Danio Breeding the Comedy Way
Jane and Morgane Smee
Well what can we say? I think we should be able to write a book called “Danio
Breeding for absolute Dummies”. Even though we have probably done everything the
wrong way, it still looks like we will have about 30 surviving fry.
Morgane and I were cleaning out her tank about four weeks ago. We decided to really
get into it as things were starting to go wrong. I think seven Leopard Danio in a 22-24
litre tank might be a bit of a strain. Things had been ok for a couple of months but six of
the Danios took a dislike to the only Long Tailed Danio and thought she might look
better without a tail and part of her fins. We promptly took her out of the tank and
placed her in the 30 litre tank along with approx. 20 Mosquito Fish (Yes, I know NOW
that they are a BAD fish). We thought she was a goner but she has pulled through and
her tail is slowly growing back.
We were tipping the last of the tank water down the kitchen drain as we had chemicals
in the tank to treat white spot and didn‘t think it should go in the garden. We were
getting to the last couple of litres when I saw some microscopic movement. We grabbed
a torch and shone it into the bucket. Lo and behold, there were what seemed like
hundreds of tiny tiny fry. After our initial panic and Morgane‘s hysterics because “Mum
had been tipping them down the drain”, we transferred them to a large ice-cream container.
We seem to have muddled through the last few weeks learning very
quickly what we should not try (for example moving them into a deep glass
jar so they were not in the dirty dregs from the tank). We bought
Wardley Small Fry liquid food and they seem alright with that. We can-not
believe they are soooooo small.
Thought we should let you also know about our latest near catastrophe.
Last Saturday I thought we should move the fry back into a fish tank as
even though I bought a smaller quieter pump for the air-stone, the noise
was still irritating me. We went to a shop and bought a Net Breeder
Separation Box. We put it all together and placed it into the kitchen bench
tank. The occupants being one Golden Sucking Catfish (another refugee) and the one long tailed Leopard Danio. I spent
a fair amount of time slowly adding tank water to the ice-cream container to get the fry used to the water temperature.
When we had decided everything would be ok, I very slowly poured the content of the container into the Net Breeder.
Kapow......Instant panic.. The fry immediately swam straight through the
holes in the net into the tank. Well, it was my turn to be hysterical. Luckily
fish don‘t understand English because I was calling the Danio every swear
word I knew as I ran for the fish net to scoop her out of the tank before she
ate every baby. The catfish wasn‘t a problem as he just hid under the filter
as always when we are in the room. My husband and eldest son thought the
whole scene was the funniest thing they had ever seen (They didn‘t offer to
help me in my moment of desperate need). Morgane was away on a Scout
Camp so she missed her Mum acting in a very stupid way.
To cut a long story very short, I then very carefully for the next hour used a turkey-baster to suck out 32 fry and put
them back into the ice-cream container. They will remain there until I am absolutely positive that they are big enough
NOT to fit into another fish mouth.
Quiz Answers: All the answers are: d) None of the above
1. Keeping fish is neither art nor science, nor even a hobby. It is an addiction.
2. The most difficult fish to net out of an aquarium is the one you most want to catch. All the other fish in the tank will
swim into your net as you attempt to catch the one you are after.
3. The most beautiful fish is one that is healthy and displaying its breeding col-ours.
4. The most difficult fish to breed is the one you most desperately want to spawn for you.
5. If an aquarium is filled with water to fifty percent capacity, it is leaking.
6.The most dangerous aquarium inhabitants are whatever is in there as you reach in for that light fixture you dropped in
the water, especially if you are barefoot on a wet concrete floor