Can 2 Zebra Dainos go into a 10-gallon tank with 5 guppies?

[ouray1]

Originally, I was misled into thinking at the pet store by a so-called professional fish keeper. I was told 2 Zebra Dainos would be perfect for a 5-gallon aquarium. 2 weeks or so ago I got a 10-gallon aquarium for a few dollars at my local goodwill and decided to get guppies for it since they are a beautiful fish. I've been using prime and stability for both tanks and it's been working great, however. I know do to size with the Dainos they can become somewhat aggressive. I do want to switch them over to the other tank but I'm not sure if that would be overstocking or if the Dainos would become even more aggressive because it's not their schooling species. Any ideas would greatly help! Thanks

[Lennie]

There are some issues with keeping them together in the current scenario.

Zebra danios are a schooling species. So ideally they want a group of at least 6 of their own species. Otherwise, lack of this situation may lead to stress, and basically stressed fish becomes much more vulnerable to diseases. I believe they would be more skittish and stressed but not sure if they would be aggressive. I think the best way to tell is to observe them. People say barbs are nippy, and without a proper sized school, they will be bullies. My rosy barbs lost most of their school due to a bad batch with diseases, so I left with only 1m 1f with 3 surprise rosy barb fry. They were never aggressive or nippy rven as two.

zebra danios are super active and crazy eaters. They may easily outcompete especially male guppies for food. Also this super high level of activity may cause slower moving fish to feel under stress all the time.

Other than these, this is a personal opinion, but I believe 10g is small for active fish like danios and guppies if you have females there. I got me 3f:1m endlers in a 50 liters tub, and after two weeks, I had almost 20 fish there already. And consider when babies grow up and breed 😄 so if there are females, and the babies can make it with danios, having a plan for babies to be sold/rehomed can be a nice idea. Or else they can crowd a 10 very quickly

 

 

Edited May 23, 2023 by Lennie

[Guppysnail]

When I rehomed my breeding group of zebra danio I had a 3 fry that were missed. When they reached adulthood they notorious for fin nipping. That was a 20 long. So you May experience aggression due to their high activity. The numbers are what keep them occupied. 
 

[Biotope Biologist]

Id say rehome the danio get the guppies you like and enjoy your 10 gallon! 
 

5 gallons are, contrary to popular belief hard to manage. As the volume of water is not large enough to keep parameters stable. I like them for pico setups but rarely keep anything bigger than a chili rasbora in them. And usually I keep them heavily planted to help stabilize water parameters by reducing waste.

[Colu]

I wouldn't keep very active fish like zebra danios in a 10 gallons 

Edited May 24, 2023 by Colu
Typo

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

Looks like the title of the post says 10 gallons? Not 5

On 5/22/2023 at 11:39 PM, ouray1 said:

I was told 2 Zebra Dainos would be perfect for a 5-gallon aquarium

 

On 5/22/2023 at 11:39 PM, ouray1 said:

I got a 10-gallon aquarium

 

[Colu]

On 5/24/2023 at 2:09 PM, Chick-In-Of-TheSea said:

Looks like the title of the post says 10 gallons? Not 5

 

 

Typo 

[Alix7]

 

• zebra danios are so active that they'd prefer the biggest tank possible
• add more so there's at least 6 but preferably more
• guppies will likely get fin nipped by the zebra danios
• zebra danios will likely eat most/all of the guppy fry
• zebra danios will likely outcompete the guppies for food

I've kept the same group of zebra danios since 2018 and they're really an active group of little monsters. These two types of fish really aren't a great mix together in a small tank. It could be done but imho, it won't make either group of fish happy.

[sumplkrum]

I have danios in with guppies, but it's a much larger tank with lots of plants and the danios are old fish.

In a new tank with young fish it's not really a good match.
The danios will become too active for guppies, especially when their breeding behaviors kick in.

Danios really need more swimming space than a 10 gallon. Also more comfortable in a school of six or more.