2 out of 8

The two remaining danios survived the night. This morning I kept the room dark enough so that I could just barely see and captured the survivors, bringing them upstairs to my mixed 29 gallon.

I'm out about 14 dollars but it was a learning experience. I'd been told and read numerous times that giant danios are viable dithers for moderately aggressive American cichlids like oscars, severums, etc. Perhaps when they're introduced together when the cichlids are babies. Certainly not when the oscars are full grown.

I'm going to start a new feature on my blog. It will be all about the hundreds of different individual fish available in the aquarium trade. You can get the basic specs on the species from multiple, excellent sites across the Internet, but I'm going to do something a little different.

I'm going to get into the "whys" of each fish. Why am I after large silver dollars as dithers, why I compromised on giant danios, how they worked, how I disagree or differ from popular or "expert" opionion, etc.

I'll also provide pics as well as fun anecdotes.

Josh
The Nano Reef: Your First Saltwater Aquarium

Giant danios make for oscar midnight snacks

I tried some giant danios for my 180 gallon tank for dither fish. They're getting picked off like blondes in a slasher movie. From 8, which I bought two days ago, I'm down to 2.

So note to self and note to other full grown oscar owners: giant danios are not fast not intelligent enough to evade consumption. They're expensive feeders.

I was hoping my fish wouldn't have a taste for their smaller cousins cause I've never fed them feeders. They get live earthworms, June bugs, grubs, and the occasional crawfish and fiddler or red crab.

Oh, and I removed the rest of the playsand (well as much as I could get out without totally draining and the tank and wiping it dry). I have white gravel as a substrate now and wow, it looks great.

I also was able to find suction cups! They were easy to modify and they seem to be working great for my filters, as well as heaters.

Josh
joshday.com