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Danio X (possibly Danio tinwinis)

Last Updated: 1/16/13

The mystery danios on 5/6/06. The two danio x are on the left. Two glowlight danios are on the right.

My Mystery Danios
Description
Setup and Water Preferences
Sexing
Breeding
Photos

All of my mystery danios have died.

My Mystery Danios

On 4/19/06, I went to the aquarium store and got a bristlenose pleco to join my other one. Since I was adding that fish, when I saw a tank of "Danio x" I decided to get six of them. The label said something like: "Newly discovered danio species. Danio?" They did not have a clue what they were! The ones I got were clearly babies. They were very fast and typical danios. They were gorgeous (see description below). One was lethargic, hurt in the transfers to the tank but joined the others by the next morning. The five glowlight danios came out of hiding now that these guys were in there so they were acting like dither fish.

On 5/27/06, I found 8 fry in the bathtub after cleaning the 5 and 20 gallon tanks. They could have been glowlight danios or paradise fish but I think they wee the mystery danios based on their appearance, and the condition of the mystery danios. They gained a lot in size, probably four times the mass they were. They loved to zip all around. I could tell males from females. I put the fry into my Tricker pond outside. I put 3 more fry into the pond on 6/10/06. I could still see some swimming around a week later but not the next week. They could have been hiding since there are a lot of surface plants. I put in two more fry on 6/24/06. These definitely came from the 20 gallon tank so they have to be Danio x (I did not think the glowlight danios are breeding). I could not see the fry anymore but the Tricker tub pond was covered in salvinia. I put out two more fry on 7/8/06. I did not know if any were alive under the salvinia. When I pushed it aside, I only saw tadpoles. If I had the time and place for them, I would have raised these fry in a net breeder or another tank. I put up the Tricker pond on 9/24/06. There were no surviving fish in there. I should have put some fry in a net breeder instead.

One of the fish vanished during the summer leaving five of the small, fast, beautiful danios. For some reason, these danios were doing great and all of a sudden got bad dropsy. I treated with erythromycin which had no effect (as with previous fish with dropsy). On 10/3/06, I removed a 2.9 cm or 1" danio x from the 20 gallon. That fish was the full size that they grow. They were small fish. On 10/7/06, I found the mostly decomposed body of another one. Just a week before, the five of them were swimming happily. Then, I had only seen two of them but there could have been up to three. I loved these guys and was very upset. I found another one of their bodies on 10/18/06. I had yet to see if 0, 1, or 2 were left. They could hide pretty well. I wish I knew how to fix whatever was killing them after they did so extremely well for half a year. Yes, I checked the water chemistry and continue 50% weekly water changes and good maintenance so it has to have been some sort of bacterial infection. I guess it could have been fish tuberculosis which my tanks have but it usually is not so deadly so fast.

As of 10/21/06, I saw just one lone danio x left. I did not think there were more. The survivor seemed to be improving in health, and I thought it would make it.

As of 11/11/06, I have not seen any danio x in weeks so they are definitely all dead from the dropsy and such that killed them. I do not know why.

Description

The lower front abdomen is a solid grayish color. The rest of the fish has a light yellow/brown base color and then has black spots on top of that. The spots are dark, circular, and of good size. The spots occur on the anal, caudal, and dorsal fins as well as the body. Near the base of the tail, the spots get closer together so they almost appear to be a short stripe there but aside from that, there are no stripes. The fish looks a little like a leopard danio and an ocelot danio but is neither.

If you have a clue what these are, please contact me. Thanks.

On 11/3/08, Bill told me that he thinks my mystery danios were "Burma" Danios. See this site. I think it is possible.

On 10/17/12, Betsy said that she thinks my Danio X were Danio tinwinis. I looked at some photos on-line, and I think she is right!