Wondering...

[izzy]

Setup: 55gal, [acronym:963d5e50a2="Under Gravel Filter"]UGF[/acronym:963d5e50a2] with 2 power heads, penguin 330, airpump to 2 power heads, two heaters at 78F

Inhabitants: live plants, 6 zebra danios, 2 lemon tetras, 2 neon tetras, 6 corrys, 1 plecko, 1 sunset fire platty (male) (I am in process to build up the population and have bought 4 neon tetras and are in my [acronym:963d5e50a2="quarantine or quart depending on context"]QT[/acronym:963d5e50a2] tank for 2 weeks now)

Fish look ok, neon tetras are bright, zebra danios are shiny with metalic blue stripes etc... fish don't look stressed....

However... lemon tetras swim at about 10-15 deg angle. Weird. And to top it off, a couple of zebra danios are looking really fat. Almost like constipated. On one there are even little baloons of air on its belly (trapping it from the air pump).

Watter measures: pH 7.8 (bit high I think), Amonnia 0, Nitrates 0.25, Nitrites 0.

I just did a water change and added pH neutralizer and clorine/cloraminne removal to it. I noticed some fish eggs on the glass near the top. They are translucent/white color. Wonder which fish is it.

Could be zebra danios are not fat, just preggers?

[Menagerie]

However... lemon tetras swim at about 10-15 deg angle.

Did the [acronym:fc6fbd6959="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:fc6fbd6959] have the substrate at a 10-15 angle?

[izzy]

Menagferie, why would the substrate angle influence how the fish swim?

I noticed that both lemon tetras and platty (only fish that are "flatter") swim at certain angle. Come to think of it, might be because of the current from the power heads?

I am more concerned why few zebra danios look like they are about to blow.

[Devilishturtles]

izzy, do your danios look like a pinecone (ie:scales sticking straight out)? If they do, they have dropsy and you need to get some meds for your tank right away. If not, they could just be constipated. You could use the trusty ol' pea trick. Buy some peas, and cook them. Wait for one to cool down and peel the skin off of it and feed the "meat" portion of it to your fish. This will cure their constipation problem.

With the fish swimming at an angle question..could be the powerheads cause too much flow? That seems my best bet.

[izzy]

No, they don't look like pinecones. That is for sure. I once had a betta with dropsy and I know how that looks. I guess constipation is the issue here.

Should I lower down the flow on my powerheads? I think they can be adjusted.

[Allivymar]

Just a thought, but how is the light that enters the tank angled? Fish will often align themselves to a light source.

As for constipation, a smooshed cooked pea, epsom salts or daphnia are all recommended laxatives for fish.

[Menagerie]

Menagerie, why would the substrate angle influence how the fish swim?

because fish orient themselves to their surrounding. As Alli mentioned:

Fish will often align themselves to a light source.

You may need these:
http://www.clubjungle.com/fish_chart.pdf
http://www.aquatronicsonline.com/hobbyist/hobbyist3.htm

[izzy]

I tried to feed the peas. I nuked about 5 of them for 15 sec in microwave. Let them cool down. Removed the skin and put little pieces (about 1/4 of the pea) in the water. Fish put it in the mount and spit it out. So they all hit the gravel and eventually mosty likely got eaten by cories.

Re: Epson salt, how do I do that? Treat whole 55 [acronym:9a84afcfae="Gallon"]gal[/acronym:9a84afcfae] tank with it? My [acronym:9a84afcfae="quarantine or quart depending on context"]QT[/acronym:9a84afcfae] tank is occupied with 4 neon tetras to be released to the general population after 3 weeks next week (new buy).

[Christmasfish]

I don't know nuffin anout tetras officially..but don't lemmon s and some others in that family swimming head down a lot; like they are searching?

Just like my penguins natural way of swimming is like they have a weight on their tail?

[savga]

My female danios always seem to be fat with eggs. The males are much slimmer. Danios seem to be the most ravenous eaters in my aquarium also.