Zebra Danios Went Crazy During Water Change!

[lateinningmagic]

So I just did my first water change on my 20 gallon tank, and when it came time to put the new water back in, I was lazy and placed the bucket higher then the tank and used the gravel vacuum to siphon it in. I was so lazy that instead of holding the tube over the water by hand, I let the hood close on it, so it would keep the tube in place and the water would fall from above the water line, instead of under and disrupt the gravel.

When the Zebras saw the water streaming down from the side of the tank they all rushed towards it and started swimming against the glass directly under the water flow. Even one of the guppies came by to check it out. The Neon Tetras did nothing, they were at the opposite end of the tank. I saw at least two of the danios jumping out of the water, as if they were salmon trying to swim against the current and over the waterfall.

I'm not worried really worried about this behavior as it was kind of cool to see and they went back to normal when the water stopped flowing. I'm just very curious about why they did that though. Anyone have an explanation? It's weird cause I have a HOB filter so the water flowing in from the tube isn't much different from the water falling from the filter.

BTW: My tank parameters seem fine to me.
Ammonia: 0
NitrIte: 0
NitrAte: 40 (before the water change, should have gone down a bit after)

 

[Fish-Addict]

Both danios and minnows seem to enjoy current, and will often 'play' in it if it is there; I have experienced this many times before. Its perfectly normal for danios to enjoy flowing water

 

[lateinningmagic]

Both danios and minnows seem to enjoy current, and will often 'play' in it if it is there; I have experienced this many times before. Its perfectly normal for danios to enjoy flowing water

Oh, thats cool. I thought maybe they were fulfilling a natural instinct like maybe water flow meant it was time to swim somewhere new or something.

I think its kinda of strange they liked the flow from the siphon since I have a filter from my 10g tank in the 20g to help with the bioloadwith and the output thing is right at the water level, no one seems to play there. Maybe they like something stronger?

I'll be putting in the bubble strip in about a week or so, when I feel I don't need the 10g filter helping with the bacteria. I'm sure they'll enjoy it. I know the guppies will.

 

[Reframer]

Mine do every time I empty the bucket in, they love the feeling of fresh water current.

 

[lateinningmagic]

Cool. Danios are awesome. I've bought 7 and they are all active as heck.

 

[Wycco]

Ditto the above... Mine like to play in the new water being added. I thought it might be in part because the water I'm adding in is a few degrees lower than the aquarium water and the tank unfortunately stays slightly above my desired temps.


I have a HOB that they mostly ignore (except during water change- I turn it on before completely full and it makes a splash they enjoy)... I also have a bubbler which they sometimes play in. (although the Cherry Barbs and the Corydoras Aeneus play in the bubbles more than the Danios).

 

[BioHazard]

Maybe you could get a powerhead?

 

[lateinningmagic]

Maybe you could get a powerhead?

I'm going to put in the bubble strip in a week, I think they'll enjoy that. If they don't, I might consider a powerhead.

 

[excuzzzeme]

Maybe you could get a powerhead?

It's funny you say that as I did that very thing for my danios (Giants and zebras). They hang out in the "stream" for a little bit each day. Sometimes they let it push them to the other end of the tank.

My guppies do the same thing with the filter. Even the fry hang out just at the edges of the stream.

 

[andyjh]

I remember the New England Aquarium used to have (and may still have) a demonstration tank to show that fish will want to swim into a current. The tank had a button you could push which would activate the current within the tank. You could select a switch and reverse the current and watch the fish do an "about face" and head into the stream. I always enjoyed that one!
Andy