Dario dario / badi badi

[Zoe]

Hi!
I picked up some of the cutest fish I have ever seen at the petstore today. They had them listed as "scarlet badi" but I think they may be Dario dario because they are quite small.
Does anyone know much about these little dudes? I haven't found any information online. They were a bit of an impulse buy but they are in an 8 gallon tank which has been established for years but didn't have any fish in it except a few sword fry.

Any info / pics would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

[Puffer Pita]

Dario dario are the same thing as the fish formerly known as Scarlet Badis, Badis bengalensis. Do a search on that name.

[craftyflalady]

I personally LOVE the Badis. They are one of the cutest little fishes out there in my opionion. But they are what you call a "special needs" fish.

First off, with them remaining so small..a few fish in an 8 or 10 gal tank is just fine. I have colony's of them in 20 longs and they do quite well. They love a heavely planted tank as well. They tend to be quite shy, and need hiding places and caves.

The biggest mistake I made with them, was I added a heater to thier tank. It seems they don't need it. Once I removed it, they colored up nicely and became much more active.

The biggest problem with the badis, most require live food or at the very least frozen. I have yet to get my badis { and I have 2 tanks of them} to take flake food. And mine only pick at frozen foods. They really go after the live stuff though. So, if yours are not showing interest in your flake, I would suggest trying frozen or live food.

Live food isn't as hard as you would think. Just stick a bucket of water out side and wait. Before long you will have skeeter larvie out there that they will love.

Hope that helps you some.
Good luck, they really are a great little fish!
Kathy

[Zoe]

Thanks Kathy, that is very helpful!

They were a bit on impulse buy but they seem to be doing ok. I come from a cooler climate (Canada) so I do have a heater and the water temp is about 80F. Too warm?
I bought them bloodworms which the male has been scarfing down. The female is a little shyer but she eats the frozen "community tank" food (which is a mix of various buggies / krill I guess) off the gravel with gusto.

They are by themselves in a mid-to-heavy planted 8 gal. Still very shy as they've been there for only 12 hours but they are eating so I'm happy.

Is there any reason I couldn't put some ghost or japonica shrimp in there? Lots of algae grows in that tank but my algae eater outgrew it and nothing else will fit in an 8gal.

Do these little dudes like caves? What size community could the 8 gal accomodate? I only got 2 last night because, at 7$ a pop, I didn't want to be out too much if I failed miserably and they all died - but if they do well I wouldn't mind getting a couple more.

Thanks,

Zoe

[Gourami Swami]

Based of of what crafty said, Id say you could get a few more.

As for an algea eater, get 3 or 4 ottos, also known as otocinclus. they stay 2 inches and are voracious algea eating machines! Also VERY cute. I have one in my 5 gallon betta tank that is doing very well. They like groups though, so if you have an 8 gallon id do 3.

[Zoe]

I had bad luck with an oto once. Are they susceptible, to, well, death? The one I had died after about a week or two.
Is there a reason I couldn't have shrimp? I love shrimp.

[Puffer Pita]

Personally, I wouldn't recommend 3-4 otos in addition to "a few more" badis. Not for an 8g tank. I'd go with either more badis OR a couple of otos, but not both.

You can try it with the shrimp. I'd try one or two inexpensive ones first, just in case the badis like meals on wheels.

[Zoe]

lol boxermom; i would think that the badis are more likely to be eaten by a shrimp; they are tiny! 3/4 cm long I would guess. SO cute.

[Puffer Pita]

My DPs have eaten Amano shrimp twice their size. Size doesn't mean much to a determined critter.

[Durbkat]

Originally Posted by Zoe

I had bad luck with an oto once. Are they susceptible, to, well, death? The one I had died after about a week or two.
Is there a reason I couldn't have shrimp? I love shrimp.

Yes, they are very sensitive. What kind of algae do you have as that will determine what kind of algae eater you'd need. But its always better to find the source and eliminate it instead of putting a band aid on it. So how long do you keep the lights on? How often do you do gravel cleanings? How much do you feed the fish? Do you have a filter?

[Zoe]

The light is on 11 hours a day and works out to about 1.5Watts per gallon.
Gravel vac weekly, there is a filter, don't feed the fish much. The tank used to house a few sword fry and well you can imagine how little they ate.
There's a snail infestation also. Tonight I killed as many as I could but I'm sure they'll be back.

I think the way my tank is made is conducive to algae growth... the light is sort of in the water. Like, there's a protective plastic thing over the water, but it bulges downwards into the water so the algae grows like crazy on it. I don't imagine you can picture what I'm saying but anyway :S

I'd love to eliminate the algae together. 5$ to anyone who can tell me how to make it happen

[Piscesgirl]

You can add a couple of nerite snails to take care of your algae problem. I wouldn't add more than two because each one can eat a lot of algae.

[Durbkat]

Well there's your problem right there, you have the light on to long, its only supposed to be on 8 to 10 hours a day or less, I know as I kept my 10g lights on 12+ hours a day in the summer and now the algae is multiplying like rabbits. Plus I have a 15 watt light on it as thats what came with it.

[Zoe]

Oh! It's as simple as that, eh? That's great.
I guess the algae was growing faster than the plants could cope.

However I'll still keep the ghost shrimp, I love them, they are too cute. They sure love bloodworms!

[Durbkat]

See the algae is feeding off the lights, cut down on their source of food and what happens? It dies off. lol

[SvenRhapsody]

I have Cherry Red Shrimps in with my darios. They seem to do well. The darios eat the very small baby shrimps some times I'm sure though I've never seen it happen. This keeps the shrimp population down to an acceptable level and gives the dario another nice source of food. Mine completely ignored the caves that were in with them.

I feed mine mostly grindal worms. I'm trying to force them to begin eating some Better than Brine very small food. They don't seem to like it much but they eat on it a little. I did have a spawn once, but never saw the eggs. I don't know if it was a trial run or if they got eaten. The mail courts the female until she follows him down into a cluster of plants that he likes. Then he wraps himself around her rolls around squeezing. It was very neat looking.

Good luck with your darios. I love these little guys!

[Durbkat]

We need some pics as I've never seen these fish before!

[Zoe]

Originally Posted by SvenRhapsody

I have Cherry Red Shrimps in with my darios. They seem to do well. The darios eat the very small baby shrimps some times I'm sure though I've never seen it happen. This keeps the shrimp population down to an acceptable level and gives the dario another nice source of food. Mine completely ignored the caves that were in with them.

I love the cherry shrimp but they are 5$ each at my LFS - too much for a shrimp, especially when I can get the ghost shrimp for 1$ each.

Here are some pics:





male and female:

[Durbkat]

Nice tank layout and fish! They kinda look like killi's, or are they killi's? lol

[Zoe]

I'm not sure what a killi is, but I'm pretty sure they aren't that