1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Fast, peaceful schooler that is happier in a group.
This is the fish usually sold as the giant danio.
329 species in our list are a good match.
Fast, peaceful schooler that is happier in a group. Needs a lid and room to swim; keep with similarly sized, robust fish.
Flakes, pellets, frozen foods and live insects.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Mature females are rounder-bellied, less colourful and a little larger than males.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Egg-scatterer · Easy
Egg-scattering free spawner with no parental care. Use a dim tank of at least 60 x 30 cm with mesh, marbles, grass matting or fine plants; spawning usually happens within 24 hours, and the adults should be removed after 48 hours. In the wild it spawns in shallow, weedy margins after heavy rain.
Keep a group of 6-8 and condition them with live and frozen foods; choose the fattest female and the most colourful males. A trio (1 male, 2 females) also works.
20-40 L bare tank with a mesh grid or a layer of marbles over the floor, java moss or spawning mops, a gentle sponge filter and water at 24-26 C.
Heavy feeding for 2 weeks, then a cooler (about 2 C) water change and morning sun or a bright light.
More than 200 light orange, sticky eggs; they hatch in 1-2 days (24-36 hours in aquaria) and fry are free-swimming by about day five. Adults eat the eggs.
Infusoria then newly hatched brine shrimp.
A fast, deep-bodied, blue-and-yellow striped devario from hill streams of peninsular India and Sri Lanka. It is the fish usually sold as 'giant danio'. Peaceful but very active, it suits large tanks with robust fish and needs clean, well-oxygenated water.
Thomas Jerdon described the Malabar danio in 1849. It is common in the coastal hill streams of southwestern India and also occurs in Sri Lanka. It has long been a hardy aquarium fish for larger community tanks.
First described by Thomas C. Jerdon in 1849.
15 facts checked with sources
Formerly Danio malabaricus. Devario monticola (Sri Lanka) was synonymised with it in 2025 (Sudasinghe et al. 2025, per Catalog of Fishes). WRONG NAME IN THE TRADE: Seriously Fish says the fish sold as 'giant danio' and labelled D. aequipinnatus is actually D. malabaricus, so this record overlaps with species-giantdanio.json.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Devario malabaricus (updated 21 Sep 2026) · FishBase: Devario malabaricus summaryLegacy had no family. FishBase and Catalog of Fishes place danios in Danionidae (split from Cyprinidae); Seriously Fish still calls them cyprinids.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Devario malabaricus (updated 21 Sep 2026) · FishBase: Devario malabaricus summarysize-pick: Seriously Fish 8 cm SL (standard length), which is roughly 10 cm TL; FishBase common 8 cm TL, max 12 cm TL but 'rarely' reached. Legacy 10 cm (TL) sits within these; 12 cm is kept as the record.
Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio') · FishBase: Devario malabaricus summaryBoth sources 18-25; legacy upper end 26 is slightly high.
Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio') · FishBase: Devario malabaricus summaryLegacy 6.5-7.5 is narrower.
Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio')Legacy had none.
Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio')120 x 45 cm footprint x 45 cm height = 243,000 cm³ = 243 L (same as species-giantdanio.json). Legacy 100 L is far too small.
Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio')Seriously Fish Moderate; legacy 1 = easy.
Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio')Legacy text said 'India and Sri Lanka', which agrees.
FishBase: Devario malabaricus summary · Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: Devario malabaricus (updated 21 Sep 2026) · Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio')The legacy 'look at the belly from above' tip fits; 'often silver' is not in the sources.
Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio')Seriously Fish suggests a larger spawning tank (60 x 30 cm base, about 54 L) than the legacy 20-40 L.
Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio') · FishBase: Devario malabaricus summaryLegacy '200-300 eggs, hatch in 1-2 days' agrees (FishBase gives only 'more than 200').
FishBase: Devario malabaricus summary · Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio')Legacy description is broadly right, but 'hardy' is overstated: Seriously Fish says it needs a well-established tank and near-spotless water. 'Dither fish' is not in the sources.
Seriously Fish: Devario malabaricus (Giant 'Danio')