquarium, their breeding has become widespread.

The second name of this fish is pearl zebrafish. Indeed, under special lighting it acquires a pearl color. Pink zebrafish It is distinguished by an oblong body with flattened sides. There are two pairs of whiskers near the mouth. The coloring has a pearlescent tint, and there is a pink wedge from the tail to the middle of the body. In small fish it is especially noticeable, but in adults it may disappear completely.

They like to live in flocks and love to swim. They can live in an aquarium for about five years. The ideal temperature is 18-22 degrees Celsius. After about 7 days, it is recommended to change 1/5 of the water in the aquarium. It is better that the lighting is bright. The lamps should be located along the top glass. So, the color of the pink zebrafish will be incredibly beautiful. It is necessary to provide the fish with daylight for at least a few hours a day.

Danio leopard

The green or leopard zebrafish is a synthetic breed of aquarium fish, which was obtained by introducing the gene of corals and jellyfish into the DNA of fish. That is why this species has such bright colors.

The color of this breed of fish is light green, with darker stripes along the body. The fins are light yellow. The body reaches 4-5 cm.

A type of fish obtained artificially. The jellyfish gene was introduced into their gene, so their color has a bright greenish tint. When water is polluted, fish change color. After coral genes were introduced into the DNA of the fish, they acquired other bright pink colors.

prefer more warm water , unlike their relatives. The ideal temperature for their life is 28 degrees Celsius. Otherwise, the characteristics of transgenic zebrafish and zebrafish are similar.

This type of fish is quite large in size. In the wild, the body of the fish can reach 15 cm, in an aquarium up to 9 cm. The body is flattened on the sides. Behind the gills there is a dark spot. There is a pair of long mustaches.

Their color can vary depending on where they live, but is usually pink-brown. The body is spotted. Mature females have a convex belly, brighter color and larger parameters.

Orange or orange-finned zebrafish

The edges of the fins are colored orange, hence the name. Males are brighter in color than females. They grow up to 5 cm in length.

Accepts water temperature of approximately 16-26 degrees Celsius. Any lighting will do. Adults grow up to 4 cm. They can feed exclusively on dry food. No care or maintenance required special effort .

Otherwise, they have similar characteristics to other zebrafish.

Blue zebrafish

In the wild, it lives in the waters of Thailand and near the islands of the Gulf of Thailand. In an aquarium, the size of the body is up to 4 cm, in nature up to 5. The body is translucent and elongated. The mouth has two pairs of whiskers. The color of the fish varies from pale to bright.

The belly is bluish in color and there are golden stripes along the body. The fins are translucent. In the female, grayish colors predominate; the male, on the contrary, is brighter in color.

The approximate water temperature is 20-25 degrees Celsius. For food eat absolutely any food.

Firefly Danio

Chopra zebrafish or firefly zebrafish were discovered only in the 2000s. It is the smallest fish of its family. Its dimensions are approximately 2-2.5 cm. Occasionally it reaches up to 3 cm.

Firefly prefers slow current water. Its color is silver-olive. A red stripe runs along the body. The fins are almost transparent. The firefly swims and jumps well. Loves clean and clear water. Lives for about three years.

It is better to keep this fish in good lighting and filtration, against a background of dark soil and emerald plants. Optimal temperature for its content is 20-28 degrees Celsius.

Since this fish is very small, Feed sizes must be observed. Her appetite is quite good, but she should not overfeed.

Spot zebrafish

This species resembles the zebrafish. The color is light yellow, there is one pair of whiskers. The back is brownish, the abdomen of the male is light, the female is orange. Bluish-blue stripes stretch along the body. Moreover, there are dots under the bottom stripe and on the fin, hence the name.

The second name of this fish is nigrofascitus. The body size is about 5 cm. In the aquarium, a dotted zebrafish can live up to four years . Like any other zebrafish, it is very easy to keep.

The body of the Bengal zebrafish reaches up to 7 cm. Males are brighter colored than females. The Bengal Danio's back is golden and its sides are bluish, with a long dorsal fin. There is an orange stripe along the body.

The Bengal danio loves to eat live food, and will also happily eat any other food. You should feed a little at a time several times a day. Lives in the upper and middle layers of the reservoir, loves to swim. First seen in Pakistan and India.

Maintenance does not require much effort. The ideal temperature for an aquarium is 16-26 degrees Celsius. It is more rational to purchase an aquarium with a volume of 200 liters or more. In the wild, this little fish lives in muddy water, but the aquarium water should be regularly filtered. It is better to keep the fish in dim light, so its color will be more precise. Water hardness should be medium and water movement should be moderate.

Danio is one of the most common aquarium fish. She is unpretentious and lives even in small aquariums. Danio is a mobile fish that stays in the upper or middle layer of water. If frightened, it can jump out of the water, so it is better to cover the aquarium with a tight lid. It needs to be kept in a group of 8-10 fish. Males constantly chase each other.

To prevent zebrafish diseases, you need to follow simple rules. All items brought into the aquarium must be disinfected: in a solution of manganese, in boiling water or using other disinfectants.

When buying Danio, special attention should be paid to the integrity of the skin and fins. At the same time, faded color does not always indicate illness; simply moving or replanting during the sale process could cause shock. But even if the zebrafish looks healthy, it must be kept in a separate aquarium in quarantine for a couple of weeks.

Zebrafish are very disease resistant. Despite the fact that she gets sick extremely rarely, the aquarium must have aeration. For proper maintenance and prevention of diseases in zebrafish, a clean water regime is very important. When feeding her, you must adhere to the rule - it is better to underfeed than to overfeed. Overfeeding is usually the cause of zebrafish disease.

Most often, Danios suffer from bulging eyes. The disease usually affects them at the age of several years during spawning. The body color does not change, but the abdomen noticeably increases, which looks natural during the spawning period. Over the course of two weeks, both eyes protrude more and more out of their sockets, then fall out one by one. The blind fish dies from exhaustion. When opened, a thick white mass is found behind the eyeball, which causes bulging eyes. The reason is poor quality water. Treatment: partial water change every 2 days.

Another disease that Danio suffers from is trichodinosis. The causative agent is the ciliate Trichodina, which has spine-like processes with which it attaches to the fish. Localized on the gill filaments and skin. Enters the aquarium along with plants, soil and food if they have not been properly disinfected.

Signs of the disease: the fish begins to rub against hard objects and plants, and more often than usual swims up to aeration bubbles. As the disease progresses, the color of the fish fades, and a grayish-white coating is visible on the skin, which is separated in flakes. Treatment of trichodinosis: increased aeration, increased water temperature to 31 degrees. Therapeutic baths are made in a separate or common aquarium with table salt or trypaflavin.

The fish is also known by the names "Zebra Fish", "Striped Danio" and others. Over the years, breeders have developed new subspecies that differ in color, which can nevertheless interbreed, which leads to further speciation and blurring of the clear boundaries of one species/subspecies. The most famous varieties of Danio Rerio are “Albino Danio”, “Leopard Danio”, “Golden Danio”, “Blue Danio”. There is also a genetically modified species that has a fluorescent element added to its genome, allowing the fish to glow in the dark. The fish first became commercially available in the United States in 2003.

Requirements and conditions:

  • Aquarium volume - from 40 liters.
  • Temperature - 18–24 °C
  • pH value - 6.0–8.0
  • Water hardness - soft to medium hard (5–19 dH)
  • Substrate type - dark fine gravel or sand
  • Lighting - dim
  • Brackish water - no
  • Water movement - moderate

Fish parameters:

  • Size - up to 7 cm.
  • Food - any food floating on the surface
  • Life expectancy - from 3 to 4 years

Habitat

Danio rerio received a scientific description in 1822 during the study of the flora and fauna of the colonial possessions of the British Empire in the territories of modern India and Pakistan. Fish are widely represented in river systems of Asia from Pakistan to India, including South-East Asia in Burma (Myanmar).
The fish lives in the lower reaches of rivers, streams, canals, as well as in ditches near settlements and ponds. The habitat can vary significantly depending on the time of year. During the rainy season, fish rush to flooded fields (in particular rice fields), where spawning occurs in a quiet backwater with dense vegetation. Adult fish return back to the rivers, followed by the emerging juveniles after a few days.

Description

A beautiful slender fish, it has a laterally compressed body, the tips of each lip are crowned with small antennae, characteristic of most cyprinids. The color is pale yellow or silver, with five horizontal stripes of dark blue running throughout the body, which also extend along the tail and anal fin.

Nutrition

Fish accept almost any food intended for aquarium fish, the main condition is that they must swim on the surface; Danio will never pick up from the bottom. Specialized dry or freeze-dried food for this type of fish is widely available on sale, taking into account all their needs for vitamins and microelements. You can diversify the food by sometimes adding live food, mainly bloodworms.

Since the fish has lived in an artificial environment for many generations, it is well adapted to various conditions, so there are no problems in keeping it. It is enough to ensure good filtration and aeration of the aquarium; both of these processes also create water movement, which has a beneficial effect on Danio. The fish lives in the upper layers of water and leads active image life, during his games he can jump out of the aquarium - take care of the protective cover.
Optimal conditions are those that mimic them natural environment a habitat. Large spaces for swimming in the upper parts of the aquarium, dense vegetation on the sides along the walls. A substrate of dark gravel or sand will highlight the color of the fish.

Social behavior

An active, peaceful fish, it has a peaceful temperament and never shows aggression towards other species. Shared keeping is possible with other species of Danio, as well as with some small ones (no more than 5–6 cm.) peaceful views. You should be careful when choosing slow-moving fish; excessive activity of Danio Rerio can negatively affect their well-being.
It is mandatory to keep at least 5 individuals in a flock; when kept alone or in pairs, the fish becomes lethargic and susceptible to various diseases.

Breeding/reproduction

Sexual differences are weakly expressed, females are only slightly larger than males, body coloring is the same in both sexes. Danio Rerio often forms couples that last a lifetime, but that’s where the romanticism ends. Parental instincts are weakly expressed; they can happily eat their eggs and do not participate in raising offspring. A separate tank is required for spawning.
The spawning aquarium can be small, 20–25 liters. The bottom should be strewn with balls with a diameter of 1 cm or gravel of similar size. Arrange plants in dense groups. The composition of the water can be similar to that in a general aquarium.
When it is noticed that two fish constantly stay together, and one of them has a swollen abdomen, it means that the female will soon lay eggs. The female is transplanted into a separate tank first; the male joins only the next day. The stimulus for spawning is a rapid drop in temperature; you can pour a glass cold water directly into the spawning aquarium - this is an imitation of the rainy season. The female releases the eggs directly into the water, and the male fertilizes them. Sinking to the bottom, they roll into the spaces between the soil particles and become inaccessible to their parents. At the end of spawning, the couple is returned back to the common aquarium, and the fry appear after 7 days.

Diseases

Fish are very hardy; the disease can only be provoked by a significant deterioration in conditions or contact with sick fish. Read more about symptoms and treatment methods in the section “Diseases of aquarium fish”.

Peculiarities

  • School keeping of at least 5 individuals
  • Can jump out of aquariums
  • Requires food floating on the surface