Danio tinwini

Danio tinwini Kullander &Fang Fang 2009
Common Name:Species Burma. Danio sp TW02
Origin:Sha Du Zup Village Kachin State. Myanmar
Size:30mm S.L.
Comments:This species arrived in the UK in 2003. Another one of the many discoveries made by Mr Tin Win of Hein Aquarium Yangon and it was his company that made it available to the hobby. In many ways, this species resembles Danio kyathit however it can easily be distinguished from kyathit by observing the following criteria. The unpaired fins and the pelvis fins in D. tinwini are spotted. In D.kyathit, the pelvic fins are not marked but the dorsal and anal fins have stripes. D. kyathit has developed rostral and maxillary barbels whereas D. tinwini has a rudimentary or no rostral barbels and and short maxillary barbels.

Addendum

Jane Snellman of Ma, USA contacted me in late 2005 with useful information on this species. In the rush to complete my new fish house before going to India, the said information was not added to the web site. My apologies Jane!

Contrary to our findings, Jane has shown them to be very hardy fish and it is probably the conditions in which she is keeping her fish that is the main contributor.

Tank. A 10 gallon 'Walstad style' set up. Very few water changes and only a small internal filter for water movement. The tank is subject to large temperature 'spikes'. In the winter, the temperature is controlled at 74°F (23°C) whilst in summer, it can reach 85°F (29°C). During the summer the temp. is often reduced by adding a sealed bag of frozen water. The tank is well planted and has floating plants.

Food. Live foods including Mosquito larvae and occasionally brine shrimp. Normal flake and frozen foods.
During the hot weather, the males spent a lot of time displaying and sparring. At one stage, the two dominant males both lost an eye in the fighting. The males would display to the females and entice them into Java Moss to spawn. The eggs were non adhesive and fell to the substrate. At the time, they were not recovered although between 8 and 10 were laid each time.

This year, it is Jane's intention to collect the eggs and hopefully raise the fry. I can only wish her the best of success and hope that she will share with us 'how she got on'.

Feb 2007. I am very pleased to report that my friend Paul Billaney of the Kapi Mana Aquarium Club in Wellington New Zealand has bred Danio sp. Burma. Well done Paul. Certainly the first report I have of this species being successfully bred. This is how Paul bred them:

I used a 38l tank with a good layer of glass marbles on the bottom to stop the adults eating the eggs and a lot of floating Cabomba at the surface. I did not use the built in filter, rather opting for a small air powered sponge filter. Water temp was 23.5°C and the pH was 7.2. I added seven fish which I am fairly certain were two males and five females. After about three weeks of intense showing among the adults I noticed a single fry in the Cabomba. The fry was quite large at around 5mm so I guess it must have been a couple of weeks old. Disturbing the plant revealed a further two so I assume the parents were probably eating the fry.

I then place the fish in a small breeding box which I thought was a bit too small. It had a wire mesh bottom for the eggs to fall through and a good bunch of Java moss. The somewhat confined space drove the fish into a spawning frenzy and they just kept flaring at one another. Two weeks later I had 20 to 30 free swimming fry and plenty more hanging on the glass. They have been fed on liquid fry food and micro worms followed by decapsulated brine shrimp as they grew.