Zebra Danio Behaving Strangely

[iburley]

During today it's become apparent that one of a new batch of six Zebra Danios I purchased at the weekend to start a new tank isn't behaving normally - at least not like the others.

It's stuck in a corner of the tank, near the surface, occasionally darting out and zooming back to the same position in the corner. There it appears to be treading water with its body and fins. Occasionally one of the others swims by and it's either ignored or sometimes appears to chase the normal one off.

It does respond to visual stimulus, so waving a hand in front of the tank in its corner makes it move, but it always returns.

Visually, it looks completely normal, though there is a long silvery thread at from time to time coming from where you'd expect waste to emerge!

It's not gasping or using the surface to breath or anything like that and all the others are behaving perfectly normally. This evening when I turned the light off, I noticed it appeared to behave more normally after a few minutes.

The tank is a new 120 litre Juwel Rekord 120 and is in the early stages of being cycled. I'm using an Interpet new tank conditioning kit and following its instructions. I'm scheduled to test for Nitrite levels for the first time tomorrow.

The tank itself has five fair sized plants of various types planted in ordinary gravel substrate. We live in a hard (chalky) water area and the pH of the water tested ysterday was 7.5.

I'm having some minor problems working out how to adjust the heater correctly (the Juwel heater control doesn't have any advice for which way to to turn for hotter or cooler water) and the temperature has mainly been at 77-78F, but did reach 80F this afternoon. That's all of the information I can think of!

Should I be worried?

Ian

 

[Tempestuousfury]

pH: not an issue
Temp changes: as long as they aren't over 5 degrees F and don't happen instantaneously, it shouldn't be an issue

The symptoms seem to be stress, perhaps something else that I cannot think of... I, personally, would return the fish to the store, since it's not worth it to treat newly bought fish since you can replace them and if you already have fish in the tank, the new ones could get infected with whatever the disorder is.

 

[The-Wolf]

symptom(s)
Individual fish stay apart from others. Breathing is normal.
They may refuse food. They may have "cloudy" or grey areas on the skin.
There are no other physical signs.

possible cause(s)
1) Fish may be suffering from a parasite problem. Examine the gills.

2) internal/external bacterial disease

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

however
when placeing danios into a new enviroment
they go through a pecking order thing.
it may just be that you have noticed the most
subservient fish in the tank and s/he will come
around in a few days.

 

[dwarfgourami]

The long silver thread (a very poetical description of what most of us would simply call white stringy poo!) may be a symptom of either internal parasites or internal bacterial infection- but I have also seen it in fish who were stressed out or constipated. Keep an eye on him.

 

[iburley]

This morning it was observed that the ailing Zebra seemed less stressed with the lights off so I have left them off for now. But it does seem less energetic and for the first time I have observed that it is opening and closing its mouth quite rapidly, so I guess it is 'panting'. The silvery waste strand has disappeared.

Apart from that, its physical appearance is perfectly normal - no discolourations, spots, cloudiness, etc. Its fins look in good shape and they are mostly extended.

I seem to be getting the hang of the thermostat now and the tank has settled to 77F overnight from 80 yesterday afternoon. Will do a 25% water change later today once I have bought a siphon. But the others are all behaving very normally - only feeding them sparingly once a day at the moment but the 5 healthy fish are eating the flakes and chasing each other nicely.

Ian

 

[KerriPaul]

During today it's become apparent that one of a new batch of six Zebra Danios I purchased at the weekend to start a new tank isn't behaving normally - at least not like the others.

It's stuck in a corner of the tank, near the surface, occasionally darting out and zooming back to the same position in the corner. There it appears to be treading water with its body and fins. Occasionally one of the others swims by and it's either ignored or sometimes appears to chase the normal one off.

It does respond to visual stimulus, so waving a hand in front of the tank in its corner makes it move, but it always returns.

Visually, it looks completely normal, though there is a long silvery thread at from time to time coming from where you'd expect waste to emerge!

It's not gasping or using the surface to breath or anything like that and all the others are behaving perfectly normally. This evening when I turned the light off, I noticed it appeared to behave more normally after a few minutes.

The tank is a new 120 litre Juwel Rekord 120 and is in the early stages of being cycled. I'm using an Interpet new tank conditioning kit and following its instructions. I'm scheduled to test for Nitrite levels for the first time tomorrow.

The tank itself has five fair sized plants of various types planted in ordinary gravel substrate. We live in a hard (chalky) water area and the pH of the water tested ysterday was 7.5.

I'm having some minor problems working out how to adjust the heater correctly (the Juwel heater control doesn't have any advice for which way to to turn for hotter or cooler water) and the temperature has mainly been at 77-78F, but did reach 80F this afternoon. That's all of the information I can think of!

Should I be worried?

Ian

He might be just shy. Make sure there are some well sheltered parts in the tank, feed well, change the water often, dont rush up to the tank. lift the lid suddenly, turn the light on in a darkened room or make excessive vibration and hopefully he will be fine in a few weeks.