Zebra danio

Care at a glance

Overview

Keep them in a group of at least five or six. They are constant, fast swimmers that cruise the middle and top of the tank. They are hardy, peaceful, and a good beginner fish, though their energy can pester slow or long-finned tankmates. They eat just about anything, including flake, small pellets, and live or frozen foods like brine shrimp and bloodworms.

In the wild

Zebra danios come from streams, rivers, and rice paddies across eastern India and Bangladesh, in shallow, slow to moderate water with some plants. They handle cooler temperatures than most tropicals, doing fine in the high teens to low 20s C, which makes them one of the few community fish that work in an unheated room. Give them open swimming space and a current, since they are built for moving water.

Good to know

This is a small cyprinid, in the same family as carp and barbs, growing to about 5 cm. They are egg scatterers and breed readily, dropping eggs over the bottom with no parental care afterward. The IUCN lists them as Least Concern. They are also a major laboratory animal, which has made their biology unusually well documented.

Other named lines

The named shop forms are all line-bred zebra danios. Color and fin lines change the look and nothing else.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Glowlight danio

  Danio choprae

  1.2 in (3 cm) · 20 gal (75 L)

  1.2 in (3 cm)20 gal (75 L)72–79°F (22–26°C)

• 

  Blue danio

  Danio kerri

  1.8 in (4.5 cm) · 11 gal (40 L)

  1.8 in (4.5 cm)11 gal (40 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

• 

  Orange-finned danio

  Danio kyathit

  2 in (5 cm) · 20 gal (75 L)

  2 in (5 cm)20 gal (75 L)68–79°F (20–26°C)

• 

  Pearl danio

  Danio albolineatus

  2.4 in (6 cm) · 18 gal (70 L)

  2.4 in (6 cm)18 gal (70 L)61–77°F (16–25°C)

• 

  Spotted danio

  Danio nigrofasciatus

  1.5 in (3.7 cm) · 11 gal (40 L)

  1.5 in (3.7 cm)11 gal (40 L)64–79°F (18–26°C)

• 

  Gold ring danio

  Danio tinwini

  1.2 in (3 cm) · 11 gal (40 L)

  1.2 in (3 cm)11 gal (40 L)64–79°F (18–26°C)