Sick Zebra Danios

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Sjasmin888

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jan 20, 2017
Messages
22
Location
Birmingham, AL
1 What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability (i.e. cotton like growth, bloated, etc.).

Zebra Danios. Two over the last week have suddenly started the death swim and died within 24 hours. Now I have a 3rd sick with a red swollen belly over which the skin has lost all natural pigment. It is not really swimming strangely, just very lethargically. It stays near the bottom of the tank and frequently rests on the driftwood and substrate.

2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate: high. Need a new test kit, but I know it has to be high. I've been out of town for two weeks on unforseen events and was unable to arrange the proper water care.
PH: 7.4

3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
20 gallon. Cycled. Heavily planted. Set up November 2016.

4~What type of filtration are you using? Please give the name and number (i.e. Fluval 304) and amount of gph if known.
Whisper 30 HOB 150 GPH and Aqua-Tech 10-20 HOB 120 GPH.

5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
5 Banjo catfish 2". 3 Zebra Danios"1.5"(down from 5). 2 Farwella (twig) catfish 3.5". 1 Rubberlip pleco 2". 1 otocinclus 1". 2 German Blue Rams 1.5" and 3".

6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time?
Water change of 5 gallons with 80% gravel vac September 4th. I normally change around 3 gallons every other day along with a 50% gravel vac.

7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
I have had these danios since January 2017. They were at least 9-10 months old when I received them. The most recent addition to the tank was around a month ago when I moved one of my rams from another of my tanks.

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Nothing new added in the last 3-4 months.

9.What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently? Formula One flakes as a staple and San Francisco Bay Emerald Entree once or twice a week.

About 6 weeks ago I had a tank spring a leak and had to evacuate my fish to my various other tanks and reorganize the stocking in them to suit the species as best I could. I have yet to find the opportunity to redistribute them all back to their respective tanks due to a sudden and unforseen move. I just want to know what is wrong with my danios and wether it is communicable or not. I need to fix my stocking, but I can't be moving my sick fish into one of my healthy tanks if they can infect my other fish.
 
Hello sja...

If you have tank problems, you have water chemistry issues. It's that simple.

This hobby is 100 percent about keeping the water clean. The simple water change will take care of the vast majority of tank problems. If you have a small tank up to 30 gallons, you should be removing and replacing at least half the tank water a couple of times a week. Larger tanks need the large water change weekly.

Add some individual stems of some kind of floating plants like Hornwort. These plants will remove toxins in the water between water changes.

Missed water changes will result in water problems, so stick to this routine. Keeping a basic tank is simple, just change the water.

B
 
Back
Top Bottom