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Passport
- Family
- Danios / Whiteclouds / Medakas
- Grows to
- 8 cm (3.1")
- Lives
- 5–7 years
- Temperament
- Peaceful
- Care
- Beginner
- Swims
- Near the surface
- Keep
- In a group of 6 or more
- Water
- 18–25 °C (64–77 °F)
IndiaSri Lanka
Care requirements
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On record for Giant Danio: adult size, lifespan, minimum tank, temperature, ph, hardness, minimum group, diet, care level, swim level, tank length.
A figure that is not on record is left out rather than guessed. One marked Suggested comes from keeping knowledge rather than a page.
- Minimum tank 151 L / 40.0 US gal
- pH 6–8
- Hardness 2–15 dGH
- Diet insectivore
- Tank length 120 cm minimum
Care notes written from general aquarium knowledge, not from the cited sources.
About
Giant danios are the family scaled up, and the difference is not subtle. They're torpedo-shaped, powerful, and grow large enough that a shoal of them needs a serious tank rather than a standard community one.
The colour is blue-grey with gold bars and blotches running the length of the flank, and it flashes hard when they turn. In a big planted tank a shoal moving as a unit is a genuinely impressive sight.
They're peaceful but overwhelming. Nothing small, slow or shy will have a comfortable time sharing a tank with them, and that's about presence rather than aggression.
Tank setup
Give your giant danios a long tank and mean it. This is the single requirement that matters and the one most often ignored — they're fast fish that swim in straight lines, and a short aquarium is genuinely bad for them.
Keep a proper group. They're strongly shoaling and a small number behave badly: nervous, scattered and prone to harassing tank mates.
Cover the tank tightly. Fish this powerful jump, and they clear a surprising height.
Plant the back and sides, leave the middle wide open, and expect loose plants to be knocked about.
Choose tank mates that can hold their own. Larger barbs, rainbowfish, medium cichlids and big catfish all work; small tetras and shrimp do not.
Feeding
Giant danios eat greedily and take food anywhere in the water column, though they prefer the surface.
Feed them properly sized food — they're big enough that small flake is inefficient. Larger flake, pellets, frozen bloodworm, chopped prawn and earthworm all suit them.
They're fast and assertive, so target-feed anything slower in the tank rather than assuming it will get a share.
Avoid: underfeeding a growing group, which produces stunted fish, and avoid expecting slower tank mates to compete.
Filtration and flow
Filter heavily and give them moderate flow. Very fast water isn't needed, but they want plenty of oxygen, and they're large, active fish that produce real waste.
Oxygenation matters. An active fish in a warm tank has a genuine demand and a well-circulated surface helps.
Regular substantial water changes suit them. They're hardy but not immune to a neglected tank.
With plants
Giant danios don't eat plants but their size and speed cause mechanical damage.
Anchor everything or attach it to hardscape. Delicate stem plants get flattened simply by a shoal passing through.
Tough species round the perimeter — vallisneria, java fern, anubias, large crypts — take the traffic and give the layout structure.
Health
They're extremely hardy and rarely ill. Most problems in a giant danio tank are stress in the other fish rather than illness in these.
Jumping is the main risk to them. Keep the tank covered.
Fish pacing the glass end to end usually means the tank is too short. That's a housing problem and it won't resolve on its own.
Breeding
They spawn readily and are among the easier large cyprinids to breed.
Condition a group heavily, then move a pair or trio to a spawning tank with a mesh floor or a thick layer of marbles. They scatter eggs after a vigorous chase, usually in morning light, and eat them immediately afterwards.
Remove the adults straight away. Fry hatch within a couple of days, grow quickly and take microworm and baby brine shrimp early, which makes them noticeably less fiddly than small cyprinid fry.
Tank mates
Avoid6
- Least Killifish Giant Danio grows to 8 cm against Least Killifish at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Scarlet Badis Giant Danio grows to 8 cm against Scarlet Badis at 2 cm, big enough to eat it.
- Demasoni Cichlid Demasoni Cichlid is not safe with Giant Danio: african cichlids and danios / whiteclouds / medakas are a bad pairing.
- Electric Yellow Lab Giant Danio and Electric Yellow Lab do not mix: african cichlids and danios / whiteclouds / medakas are a bad pairing.
- Oscar Oscar is not safe with Giant Danio: danios / whiteclouds / medakas and oscars and other large cichlids are a bad pairing.
Only with care19
- Convict Cichlid Convict Cichlid is noticeably larger than Giant Danio and may bully it or outcompete it at feeding time.
- Jewel Cichlid Jewel Cichlid is noticeably larger than Giant Danio and may bully it or outcompete it at feeding time.
- Chinese Algae Eater Chinese Algae Eater is aggressive and Giant Danio is peaceful.
- Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid Giant Danio and Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid are an uneasy mix: danios / whiteclouds / medakas and sth american cichlids - dwarf are a pairing to watch.
- Bala Shark Bala Shark is a risk to Giant Danio: danios / whiteclouds / medakas and sharks are a pairing to watch.
No conflict is recorded with the other 81 species in the database, so nothing to flag. 2 species are not covered at all, so they could not be judged either way.