Danios Being Bullied

[Kipsie]

 

[The-Wolf]

Ive gotten my larger tank and i've gotten two zebra danios to keep my betta happy.
I know, they do good in large groups, right?

correct, 5 would be the absolute minimum

my fat danio is picking on my small one. He chases him constantly

the fat danio is most likely a female and she is chasing him for... well you know.

I dont have a divider... What can I use as one? Plexiglass?
I have a seperate 5-gallon I can put the larger one in.

danios need at least 10g so perhaps moving the betta to that and then getting more danios would be the best course of action

What do I do about the littleguy? Hes not swimming well and hes not a happy camper.
The larger danio is too overwhelming for him.

the little guy will get a rest from being chased only when you introduce more danios.
your options are
1) remove betta to 5g and add more danios to at least a group of 5
2) return the danios to where you got them.
3) rehome the danios to a friends/forum members tank near you.

HTH

 

[VaegaVic]

Danios should not be ideally mixed with bettas before we go any further, they can be rather nippy and bettas are prime targets.

Danios should also be kept in larger groups of 5 min, this helps to share out aggression and prevent the situation you have now.

 

[The-Wolf]

personally i have kept danios with bettas without any problems, admittedly that was in a 4ft long tank
and the danios were in a large school (15+).
no it is not ideal but for this problem the crux is the lack of other danios

 

[Kipsie]

 

[VaegaVic]

If I cant keep danios with my betta anymore then what can I keep with him?
Anything small, bland looking and peaceful. Pygmy corys are popular as are shrimp and snails.

And you guys missed the part where my fat fatty danios died.
Yes because you edited after we had posted thank you very much.

Also, you have now mentioned in the original post after the edit about nitrites. A well cycled and well maintained tank has no presence of nitrites at all, anything above .25 will cause damage and pain.

 

[Kipsie]