7 Types of Danio Fish (With Pictures)
Danio fish are probably among the most popular fish pet choices across inexperienced aquarium keepers. They are small and require not much living space, but they are also super-hardy and easily adaptable to cooler water temperatures.
Consequentially, they can survive simply fine into tanks that feature no heater at all. If you are looking to join the danio fish lover club and want to adopt some of these adorable tiny creatures, please keep in mind that there are different sub-kinds for you to choose from.
In order to help you select the most ideal solution for your home, here comes a brief description of the main types.
Zebra Danio
Let us begin with the most famous danio among all. Zebra danios are super-easy to distinguish thanks to their unique body coloration and patterns. Indeed, their silverish and blue bodies are characterized by visibly white horizontal stripes all over their body length.
Zebra danios are exceedingly small and rarely exceed 2 inches in size. Therefore, you can easily keep them into tanks as small as 10 gallons. And the best part of setting their home up is not having to heat it.
These tiny fish are really adaptable and can healthily survive into unheated waters. On top of that, they are remarkably docile and peaceful pets, so you can basically keep them with all kinds of fish, as long as you are careful about them not becoming a meal.
And finally, observing the love couples among zebra danios is quite a thing. These fish choose only one mating partner and keep it until it dies.
Pearl Danio
Pearl danios make another immensely popular danio type among modern aquariums. Just as their zebra cousins, these too only grow around 2 inches in body length and are peaceful tank mates to basically everyone.
However, they are also more active and need to be housed into schools of at least 4 specimens to thrive, so please plan on ensuring them a minimum living space of 20 gallons of water.
Their prolonged bodies are covered by iridescent silver and light blue metallic colors, and it is not rare for them to feature orange splashes towards the ends of their fins. They are very tolerant to different water conditions which makes them a suitable choice for first-time keepers.
If kept under great parameters, these tiny creatures can stick around for about 5 years.
Celestial Danio
Descending from freshwater ponds across South Asia, celestial danios have only been discovered recently. However, this has not stopped them in becoming overly present among private aquariums nowadays.
Indeed, their beauty and mesmerizing coloration is definitely enough to make them turn quickly into a favorite fish pet for many keepers. Indeed, they feature beautiful tails with black parallel stripes along with vibrant red or orange splashes of color.
On top of that, their colored bodies are adorned by tiny and irregular dots. What a nice addition to any tank!
With these spectacular fish being extremely small and only growing to a maximum size of 1 inch, they can adapt perfectly to life in tanks as small as 10 gallons.
They love having plenty of aquatic plants around, and they may survive for about 3 years in captivity, with some specimens being reported to have lived for 5 years and more.
Glowlight Danio
As their name suggests itself, glowlight danio fish feature mesmerizing shimmering bodies and may sometimes really resemble to lights of pure glow. They are characterized by a solid color base which is almost transparent, and which is decently adorned by turquoise or yellow or even orange details.
They are a fairly new type of danio in the aquarists world, and they are minute. Their maximum size only reaches 1.5 inches, so you can easily keep them in a 10-gallon tank.
However, since they are happiest when kept in schools of 6 specimens and with endless green hiding spots, you can plan on a somehow larger home for them, in order to make them thrive.
These tiny creatures may seem shy at first, but once they get settled in, and once they realize that you have provided them with plenty of plants, they will soon become extremely active swimmers. Additionally, they may even decide to reproduce into their established tanks.
Giant Danio
Giant danios are the largest type of danio fish from today’s list. They may grow to a maximum size of 4 inches, which is quite remarkable for such a small species. Also, just as most other danio fish, these too should be kept into schools, so do ensure at least 30 gallons of water volume for these guys to thrive.
Their bodies are colored in a blue palette, but they also feature quite adorning orange details all over their bodies, including stripes and dots. Even though all danio fish are capable of adapting to somehow cooler water temperatures, giant danios are definitely the most resistant ones to such conditions.
If you take good care of them, you can expect your pets to live for at least 5 years of time.
Leopard Danio
Originating from Eastern India, the leopard danio fish does not actually share body colors with the animal which its name may wrongly lead to.
Instead, it has beautifully placed irregular spots and patches of blue and silver. Their fins may seem as golden, depending on their sex and health state.
Leopard danios grow around 3 inches and can live for 4 years with good care.
Blue Danio (Kerri)
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Naturally found across the Malay Peninsula, our last choice of the day is the adorable blue danio. This fish was immensely popular a few years ago thanks to its keeping level, but it still makes a preferred choice among many inexperienced keepers today.
Being a peaceful schooling fish, the kerri danio mostly grows around 2 inches and can be happily kept into a 10-gallon tank.
Wrapping Up
After going through this brief list of the best danio fish which you can choose as your next pet, we honestly hope that you managed to find the ideal one for yourself and your home.
