Danio Has Curved Spine?

[KISSfn]

What is wrong with my poor Danio?

 

[MegaZerino]

my celestial pearl danio has that, does yours behave any different to the others?

 

[KISSfn]

He's not as active as the others.

 

[MegaZerino]

mine seems to float a lot and not spend as much time swimming. I guess what we could do is try and slow the waterflow to make swimming as easy as possible. As far as i can see mine's not in any visible discomfort so I'm not going to euthanise him or anything.

 

[KISSfn]

Same here. He stays in the calm areas of the tank. Mine just looks sad and I was hoping he could somehow be cured. I have no intention of euthanasia either.

 

[MegaZerino]

Well i think the most important thing is when feeding to make sure that they get some food, and maybe a place to hide so the aren't drifting in open water feeling vulnerable

 

[KISSfn]

Agree. And maybe a fish chiropractor.

 

[MegaZerino]

That's an enterprise just waiting to happen

 

[KISSfn]

He died today...

 

[fluttermoth]

Do you know how old the danio was, KISS? Lots of fish develop a curved spine like that in very old age.

 

[KISSfn]

I had him for about a year. Thanks for your reply.

 

[mikev]

One year probably means about 1.5 year of age which is not old... however, Zebra danios are special, the quality of tank bred fish is low and some age prematurely. This does not seem to happen with wildcaught danios (similarly sized species) or their offsprings. One alternative explanation is a mycobacterial infection which also causes bent spines and is more likely to affect tank-bred zebras than most other fish... so if more fish develop this symptom, you may have a problem. Yet another explanation, less likely, would be calcium deficiency.. the water in the UK tends to have enough calcium but it still may be that some fish cannot utilize it properly.

With smaller danios like D.margaritus and D.erythromicron humped backs are common and do not indicate a disease.

hth

 

[KISSfn]

Thanks MegaZerino and mikev.