new danio is not eating

Question
I am new to the fish business.  I have a one week old 12.5 gallon freshwater tank. I put 3 zebra danios in it yesterday. Two of them turned out to be long fins and the third fish is smaller and doesn't appear to be a long fin. Sometimes the long fins will let the other one swim with them and other times they won't.

My concern is that the smaller one is not eating - even if the food is right in front of him and the long fins are on the other side of the tank. I have observed the long fins pushing the smaller one around from time to time throughout the day and during feeding.  

Will the smaller one work things out on his own or is there something I can do to help the situation?  He is very active and appears to be perfectly healthy except for maybe some hurt feelings by the intimidation tactics of the other two.  I was planning on adding more danios after completing the cycling process but wish I could do so sooner and give him a few more friends to choose from. How long should I wait before adding more fish?


The pet store checked my water yesterday and said all was well.  I did a 10 percent water change today and so I don't think it is the water quality, especially since they all appear to be doing great. They are very active and quite fun to watch!

I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions.  

Thanks for your time.

Answer
Hi Linn

If they all appear healthy, I would give it some more time. Your tank unfortunately will not complete the cycle process until 4-8 weeks, usually between 4 and 6 weeks. You definitely don't want to add more fish too soon, especially in such a small tank.

Danios, being as small as they are, sometimes need the flakes broken up for them and even crushed almost to a powder. You could give that a try. Since he was just put in the tank yesterday, he may still need some time to establish his comfort zone in his new home.

Other than that, I wouldn't worry about him too much, he will eat when he gets hungry enough. Danios like to chase each other around the tank, but this is just a friendly game of chase. I've had Danios for many years and I haven't known them to be aggressive or attack each other. And yes, they can be quite fun to watch :)

Hope this helps, good luck!

Richard