Will Hengeli Rasbora be picked on?

[Jen9]

I'm thinking if adding Hengeli Rasbora to my tank with my leopard and pearl danios today.
Do you think they will be picked on by my danios? Because my pearl danios are quite large (2 1/2 inches) and the Hengeli rasbora are quite small (maybe 2 cm).
Are they compatible?

 

[NoahLikesFish]

I don’t know, probably if there is a lot of hides/ they are more oriented towards the bottom of the aquarium

 

[Jen9]

Hmm, there's some hiding spots. A castle, driftwood, plants. But they danios seem to swim everywhere and claim then all.

 

[AggressiveAquatics]

It all depends on how big your tank is how many danios and rasboras you have. Danios are shoaling fish so they need bigger numbers and large area to a swim because they are very active fish so if your tank is under 20 gallons I think they would fight. So I’m going to have to disagree with NoahLikesFish

 

[RayClem]

In generally, Danios are peaceful fish. However, because they are active, they can nip at the fins of slower moving fish. There is a pretty big disparity in size, but the Rasboras are active fish so they might be able to swim away fast enough to avoid being picked on by the larger fish. If you have a shoal of Rasboras, there is less likelihood that an individual fish will be the target of an attack.

How big is your tank? If you have plenty of room, you should be OK. If the tank is crowded, there is no way to tell what might happen. Because the danios are established in the tank, they may feed a sense of ownership and try to defend their territory.

 

[Jen9]

My tank is 29 gallons. There are 7 danios. The occasionally nip eachother but its not too often.

Anyways, I just bought 6 of the Hengelis. And I also just bought a large fake plant that I will put in when the hengelis are acclimated. I was thinking the new plant won't be "claimed" by the danios yet.
If all goes well I'll yet 6 more rasboras in 2 weeks. Of all goes bad I'll try to return them to the store .

So I added them... The Pearl Danio were really agressive with the for the first few minutes. It was hard to watch. They have since calmed down. And the rasboras have found eachother and are hanging out near at plant at the top. They seem curious and want to check out the tank. I just feel on the edge that the danios will start to attack again.
Should I return them? Will it continue to get better? I'm so nervous.

Or should I get 6 more. And just monitor the tank conditions?

Ok. I'm totally returning them. The danios are awful with them. Lesson learned.

What fish would work with these danios?
I like the idea of orange schooling fish and some honey gouramis.

Would the danios be aggressive with the honey gouramis too?

 

[RayClem]

I am not surprised. If the sizes were closer to being equal, you might have been OK.

You probably need to get some fish that are similar in size and temperament to the danios. Two fish that might meet those criteria are Serpae Tetras. The other is Tiger Barbs. The will be bigger than your Rasboras and both are known for being scrappy/nippy so they should be able to hold their own.

Gourami are from the same Anabantoidei family as bettas, sometimes called Siamese fighting fish. Although gourami are not quite as aggressive toward each other as male bettas, they can still be pretty aggressive. I have two dwarf gourami in a 55 gallon tank that is heavily planted with plenty of spots to hide. Even then the gourami are often aggressive toward one another and sometimes toward other tank mates. Fortunately, the can escape this harassment. Adding one honey to your 29 gallon tank should work, but adding two or more might be asking for trouble.

 

[Jen9]

I am not surprised. If the sizes were closer to being equal, you might have been OK.

You probably need to get some fish that are similar in size and temperament to the danios. Two fish that might meet those criteria are Serpae Tetras. The other is Tiger Barbs. The will be bigger than your Rasboras and both are known for being scrappy/nippy so they should be able to hold their own.

Gourami are from the same Anabantoidei family as bettas, sometimes called Siamese fighting fish. Although gourami are not quite as aggressive toward each other as male bettas, they can still be pretty aggressive. I have two dwarf gourami in a 55 gallon tank that is heavily planted with plenty of spots to hide. Even then the gourami are often aggressive toward one another and sometimes toward other tank mates. Fortunately, the can escape this harassment. Adding one honey to your 29 gallon tank should work, but adding two or more might be asking for trouble.

Thanks for the info!

When I bought the pearl danio (labeled as Purple Passion danio at my fish store) I assumed they were similar to zebra and leopard danios. And most info I found says they're peaceful schooling fish. For years when I was a kid we had neon and glowlight tetra with our zebras. So I'm a little disappointed with the Pearls' behaviour. They look beautiful though.
Also when I set up my tank I didn't realize how warm it would be. It's usually at 78 and the heater barely ever turns on. So I need fish that like warmer water.

I'm nervous to get a honey gourami.
I don't know what I'll do. Probably just stick with the 7 danio for now.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

I think that honey gourami would be intimidated by the active danios. They would likly be stressed and hide.

You said orange?
Tiger barbs would likely get along with the danios, they are also active somtimes fin nippers. Get at least 8, mix in albinos, green, even glo tigers to create one school if you want to.

or gold barbs would probobly work. Or mollies, platies or swords,

 

[Jen9]

I think that honey gourami would be intimidated by the active danios. They would likly be stressed and hide.

You said orange?
Tiger barbs would likely get along with the danios, they are also active somtimes fin nippers. Get at least 8, mix in albinos, green, even glo tigers to create one school if you want to.

or gold barbs would probobly work. Or mollies, platies or swords,

I might try Tiger Barbs in the future, unless I see something I like better. I don't think there will be a problem since they would be bigger than the danio. And the danio are so fast they basically teleport lol.

I'm not stuck on orange though. I'm open to any colour fish.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

I think that honey gourami would be intimidated by the active danios. They would likly be stressed and hide.

You said orange?
Tiger barbs would likely get along with the danios, they are also active somtimes fin nippers. Get at least 8, mix in albinos, green, even glo tigers to create one school if you want to.

or gold barbs would probobly work. Or mollies, platies or swords,

Well then, you might like loaches. They are super rambunctios monkeys that have no trouble with active tankmates. They are mostly bottom feeders, "except when there is food around, so you would be taking advantage of the space in the tank. Yoyo loaches, banded, or zebra should not get too big, not for at least 5-6 years anyway. Or if you have more money then me, chain loaches are AWSOME!

 

[Jen9]

Well then, you might like loaches. They are super rambunctios monkeys that have no trouble with active tankmates. They are mostly bottom feeders, "except when there is food around, so you would be taking advantage of the space in the tank. Yoyo loaches, banded, or zebra should not get too big, not for at least 5-6 years anyway. Or if you have more money then me, chain loaches are AWSOME!

Hmm, I've never looked into loaches before. I never liked the look of the wormy looking ones lol. The yoyo loach looks interesting. Are they sensitive to gravel like Corydoras are?
I'm still leaning towards the Tiger barbs. I think they would be the safest especially after watching my danio yesterday.

 

[Noroomforshoe]

I have had loaches for maybe 12 years. And some of them are the original ones from way back when. I have used the same smooth natural type gravel the entire time, and they are fine. I have Zebra, Polka dot and Yoyo loaches, they deffinitly dig for food, but the dont burry them selves like kuhli loaches. "the wormy ones" theu are food grubbing monsters that can stand up to bigger, fast fish, but also they dont fin nip. They hide/sleep during the day , so the tank looks empty, but the are all over the place any time they think I might be feeding them, day or night.
Tiger barbs are cool, hardy fish, There notorious reputation of fin nippy nastiness has kept them out of my tanks. But it could be the same with the danios. They both need a larger then minimum school, and a good amount of space to keep them from being stressed.

 

[FinalFins]

Gourami are from the same Anabantoidei family as bettas, sometimes called Siamese fighting fish. Although gourami are not quite as aggressive toward each other as male bettas, they can still be pretty aggressive. I have two dwarf gourami in a 55 gallon tank that is heavily planted with plenty of spots to hide. Even then the gourami are often aggressive toward one another and sometimes toward other tank mates. Fortunately, the can escape this harassment. Adding one honey to your 29 gallon tank should work, but adding two or more might be asking for trouble.

Actually honey gourami are one of the more peaceful gourami, so i think multiple could work. But my problem with it is that the gourami would be intimidated by the danio's activity.