Fishy Tales - Tales from an Aquarium

Among the most attractive fish I have kept to date is the Zebra Danio. Originating from Eastern India, these are primarily surface dwelling fish that favor moving waters. While they are considered cold-water fish, preferring water in the 64-75 degree range, they are extremely adaptable, which almost puts them among the easy to care for fishes.
They tend to grow to about 2-2.5 inches, and are extremely peaceful - ideal for a community aquarium. These guys eat practically anything, including flake foods, freeze dried worms, live food, etc. though it is recommended to supplement their died with live food. They tend to move around extremely fast, probably because they have a large number of predators, and its fun watching them during feeding time. In fact, after introducing them to the tank I can’t help feeling that all my other fish have become a lot more active.
They they prefer to hang around in shoals, I have only a pair, and they seem to be doing just fine.
They are named for their five uniform, pigmented, horizontal blue stripes on the side of the body, all of which extend to the end of the caudal fin. The fish that I have have rather long fins which open out when they are swimming, and look like wings.
It seems they breed quite easily, though I have not tried it. All it needs, is a shallow tank, a water temperature of 78°F. wait for the lights go on (real sun or artificial light) in the morning and the female will drop its eggs in the gravel bed. The eggs will hatch in two days and you will have to remove the adults because they will eat the fry.
The strange thing is that while these fish were white with black stripes at the shop where I got them, the moment they were put into the bag, they turned red with black stripes and still retain that colour. I am not sure what to make of that.

Filed under: Fishes