Now all fish chasing!

[renie]

:sad My 20 gallon tank: 2 male platies; 3 neon cardinals; 1 cory cat; 5 ghost shrimp and then 2 danios. The zebra danio chases all my fish, the first one, one of my 4 neon cards, he chased exclusively, then the cardinal died. He started chasing all the cards, now he's chasing my platies. My platy is chasing the other platy, especially during feeding time, and even the cards are chasing eachother! Readings: 0 ammo; 0 trite; 7 PH, ? trate (kit malfunctioning, but had water tested last week and lfs said it was good). Any ideas?

[OrionGirl]

That's what danios do--they charge all over, and chase fish. It's typically not aggressive, just annoying. Removing the danios would likely settle the system down a bit.

[renie]

Well, that's fine, but will it stress my other fish and cause ich? or worse?

[OrionGirl]

The chasing and general high activity level can be stressful to other fish, yes. It won't 'cause' ich--ich is a parasite and if it's not present, no amount of stress will create it. The stress will lower the fishes immune system, and make them more susceptible to ailments and less able to resist a parasite if it's present in the tank. Keeping the water in good shape will go a long way to mitigate the stress, though--frequent water changes are a good thing.

[renie]

Thanks for the quick replies. One of the local LFS told me that
"ick" is present in all fish, some actually get sick from it and some don't. Did you ever hear that?

[OrionGirl]

Yes, and it is a myth. This hobby is packed with them, and this is one that's common. The reason the myth got started is that ich preferentially colonizes in the gills, where they can go undetected. The ich parasite burrows into the flesh of the fish, though healthy fish can usually ward off most or all of the parasites. But, it takes just one to create a cyst, which drops off, develops and then releases hundreds of tomites (the free-swimming, treatable stage) that swim around searching for a host. In a stress event, the fishes immune system is compromised and the fish can't ward off the parasites, resulting in a clinical infection that can be identified. Treatments are frequently applied for too short a time to kill all the tomites, but the fish recover and continue on with a low level, sub-clinical infection, with no or limited visible signs of infection. Should another stress event occur, the cycle repeats, with the hobbyist protesting that there haven't been any new fish introduced, so the parasite must always be there. Not true. A complete, full-length treatement can and will kill all the parasites and end the cycle.

There are some fish that have less resistance to the parasite. Puffers, clown loaches, and many of the small scaled fish fall in this category, but all can be treated effectively with appropriate methods and care.

There's also a very good article on Ich in the Articles Forum.

[biogirl361]

wow oriongirl, i always believed the 'ich is always present in fish' thing... very informative ....good post!!
about the danios, i would definitly return them if you can, i had some once and they were always chasing and nipping each other and the other fish. with calm and peaceful fish like your other fish, taking out the danios would almost definitly make the rest of them happier.

[renie]

Thanks Oriongirl and Biogirl! How did I survive before finding this site? :bowing:

I am going to donate my danios to a nice local LFS that have some empty tanks. Scary to think that the LFS store owners don't know the facts from the myths.

[OrionGirl]

;) I used to believe the myth too. It's prevalent, and without understanding the biological process that's happening, it seems to describe what we see. Unfortunately, those types of myths are the worst kind to kill.

[renie]

What happened to the long post on Ich? I can't find it, do you remember what forum it was under?

[SnakeIce]

that is probably an article which can be found here (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39568)

the articles are still being written, but is a good place to start befor you use the search function to find something.

oops that link is to the finished ones, the article corner (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=46) is where that one is right now, it hasn't been moved to that index yet.

[biogirl361]

how long does a fish have to be healthy and happy before it's safe to assume he has fought off and killed any ich parasites he may have once had, hiding in his gills and whatnot?

[OrionGirl]

Without treatment, you can't make that assumption. With treatment, I tend to go on the long end and treat for a full 4 weeks past the last visible stage of the parasite.

[Obsidian]

LOL! I refer to my fish as a dysfunctional family sometimes. I have a pair of platies. The male chases my Serpae tetras. The Chinese algae eater chases the platies and tries to stick onto them. The neons constantly chase each other... seems like they are constantly trying to spawn. The only calm tank residents are my cory and my dwarf frog. I have really thick vegetation in my tank, though, and that helps a lot. Danios are notorious for being overly energetic. It can be stressful for less active fish.

[renie]

Yes, just like in real life with kids. Since I put the two rambunctious danios in the tank, seems like a dominoe effect--the rest of the gang wants to act up now and chase eachother. My only concern is that the fish will get stressed and get sick--how do you know if it's playing and they're having fun, or if they are stressed? Why is just considered "energetic" and no cause for alarm for danios, yet can stress out the other guys? :confused:

[currcat]

I wouldnt be too worried about your fish getting sick from chasing each other around. I have a small group of danios in my 10 gal tank and they just love chasing my barbs arounds...I think the thing you want to do is keep danios with other active fish. I would also inspect the fins of your other fish to make sure they are not nipping at each others fins. And a final word of advise...make sure to add stress coat to your tank very time you do a water change, especially with such active fish! Good luck!

Catlin