I have a 20g high with an aquaclear 50, heater, etc. When I first set it up I had 3 bloodfins, shortly afterwards increased to 5.
I bought a trio of Pearl Danios because I wanted a dither fish to make the bloodfins more comfortable coming out. It's not that they hid ALL the time, but the bloodfins were timid, so I thought the brave Pearls would be helpful.
Those Pearls are chasing everyone all over hell. Themselves AND the bloodfins. Not what I wanted! There aren't any injuries, no shredded fins, just that chasing. Sometimes they are fine, side by side, but then a chase breaks out.
Two things.
If I up the number of Pearls to 5, would that actually help? I know I've read that a million times, bigger schools = dispersed aggression, and it makes sense in theory, but I don't want to have even more crazed Pearls. I do actually like the danios, but I'd be fine with returning them to preserve the bloodfin peace.
I'm moving in April, at which point I'll be setting up a 30 gal. Think everyone would be okay until then, if I were to separate the species between the tanks?
Generally adding some more fish, I generally recommend having 7, helps calm down danios and barbs. In your case I would recommend picking the one you like best a stocking a bigger school of a single species.
So you think taking those new danios back is the best option? I hate to do it, but I think it may be the best option. I just can't see cramming more fish in there as being a positive thing.
If you like the bloodfins better then you should take back the danios. I believe if you expand the numbers on the tetras they will stop being so timid.
imo tank is too small for either fish. 20g high tanks are only like 2' long. either of those species can get somewhat large... 2" + and are strong swimmers. i have bloodfins and they routinely dart across the entirety of my 75g... they would be pretty cramped in 20g tank
would go with something smaller / in larger numbers. trust me, you will appreciate schooling fish way more when you have a school of 15+
See, this is the problem. No matter the size of the tank, you can always go bigger, and there's always the guilt of not providing the fish with more space!
Seriously though, I'll be setting up a thirty gallon in about two months, and I was planning to do a blackwater tank and move the bloodfins over to that. It's 36".
A 20H will only be 24" wide, but it also will have over 17" of depth. Fish don't always swim laterally. Danios are active fish, even the new Celesticthys genus little ones are a bit hyper.
If I may ask, what is your tank's temperature? If you're running 78 degrees F or higher it's actually a bit too high for Danions, and your Bloodfins will like a slightly cooler temperature also. A bit closer to 72 to 74 would suit both. and it would keep their metabolism lower and less likely for them to be hyper.
I guess it is a bit warm for the danios. For the bloodfins I've read 70-80 F works. But I don't see the harm in lowering it down to ~74.
I try to keep it around 78 at the moment. House gets chilly at night.
I like the idea of returning the danios and catering to the bloodfins, but I feel bad for the danios. They're not doing anything wrong, just being themselves. Dumb to think like that I guess. At the very least I could wait to set up the 30 and move the bloodfins, but it sounds like a 20 wouldn't be large enough for a school of pearl danios? Or it would? Lots of opinions.
I think you could. How many depends on a few things. If it was me I would start with seven. Do your danios use all levels of the water? If so you can probably keep a few more. Do you do large weekly water changes? If so you might add a couple more. With the danios alone I would also run the tank around 70f to 72f. This will retain more oxygen and usually mellow the fish out a bit.
These fish swim in schools of hundreds in nature and there are very complex tree-like social hierarchies, when you put 3 of them in a tank, this system falls to pieces and fish are stressed and shy.
I've noticed one of the danios has a white bit at the end of his lip. I was worried it was mouth fungus, so I bought some Kanaplex, but I haven't added any yet. I was using Pimafix as an herbal alternative, did that for the past week or so. I haven't seen any other symptoms, either behavioral or physical.
Is it possible this is just an injury or a deformity? I'm ready to treat the tank but I don't want to do that unnecessarily.
I lost one of the younger danios, but I didn't notice anything wrong until it died. Could've been something else, but I would like some advice on how to proceed.
So it is definitely mouth fungus? I mean, the guy who looks like he has something going on is acting fine, as are all of them. The one that died was younger and recently added, so that could have been anything.
Should I go ahead and start the Kanaplex then, short of killing the one who looks weird? It's not even that it's a clear fungal growth on him. Looks almost like a lip wound.
I only have two tanks, the 20 and a 5 for a betta. I don't really have anywhere else to put him. I could swap him out with the betta I guess, but then I'd potentially have contaminated two tanks and all my fish.
To be honest, I noticed the slight white on the fish's mouth when I first got him weeks ago. In the time since, it hasn't spread at all. Not sure how all this fits in with possible mouth fungus, but I'm thinking if it hasn't gotten worse maybe it's something else?
The thing is, do you want to risk whatever that is killing all your other fish?
Only you can answer this question. You can try and treat it in a bucket using methylene blue or a medicine that contains lots of it.
A bath for a few minutes with 1 teaspoon MB to a gallon of water. Use an old bucket or glass jar, it will stain silicone and hands and anything porous it touches. It should clear off the fungus so you can get a better view of the wound.
That's my point though, it's hard to determine what is going on. The fish that died was a new introduction, so it could have been a number of things, but that one fish is the only one I've lost after having the rest of them for a number of weeks.
I know it may be overkill, but I'm going to try the Kanaplex for a treatment or two and see if that makes any difference.
It is in fact kanamycin, however on the bottle it recommends a treatment every two days until symptoms disappear, up to three doses. Nothing about continuing a treatment.
I did however end up using three treatments over the past six days. I haven't noticed a huge change in my fish; they're still acting like themselves. But I think the one Pearl danio may just have a worn lip. There's really been no change for him, and no one else has gotten sick.
House keeping question: I don't run carbon in my filters, so I didn't have to remove anything to treat the tank. Now that I've treated it, should I add carbon to remove the medicine, or just do a water change?
You can drain the water to your lawn, and use carbon for a week. Try to set it up in a new filter so you don't disturb the old.
Even an air-driven corner filter will do.
Alright, did the water change and added a carbon insert to the filter. Didn't disrupt it too much, just made sure the carbon covered the top of the return on the AquaClear filter. I hope this is the end to whatever was going on.
I'm getting pumped about moving and setting up the 30 gal. Can't wait!
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
The Planted Tank Forum
3.5M posts
130.6K members
Since 2002
A forum community dedicated to Aquatic tank owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about flora, fauna, health, housing, filters, care, classifieds, and more!