zebra danios breeding behavior

Question
QUESTION: Dear Mr Robbins,
i have a couple of zebra danios, a male and a female, they are usually very active and chase each other around constantly.
yesterday i noticed my female danio doing something weird. she keeps lying on the floor of the tank breeding heavily while the male continues to zip crazily about and harasses her constantly.
i did a quick google and someone said this is zebra danio mating behavior so i took the two out and put them in another tank with marble substrate for breeding.
i left them overnight and its been about 24 hours now and they still havent spawned, the female still lies on the ground and the male still harasses her and sometimes he chases her all around the tank.

is this normal? and if it is breeding behavior, how long will they take to spawn? and what should i do?

ANSWER: Hi Amanda;

The female usually doesn't just lay on the bottom of the tank. She is stressed and needs to be separated. The male can harass her enough that she dies. As long as she recovers okay maybe you can try them again in a few days. Or, get some more females for him to get frisky with. Some male danios are rather, um...exceptionally energetic. ;-)

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: hey,
sorry to bother you again. when i came home from work i noticed that my female's body was scared, especially around the dorsal fin area because the male had been harassing her so much. i've put them back in the main tank now where there are other fish and he still chases her around all the time.
do they need to be separated? and if i separate them should i get more danios to keep each one company?
i feel quite horrible for letting the female get so badly bullied by the male ):

Answer
Hi Amanda;

Separate her from all the other fish so she can get a break and heal. She doesn't need a companion, just peaceful rest by herself. The male will be fine in the main tank without other danios too. It isn't going to hurt him at all. It's only temporary. You could get more danios to put in the main tank with him if you want to. Just keep the female by herself.

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins