From time to time we have beautiful wild catches of these two Danio species from Burma in stock, which are often characterized by particularly intense red tones in the fins. D. kyathit and D. quagga replace D. rerio, the zebrafish from India, in Burma. Apart from the coloration, the three species are absolutely identical, also in terms of care and breeding in the aquarium.
When the independence of the Burmese from D. rerio was discovered, it was initially believed that the spotted and striped animals from Burma were of the same species and merely color variants, which were grouped together under the species D. kyathit. Later it was decided to describe the striped Burmese as a separate species, D. quagga. However, there are always individual animals in the wild that represent intermediate forms – so-called intergrades – that are neither clearly D. kyathit nor clearly D. quagga. Nature is somewhat more complex than we would like it to be with our pigeonhole thinking.
Burmese zebrafish are beautiful, problem-free aquarium fish that are ideal for unheated indoor aquariums. The temperature requirements are 14-28°C, depending on the time of year, for breeding it may even be a little warmer, but if the animals are kept too warm permanently, they lose color and become susceptible to disease. The chemical composition of the water does not matter, any drinking water is suitable for keeping them. Any commercially available fish food is eaten, plants are ignored and zebrafish, which incidentally reach a size of 4-5 cm, are completely peaceful towards other fish.
For our customers: the spotted Danio kyathit has code 413613, the striped D. quagga code 413603 on our stock list. Please note that we only supply the wholesale trade.
Text & photos: Frank Schäfer
