Worried about my danio

[Acrobit]

Okay, so I have three danios at the moment - yes, I am planning on getting more - and I'm a little worried about one of them. Every morning before I feed them, I find her sitting under the driftwood. She doesn't come out until she is fed, and she goes back to her spot after a while. She doesn't shoal much with the other danios. What should I do for her? As I said before, I'm planning on getting a few more in the very near future. My other two danios are together all the time and their behavior is normal. Any ideas are appreciated, and thanks in advance!

 

[Lynz781]

My Danios do that when they are frightened but they soon come round after a while. Is it breathing rapidly? Thats another thing mine do when they get spooked by something.

 

[Acrobit]

I've noticed that she breathes rapidly some of the time, but not always. I'm not exactly sure what could of spooked her though... thanks!

 

[The Mohave Kid]

I don't know really ...

... but worry is a useless emotion ... even with bigger issues then fish ?? .. worry is like stepping on the gas of your car and holding the brake down all at the same time ... Where does that get you ?? ... Right ... so don't do it.

My three Danios have mellowed out quite a bit over the seven weeks I have had them ... I made the mistake of cycling the tank with them and other fish ... I suspect the water conditions during cycling slowed them down a bit along with two Ich attacks and copper medication and raised temps ( all in five weeks !! ) .... now that the cycling has passed and water changes are putting the Copper back to zero ... all three are much more active ...

However ... I notice there is a ranking ... one top Danio owns the open water and moves slowly around most of the day ... the other two stay in the same spot most of the day the lowest ranking hangs out in back of the tank near the heater ?? the second ranking Danio near the bottom... perhaps like yours in terms of position but the guy near the heater .. the lowest ranking ... is the one that I get more concerned about ... ... like yours in behavior.

In the late afternoon two of the top dogs start quite a bit of horse play ... the third gets dragged in but the first two have a bit of a bond it seems ... they all eat like nuts ... at night though when the lights are out all three school together back in forth as quite a team ... so I speculate ... that means guess ... sitting around can be somewhat normal for Danios at least some of the time ... at least in a 20 gallon tank like I have ... maybe they need a bit more room ??

If there are no significant signs of disease perhaps all is well ?? If he is feeding thats a good sign .. right ??

Good Day ... B)

 

[WILDER]

The fish that is heavy breathing does it flick and rub on objects, and are gill red and inflamed.

 

[Acrobit]

Wilder, I've noticed no flicking or rubbing on objects. She looks perfectly healthy, no inflammation in her gills or anything.

Is it possible that she just doesn't get along with the other guys as well? She doesn't seem to shoal with them, she kind of just hangs out on her own. As I said before, once my LFS gets danios in again I'll definintely be adding a couple more to the tank.

 

[Lynz781]

Maybe thats all you need to do is add more danios then she may not get as stressed. From my experience the more there are, the less bickering between them.

 

[The-Wolf]

Hi Acro, long time no see

ok no to the problem at hand
Symptoms
Individual fish stay apart from others. Breathing maybe normal. They may refuse food. They may have "cloudy" or grey areas on the skin. There are no other physical signs.

causes and treatments
1) Fish may be suffering from a parasite problem. (treat with broad rane anti-parasite)

2) There could be internal organ disease (euthinasia)

3) Early stage of systemic bacterial infection. (Isolate and observe)

4) ammoina poisioning (Test core water parameters and perform water change as required)

I suspect that it is most likely option one, good luck.

 

[greyko]

I'd say more fish will help. I initially had 3 danios, and there was a lot of bullying going on, which led to one fish just sitting in the same corner constantly, only coming out for food. 3 more in and everyone's happy, lots of chasing going on in the mornings, but noone's hiding away anymore.

 

[Acrobit]

Thank you guys, I will try to add a few more danios this weekend. Any suggestions on how many? I was thinking three or four, but any advice is much appreciated.

 

[Lynz781]

Lots! Only if you have room for course. They are just so cute.

 

[The-Wolf]

Danios do best in groups of 5 or more
havimg said that the more is definalty the better
a school of 15+ acts very differently than a school of 5

 

[Acrobit]

Thank you guys! I was planning on going out and getting them tomorrow, but it looks as if I may not be able to. I'll be getting them for sure sometime this month though. They are in a 29 gallon tank with five tetras, two corys, and a bunch of snails - will adding two or three more be okay?