Hi folks, this is my first post.
I have a small Zebra Danio which has shown signs of failing health over the past couple of days. After reading various posts, book chapters, etc. on fish diseases, the closest thing I've come up with for an explanation would be a calcium deficiency... but I'm not sure!! The symptoms don't seem to fit any other category...
Here are its symptoms:
-- refuses to eat / takes no interest in food;
-- lurks in the corner near the bottom, or even rests on the gravel bed;
-- extremely listless, exhibiting virtually no movement
(contrary to usual Danio-ness);
-- occasionally gets swept by current in the tank / loses equilibrium
(e.g., this morning I saw it gradually drift so that its head was pointing
directly down, for several seconds, before it righted itself...);
-- Looks extremely thin / wasting away (lack of food ??);
-- Occasionally its tail seems bent upward;
For the record, here's the lowdown on my aquarium:
-- The last H2O readings were: T=80.5 deg. F, pH=7.0, Ammonia ~0.0+ ppm,
Nitrites=0.0 ppm, Nitrates ~ 10 ppm
-- My tank is a 20 gal. tall w/ a power filter attached to one uptake pipe of an
undergravel filter (filters about 92 gal/hr.);
-- The sick Danio (plus 3 others) were used as bio-filter establishment fish,
and (being a newbie) I went on the suggestion _not_ to feed them during
the tank break-in period;
-- Several weeks after the tank's been broken in, here is the established, and
healthy, population (aside from the sick Danio):
* 1 other Zebra Danio (very fat)
* 2 Leopard Danios
* 3 small blue/red Neon Tetras
* 3 Black Neon Tetras
* 1 Julii Cory
* 1 apple snail
* several species of fauna, incl. Java fern, water wisteria, & banana plant.
SO, does anyone have any suggestions on what I might do? Should I put the sick Danio in a hospital tank? Have you ever encountered similar behaviour with your fish, & if so, what was the trouble? Should I euthenize this poor Danio (it's increasingly looking closer to death... a few minutes ago it was lying on the gravel, nearly motionless) by putting it in a small cup in the freezer?
Please, Please help me!! I know it's only a small fish, but I still feel very sad for it!
Thanks a MILLION,
Andy C. a.k.a "ichthyo
I have a small Zebra Danio which has shown signs of failing health over the past couple of days. After reading various posts, book chapters, etc. on fish diseases, the closest thing I've come up with for an explanation would be a calcium deficiency... but I'm not sure!! The symptoms don't seem to fit any other category...
Here are its symptoms:
-- refuses to eat / takes no interest in food;
-- lurks in the corner near the bottom, or even rests on the gravel bed;
-- extremely listless, exhibiting virtually no movement
(contrary to usual Danio-ness);
-- occasionally gets swept by current in the tank / loses equilibrium
(e.g., this morning I saw it gradually drift so that its head was pointing
directly down, for several seconds, before it righted itself...);
-- Looks extremely thin / wasting away (lack of food ??);
-- Occasionally its tail seems bent upward;
For the record, here's the lowdown on my aquarium:
-- The last H2O readings were: T=80.5 deg. F, pH=7.0, Ammonia ~0.0+ ppm,
Nitrites=0.0 ppm, Nitrates ~ 10 ppm
-- My tank is a 20 gal. tall w/ a power filter attached to one uptake pipe of an
undergravel filter (filters about 92 gal/hr.);
-- The sick Danio (plus 3 others) were used as bio-filter establishment fish,
and (being a newbie) I went on the suggestion _not_ to feed them during
the tank break-in period;
-- Several weeks after the tank's been broken in, here is the established, and
healthy, population (aside from the sick Danio):
* 1 other Zebra Danio (very fat)
* 2 Leopard Danios
* 3 small blue/red Neon Tetras
* 3 Black Neon Tetras
* 1 Julii Cory
* 1 apple snail
* several species of fauna, incl. Java fern, water wisteria, & banana plant.
SO, does anyone have any suggestions on what I might do? Should I put the sick Danio in a hospital tank? Have you ever encountered similar behaviour with your fish, & if so, what was the trouble? Should I euthenize this poor Danio (it's increasingly looking closer to death... a few minutes ago it was lying on the gravel, nearly motionless) by putting it in a small cup in the freezer?
Please, Please help me!! I know it's only a small fish, but I still feel very sad for it!
Thanks a MILLION,
Andy C. a.k.a "ichthyo
