Leopard Danio

Behaviour

Danios have been a long-time favorite among freshwater aquarists for their attractive coloration, active personality, and hardiness. The Danio is best kept in groups and gets along with other Danio species as well as other peaceful fish of the same size.  They dwell in the middle and top strata of an established aquarium.

Tank Conditions

Danios are extremely active and require large, open spaces for swimming. Keep danios in a 40 litre tank at minimum. Bigger is better.

As a tropical species, the danio thrives in warm waters between 18-25°C. They can live without a heater if your home stays consistently warm and thrive at the lower end of this temperature range.

A tight fitting cover for your aquarium is suggested as danios can be jumpers.

Compatibility

They can be kept along with other species like Barbs, Honey Gourami, Ember Tetra, Bengal Turquoise Danio, Celestial Pearl Danio and Burma Danio.  Other good tankmates are Rosy Barbs, Rummy Nose Tetra, Bronze Cory and even Dojo loach.

Aquatic invertebrates can also make good tank mates, such as snail species like Zebra Snails and other Nerites, frogs like African Dwarf Frogs and freshwater shrimp like Blue Velvet Shrimp.

Danios an have the tendency to nip at the tail fins of other fish and is usually a sign that either, the tank is too small, or, the Danio shoal is too small.

Feeding

Since the Danio is an omnivore, feed it a varied diet of flake and frozen foods.  They are not picky eaters, so they will eat most foods you give them. Additionally to algae based foods, they should be fed protein foods as well, because in nature they usually feed on insects. So make sure you give them some bloodworms and brine shrimp from time to time as a treat.

Care

Danios will do best in tanks with very low nitrate levels, below 20 ppm. Some domesticated strains can tolerate up to 40 ppm. Keep nitrite and ammonia levels undetectable at all times.

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