Are my zebra dano's happy?

[swaffs]

I took my 8 zebra dano's out of my 44 gallon tank yesterday as i want to cycle it with ammonia.
I've put them into a smaller tank whilst i do this, (10 gallons)
But they don't seem to happy to me, some are swimming around a little but there are a few which swim very close to the bottom if not sitting on the gravel.
Any ideas? are they stressed?

Thanks in advance to all who reply.

[tanker]

Temp?? Is the 10 gal cycled??

[swaffs]

The tank isn't cycled, but I have used some of the same water/gravel they were in before, which I tested and was fine.
This way I thought I could do what someone else on here said was called a silent cycle.
The temp is 78.
Thanks for your reply

[KarlTh]

A silent cycle requires lots of plants. I'm not sure of your thinking here; you don't want the danios to suffer from cycling the large tank, so you put them in a smaller tank whilst you cycle the big one. But in the smaller tank, ammonia and nitrite will be even more of a problem.

Since you've got the fish, put them in the big tank and do a fishy cycle. Keep ammonia and nitrite as low as you can, and wait until they get to zero.

[13enzene]

I would just cycle the big tank with the fish like KarlTh said. 44 gallons is big enough for a group of Zebra Danio's to do fine in as long as you keep on top of water changes. Keep in mind that a bigger tank allows you more buffer room in your water quality.

[gcis]

I agree with the above comments. I have heard a number of people say that Zebras are hearty enough to do a fishy cycle with them with minimal casualties if any. Any Danio that is on the bottom of the tank is an unhappy one so I would definitely put them back in the 44 gallon and chose the lesser of two evils.

[13enzene]

Even though your tank isn't cycled you have got the right fish to do a fish cycle with. I have read many places and they suggest to do a cycle for a tropical tank with zebra danios. So as long as you keep everything under control you should suffer minimal if any losses.

[SchizotypalVamp]

I agree with the advice already given. If the water tested fine, also, then your tank is already cycled.

[Mgamer20o0]

put them back in the 44 gal as soon as you get the ammonia out.