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1 alpha zebra danio?

3K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  fosschick 
#1 · (Edited)
Hello all. :) I'm new to danios.

I picked up a shoal of 6 zebra danios (of the GloFish variety, for my 5-year-old...) and I'm starting to notice that the largest one, presumably a female, is a bit aggressive toward the others.

She patrols the surface of the tank and chases away any other fish that enters her space. She's always the first to get her share of food, and the most prolific eater by far. In fact, after their morning meal today (of tropical flakes), I waited for her to clear the surface of other fish after the food was gone, and I gave her a single frozen-thawed bloodworm, hoping to satiate her a bit so she'll leave the others alone. I also turned off the tank light. It's been an hour, and she's still at it. Incidentally she's the only pink glofish we have, so she's really easy to spot.

These are very young fish. They are only 1" long so far, and the LFS described them as "babies", but couldn't give me an exact age. The others are various sizes but all smaller than she is. I might have some more females, I'm just not sure at this stage.

Is this normal behavior? Or have I massively overstocked our 5 gallon hex tank?

I live in the south, so the temp is a bit warm for danios I'm afraid: 80F during the day.

Ammonia: 0ppm, Nitrites: 0ppm, Nitrates: 0ppm, pH: 7.4, Hardness: 25-30ppm according to the local water company. (Soft water.)

They get either a pinch of tropical flakes, frozen-thawed daphnia, or frozen-thawed bloodworms, alternating every day (in a rotation). They are fed once a day.

The tank is planted with 1 annubias, 1 bunch of java moss, 2 bunches of anachris, and 1 crypt undulata.
 
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#3 ·
Nobody else has one of these crazy girlies? That's ok. I think she's calmed down a bit since I started this thread. :)
 
#5 ·

That could be annoying to watch :) I'm sure she may slow down, probably a bit stressed and it's her way of finding her place and protecting herself during stress. It is probably also just part of those fish. I had 5 zebra danios that I found homes for, because I didn't care for all the darting/activity in the tank.

They are cool looking and match your rocks you have in the tank. :-D

Best of luck with it. Since they say those fish do better in larger groups, perhaps you should get one more (pink . . that will show her!)

Gwen
 
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