Red Gills on Danios

tomm10

tomm10

Prodigal Son
Oct 15, 2003
751
0
0
Oxford, MA
www.tomwalkerportraits.com
Shortly after I introduced four long finned zebra danios to my tank they developed redness in their gills. I posted to another forum on AC asking why this might be. The concensus was that it was poor water quality since I was cycling the tank.

The tank has been cycled now with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 15 or less of nitrate for a week now but the redness remains.

The fish don't show any signs of distress, no spots, and no trouble breathing. Could it be that excess ammonia burned their gills? Will this heal? Could it be something else entirely that I should be treating?

Tom
 
My first thought was amonia! Alright, now, it really depends how long and how much amonia they were exposed to. Technically it should heal, if not then they would die, but it doesnt sound like they will. You can use Melafix to help them out.
 
Well, the ammonia stayed at a level of 1.0 every day for a period of 10 days with a spike of 2.0 for one day. I was doing regular 15% water changes every day to try to keep it down. After that there was one day of .5 and now a week of 0.

Like I said, they seem fine and are eating like pigs. However, I did just notice that on one of the females (the one with the most pronounced belly. I think I have two females) there is what almost looks like a little, light blue bubble on her lip. This may be completely unrelated but since you seem to be the resident danio lover I thought I'd mention it ;) I'm hoping this is not a parasite of some kind.
 
A blue bubble? Well I assume it'd be blue because of their colouring... but a bubble? V. Interesting. I've actually never heard of that, but I'm going to assume it's not a good sign. I'd go out and buy some Melafix!!
 
Yep! Melafix is made from Tea Tree extract and aloe vera which are completely natural. You can pick it up at Petsmart. You need 2.5mL for every gallon.
 
No problem! Good luck and tell me how it goes after 3 days of medicating!
 
I did a little more extensive search on AC for this little problem. I thinkit might actually be gas bubble disease. It would make sense since I have quite a few live plants and a 125 filter on the tank.

I'll still be adding the melafix just in case I think.

http://www.fish-disease.com/Diseases/GasBubbleDisease.htm

I'll keep you posted.
 
Do your fish actually make a croaking sound when you remove them from the water??!!!
 
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