newbie in distress........sorta

[rcole82]

so i've got 3 zebra danios and 2 female bettas in a 10 gal tank right now. I've recently purchased another 10 gallon tank and i'm thinking of moving my bettas into there (I plan on purchasing more). I have a few questions about the danios though

I have 2 smaller thinner danios that i'm asuming to be male and 1 larger rounder danio that i'm assuming to be female. the female one is sooooooo annoying, lol. She chases the the two males around the tank, and i've seen her nip a few times at my bettas, which is why i've decided to seperate the two different fish.

If i get another female danio will this annoying behaviour stop? or is it because i don't have my danios in a group of 5 or 6?

will my danios shoal with other variations of the species?

I'm eventually thinking of adding tetras into my future danio tank, is this a good idea, i was thinking since the two are similar in size and swimming speed, would this would be an okay idea?


when cycling this new tank is it okay to use the water that i siphon from my previous tank in an effort to aide the cycling process, or should i just start out with "fresh" water?

I understand that bettas, prefer water with minimal currents, so would it be okay to put them in a tank without a filter? right now i have an airstone in the tank that airates the water somewhat, but don't i need the filter to get rid of the gunk that the fishies produce? also, wouldn't this be a good idea if I plan on getting more bettas? (i would like to eventually add 3 more female bettas to the tank)

Some people appear to have male and female bettas living in the same tank, i've been told that this could lead to a possible disastrous situation but i would still maybe like to try this, lol, is there anything that i can do or is it all trial and error?

 

[ladynaoko]

I've had bad experiences with danios and bettas together.
I had my zebra and leopard danios (5 danios in total) in with my Betta and they ripped his fins to bits one night

The nipping may stop if you add more danios - but then again it may not.

I did have leopards and zebras together and they shoaled together, so if you get more danio variations they probably will shoal together.

as for your other questions, I'm not entirely sure since I've never attempted anything else you've asked.

 

[pendragon]

If i get another female danio will this annoying behaviour stop? or is it because i don't have my danios in a group of 5 or 6?

Adding more danios might curb the nipping behavior, but it wouldn't be a good idea to assume that it would. If you do add more, you should still have a backup plan for if it doesn't help (you could just be adding more nippers). Generally speaking, danios are kind of prone to nip at bettas. Also, you don't have a lot of room to add more fish in a 10-gallon if you already have 3 danios and 2 bettas. Not more than a couple or three.

And a question for you: is the tank already cycled? Or is it cycling now?

will my danios shoal with other variations of the species?

Generally speaking, yes - they will shoal together.

I'm eventually thinking of adding tetras into my future danio tank, is this a good idea, i was thinking since the two are similar in size and swimming speed, would this would be an okay idea?

Again, generally speaking, yes, but... as I mentioned earlier, you don't have a lot of room to work with much of a bioload in a 10-gallon, so you can't add many fish of any kind. You'd practically have to move the bettas out in order to make room for a small school of tetras. Are you plannin on any bottom-feeders in this tank? If so, they are going to take up room bio-wise as well, remember.

when cycling this new tank is it okay to use the water that i siphon from my previous tank in an effort to aide the cycling process, or should i just start out with "fresh" water?

Adding water from an established tank shouldn't hurt, per se, but it generally doesn't gain you anything either. The bacteria in the established tank - which is what you would want to "seed" to speed up the cycling of the new tank - are not free-floating, so they are not generally in the water itself. They are attached to your filter media and gravel primarily; and to your decorations and plants, but to a much lesser extent. Seeding the new tank with some gravel or old filter meda from the established tank will generally speed cycling along quite a lot.

I understand that bettas, prefer water with minimal currents, so would it be okay to put them in a tank without a filter?

Generally speaking, bettas are okay without a filter, but they would appreciate one. You can get small internal (they stay inside the aquarium, under the water)sponge filters that are fairly inexpensive (I use the Fluval One Plus in my betta aquarium); they will do the job quite well, and don't create much of a current. Bettas do really need a heater in the aquarium, though. Unless you keep your home excessively warm (at least for most people), room temperature water will be a little too cool for them. Regardless of whether or not you have a filter, you must still do periodic maintenance (i.e. gravel vacuuming) and water changes.

right now i have an airstone in the tank that airates the water somewhat, but don't i need the filter to get rid of the gunk that the fishies produce?

Once the tank cycles, the beneficial bacteria will take care of the "poisonous" parts of the fish waste, but the majority of the waste itself will be removed when you vacuum the gravel during regular maintenance.

also, wouldn't this be a good idea if I plan on getting more bettas? (i would like to eventually add 3 more female bettas to the tank)

I think they would appreciate a small filter, yes.

Some people appear to have male and female bettas living in the same tank, i've been told that this could lead to a possible disastrous situation but i would still maybe like to try this, lol, is there anything that i can do or is it all trial and error?

Yes, it could lead to a possibly disastrous situation. This is a "Your mileage may vary" thing, but I think it's generally good wisdom to expect that it won't work out. Again, if you're going to try it, you need to have a backup plan. They may get along, but it's entirely possible that they won't, either. Common wisdom is to not put males and females together unless you're breeding them, and only then if you really know what you are doing. But as you said, some people are able to keep them successfully. I think it depends entirely on the personalities of the specific fish in question.

pendragon!

 

[jams.alaskan]

You've got some great answers from pendragon! I would add that even though the danio is a small fish and fairly hardy (one that is often used to cycle tanks) they are very active and enjoy a good romp from one end of your tank to the other. Personally, I wouldn't consider keeping them in a ten gal for very long because it just doesn't offer enough length or area for them to dash about.

ALASKA

 

[rcole82]

wow, thanx for the advice everyone. I had no idea that the danio would do that to my bettas, the male danios are so nice to them, they sometimes congregate in the same area of the tank and socialize, lol, i think it's cuz they are trying to get away from the female danio. But i am going to seperate the different fish. I was heartbroken when i woke up yesterday and saw that a piece of my betta's fin appeared to be nipped off But i've learned from my mistake. I've also told people not to get me fish, lol. I got the danios a few days ago, and the day right after my bf bought me the bettas & I had to put them in the same tank as the danios so i dunno if that has something to do with it also. The female danio nips at the danios as well, but their fins are intact.

I would like to add some bottom feeders to both, I actually had my heart set on adding one of those chinese algae eaters, but after seeing the cautions on this forum, I've decided against it (I'd prefer that my fish have their eyes intact, lol )

Pendragon, thanx for answering all my questions. To answer your question about the tank, all the fish are contained in a tank that's cycled, i just bought another tank that i still need to cycle, and i'm planning on moving the bettas into there. This new tank is going to have marbles as a substrate, so i'm kinda iffy about throwing some gravel into there (lol, i'm psycho when it come to maintaining fluidity in my aquarium decor ) ) I do have some marble from the old tank that has been in there even before i got the fish, could i throw that in the new tank to aide with cycling, or would the beneficial bacteria primarily be in the gravel?

 

[jams.alaskan]

If you like the old marbles and want to add it to the new tank go ahead. Done rince them and a little bacteria may be attached so it may actually jump start your cycle a little

ALASKA

 

[pendragon]

You can still use some of the gravel from the old tank to "seed" the new one without messing with your marbles. Take a scoop of the gravel from the old tank and put it in a sock, or cut-off piece of stocking or pantyhose, or a small cloth sack, etc. and hang it in the aquarium below water level or just drop it on the substrate for a couple of weeks after you add fish. The bacteria from the gravel should seed the rest of the tank, and you can easily remove them when your ready.

I've never done this myself, but have heard of others who have, and had success with it.

pendragon!

 

[rcole82]

pendragon, i think i might do that, i'm still going to move the some of the marble into the new tank, i think they'd look better in there anyways, but right now i have to decide where i'm going to place the tanks, i don't like where i have my first tank set up, but i'm kind of low on space.

 

[tsr770]

Another way to seed the new aquarium if you are going to be usnig a filter would be to let the new filter run in you established tank for a week, then quickly switched over to the new tank, that way the bacteria have already started to colonize the filter, and can reproduce quickly

 

[rcole82]

after a few days of procrastinating, I've finally got a second tank set up. It's a 20 gallon with an aquaclear 150. The filter has only been running for an hour or so, but i've taken some gravel from my other tank, placed it in a mesh bag and put in in my filter compartment where filter media would go. was that a bad idea??

There are no fish or live plants in this tank yet. but there are some rocks that i collected and prepped. are there certain levels that i should pay particular attention to??