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Danios are omnivorous fish that will eat both meaty protein and vegetation. However, they do prefer a more carnivorous diet packed full of protein.
Danios enjoy eating live/dried/frozen meaty protein. So small insects, their larvae and eggs will all be welcome. This means that you can, for example, feed baby brine shrimp, micro worms and Daphnia to your Danios. They will also accept flake food and small pellets that contain vegetable matter as well as protein.
There are a lot more foods you can offer to your Danios. But its important to feed them foods that are high in protein as the bulk of their diet. You also need to make sure the food is broken down into small enough pieces for them before adding the food to the tank.
Fortunately none of this means that feeding them is difficult. In fact Danios are an easy-to-feed fish. And that goes for all varieties including the Giant Danio.
So let’s take a closer look at which foods you can feed to your Danios.
Live, Dried And Frozen Protein Foods For Danios
The Danio’s native habitat is in South/South East Asia (e.g. India, Pakistan and Nepal). And in their native environment they mainly feed on small insects, small worms and tiny crustaceans. Basically they well eat any form of protein that that will fit into their mouths.
Live, dried and frozen protein foods for your Danios are readily available at Pet Stores, Aquatic Dealers and Online. Danios do well on a varied diet. So varying the way they get their protein is a good idea.
Here’s Some Of The Protein Foods That You Can Offer To Your Danios
- Micro Worms including Banana Worms
- Vinegar Eels
- Blood Worms also Tubifex Worms
- Mosquito Larvae
- Daphnia (Amazon link)
- Brine Shrimp (Amazon link)
- Brine Shrimp Eggs
Some insects, worms and crustaceans are sold as live food but most can also be bought dried or frozen. If, like me, you’re a little squeamish about feeding, or chopping up live foods, you can go for the frozen or dried options. For example, dried Blood Worms are easy to crunch down and because they’re dried I feel less squeamish about doing it.
Tip: If you opt for dried insects/worms it helps to rehydrate them before adding them to the tank. Soak them in a little tank water for about 20 minutes or so before feeding them to your fish. When rehydrated they will be easier for your fish to eat. They’ll sink into the water more quickly too.
Both Fluval And Hikari do a range of protein rich foods/insect foods that are dried and easy to break down to feed to your fish. I’ve been feeding Fluval Bug Bites Tropical Formula For Small Fish (Amazon links) along with other foods in all my aquariums. The fish love it even though some of them are not strictly tropical fish. I crunch some of it down as I add it to the tank so that even my smallest fish get their fair share.
DIY Live Food Cultures
If you’re happy to feed your Danios with live foods you might want to culture your own supply. Growing your own live cultures is easy to do. And growing your own culture will give you a constant supply of fresh live protein food for your fish.
In this short YouTube video below by Girl Talks Fish Irene shows you how easy it is to culture your own Micro Worms. And also how much your fish will appreciate them.
Flake Food And Pellets For Danios
Both flake food and food pellets generally contain a combination of both protein and vegetable derivatives. They also usually contain added vitamins and minerals. This is because most good quality flake and pellet foods are designed to supply a complete nutritional food source for aquarium fish.
When you’re choosing a flake or pellet food for your Danios it’s important to choose a good quality one that contains a range of beneficial nutrients. You also need to make sure that there is a decent amount of protein in them too.
Although Danios like a lot of protein in their diet they also need some vegetable matter to keep their digestive system running smoothly. This is where flake foods and pellets come in with their combination of ingredients.
It’s a bit like getting a small child to eat up their greens.
The Best Way To Feed Flake Food And Pellets To Your Danios
Feeding flake food and/or pellets to your Danios is the easiest way to feed them. And if you’re new to the fish keeping hobby they’re a great place to start. These types of foods are also the least messiest way to feed your fish as long as you don’t overfeed them.
Most types of Danios are considered as nano/small fish. Which means that the food you offer to them needs to be broken down into ‘bite size’ pieces. Even the Giant Danio only maxes out at around 4-6 inches (10-15 cm). And while it can manage larger foods than the smaller varieties it still needs food of a manageable size.
When it comes to flake food you can crunch it down in the palm of your hand into smaller pieces. You can use the same method with pellets too unless they are particularly hard. If that’s the case you can break the pellets down using the back of a clean spoon to crush them on a clean hard surface.
Once the food is the right size for your fish you can add it to the tank.
Do Danios Eat Vegetables?
Although Danios prefer a meaty protein filled diet they do eat some vegetation, both in their native habitat and the home aquarium. So offering them some green leafy vegetables as part of their diet is a good idea. Eating vegetables is beneficial to fish as it helps to keep their digestive system healthy and reduces the risk of bloating and constipation.
You may find that your Danios are not very enthusiastic about the leafy greens to start with. Particularly if their diet is usually protein packed. So give them a chance to get used to the idea and experiment a little with which veggies you give to them. Also, if you feed the greens as one of their meals and not as an extra treat they are more likely to eat them simply because they are hungry.
Feeding your Danios a diet that includes flake food and/or pellet food that contain vegetable matter, along with the protein, is an easy way to make sure that they’re eating vegetables too. Like a lot of things in the fishkeeping hobby it’s about finding a healthy balance.
Tip: When feeding vegetables to your fish you need to soften them first. You can do this either by steaming, simmering or microwaving them. Let them cool to room temperature before adding them to the tank.
If you want to tempt your Danios with some green vegetables spinach, kale and savoy cabbage are good ones to try. Shelled peas are also worth trying because they are great for avoiding, even solving, constipation problems in fish.
Remember to remove any uneaten vegetables from the tank after your Danios have finished feeding so that you don’t foul up the tank with rotting food.
How Much And How Often Should I Feed My Danios?
Feeding your Danios twice a day is usually the best option. Just feeding one larger meal isn’t good for their digestive system and can cause health issues. So dividing the food between 2 smaller meals is a good idea. Only feed them as much food as they can eat within 2-3 minutes without any leftovers. This helps to avoid overfeeding and having leftover food fouling up the tank water.
You do need to bear in mind that Danios can be a little greedy. Don’t let them fool you into thinking that they are hungry every time you go near the tank. If you know that you have fed them enough for the day don’t let them tempt you into giving them ‘just a little bit more’. Overfeeding is bad for your fish’s health and the overall health of the tank.
Do Danios Eat Algae?
Danios will eat some of the algae that naturally grows in your tank. However, they are not considered to be big algae eaters so they won’t help you to solve an algae problem in your aquarium.
They do often nibble on Algae Wafers though (Amazon link). Which is something you will notice if your Danios are in a community tank with other fish that enjoy these wafers. It might be because algae wafers usually contain other ingredients with the algae content such as fish derivatives, vitamins and minerals. Or maybe it’s just because Danios will eat whatever they can find. Whatever the reason, algae wafers are another way to get your Danios to eat up their greens.
When I introduced my Danios to the tank the first thing they did was to eat up all of the algae wafer in the shrimp/snail feeding dish. You can see one of them doing this in the main photo of this article. Once the algae wafer was gone they set off to explore their new home.
Do Danios Eat Aquarium Plants?
In general Danios are not considered as aquarium plant eaters. I know that experiences in the fishkeeping hobby can vary widely but overall most Danio keepers say ‘no’ they won’t destroy your plants. So despite being an omnivorous fish Danios generally only eat plants as a last resort.
If you’re worried that your Danios might nibble on your plants then choose courser, less juicy plants, for your tank. But you’ll probably find that if they have enough protein foods and vegetables in their diet they won’t pay any attention to your plants.
Which is good news because Danios do well in a planted tank.
Do Danios Eat Their Own Eggs And Fry?
Danios are known to eat their own fry (babies) and will also eat the eggs before they hatch. So if you want to breed them successfully it’s advisable to set up a cycled breeding tank. Then remove the adult Danios soon after they have spawned. If, on the other hand, you prefer to keep their numbers down just leave them all in the main tank and let nature take its course.
What Do Danio Fry Eat?
Danio fry will eat the microorganisms that occur naturally in a live planted aquarium. They’ll also eat whatever tiny food particles they can find. But they will need additional feeding by you to grow into healthy adults. There are powdered and liquid fry foods available at Pet Stores, Aquatic Dealers and Online. A couple of examples of these are Interpet Liquifry Number 1 and Northfin Fry Starter Formula (Amazon link) but there are other options available.
The main thing to remember is that Danio fry are extremely small. For example Zebra Danio (aka Zebrafish) fry are only a couple of millimetres or so long when they emerge from the egg. Other types of Danio fry can be a little larger. But nonetheless Danio fry are tiny. So all food for them needs to be of a manageable size and full of nutrition.
Whether you buy food specifically aimed at feeding fish fry or you just grind, powder down or mince the Danio food you already have, make sure it’s tiny enough for the fry to eat.