Danio with swollen belly, belly now turning red.

[dskidmore]

1~What type of fish is afflicted? In addition, please describe what is wrong with the fish to the best of your ability

One Zebra Danio, more aggressive of the "pair". He has had a lump on his belly since I first received him, but it has not affected his appetite or activities. The swelling has gradually increased, and the rear of the lump now looks like it it beginning to redden. There is a smaller lump on top of the lump on his left side. Several people who do not keep fish have asked me if the fish is pregnant, but it does not look like a healthy belly to me.

Suspected causes: parasites or tumor

BTW, I think the healthy danio is female, I am not sure of the gender of the affected fish.

2~What are your tank parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, temp, pH)? Please give exact values.
Ammonia 0
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 4ish ppm
Temp 73 F
pH 7.6 (Yeah, I know it's too high. Last time I tried to correct my pH I overdid it though, so I'm sitting on my thumbs this time.)

3~ How large is the tank? How long has the tank been set up?
75 gallons
Setup for little over 2 months, fish have been together for at least 7 months. Previous conditions were overcrowded.

4~What type of filtration are you using?
Biological: Planted aquarium, all biological filtration is provided by the plants, and the bacteria on their surface.
Chemical: None
Mechanical: A small sponge filter removes small particles that otherwise would cloud the water.
Circulation: 4' bubble wall.

5~How many fish are in the tank? What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes?
Oh gosh, I was given all these guys, you wouldn't believe it, and I havn't identified them all. Lots of tetra varieties, an angel, a goldfish, the "pair" of danios. It seems they were all bought in "pairs" although behavior suggests there is only one actual mated pair in the tank. There are around 16 fish, averaging 2" long. The angel and the goldfish are both 3" long.

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?
I do this weekly, removing 6-9 gallons (depending on how strong I'm feeling that day.) I have sand, but it is vaccumable if careful, and I do so. (I did neglect to wash the sand, having read too many saltwater boards recently, and there is an overly fine particle type that I am happy to remove with vaccuming.)

7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them?
Many of these questions are rather moot, since the fish came from horrible conditions, and this fish came with this problem, but I'll humor you:

I have had these fish since mid-August. Thier previous owner had medical problems that prevented her from taking care of her aquarium. She transfered them all from her 55 gallon to a 20 gallon.

I brought the fish home in two half-full 5 gallon buckets, and "drip" acclimated them for a couple hours. (Water ran faster than a drip, to pour out 5 gallons in 2 hours.)

8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?
Old problem, I do not know when it first began, so I can not tell if there was any co-inciding change. It is likely that this fish has been exposed to high levels of ammonia. The entire tank is new to him.

9A~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?
Flake & brine. I experiment with the occasional piece of vegtable, but this is not a regular a part of thier diet.

 

[TCTFish]

Hi. Your pH is fine for most of the fish you have. Angels and tetras can accustom themselves to it. The danios and goldfish like it. Temp can go up some to help with the angels and tetras. Say around 76 degrees to make everyone happy in there. Danios and goldfish like the cooler water , but angels and tetras don't.

Please specify the filter unit you use. Is it a HOB, canister, sump, undergravel?

Your water parameters seem fine. I would first suspect the food possibly blocking the intestinal track of the fish. This is very common when fish consume too much high protein food with not enough veggie content. Meat proteins are much more concentrated with proteins than vegetation. Offer thawed out and shelled peas. Take the outer skin of the pea off the pea before feeding. This acts like a sort of laxative. If the fish is blocked, the peas should help clear the blockage.

Change the diet. Offer a mix of regular tropical fish flake food with an equal amount of veggie flakes. Even predatory fish have been known to eat vegetation to help aid in digestion. If you can get a piece of driftwood and allow algae to grow on it, it can provide for natural grazing.

If you can, it's best to keep goldfish separate from tropical fish. Goldfish can carry bacteria that tropical fish are not immuned to. When they are kept in a warm water tank, these bacteria can become active in infecting tropical fish.

 

[Zagz]

Aside from the lump he has no other abnormal symptoms? And he has had this lump the entire time you have had him if I am reading your post correctly. Any chance you would be able to get a pic of him? Your water parameters are good, but you knew that. I recently rescued some goldies from conditions similiar to what yours had been through before you got them and have had to deal with some pre-exsisting health concerns. You can browse This page to see if any of the photos looks like your danio but it doesn't sound like it to me. It does quite possibly sound like a tumor. Good luck, and post a pic if you are able.

 

[dskidmore]

Hi. Your pH is fine for most of the fish you have.

Hence my not messing with it.

Temp can go up some to help with the angels and tetras. Say around 76 degrees to make everyone happy in there.

Isn't that going to cause problems with the goldfish?

Please specify the filter unit you use. Is it a HOB, canister, sump, undergravel?

None of the above. As stated above, my primary filtrarion is my plants. I have a very small sponge filter in the corner for fine particle filtering, like the kind you would put in a 10 gallon QT or fry tank. I am able to maintain fairly ideal water conditions with no filter besides the plants, the sponge just makes the water clearer.

Your water parameters seem fine. I would first suspect the food possibly blocking the intestinal track of the fish. This is very common when fish consume too much high protein food with not enough veggie content.

Possible, if it was an intestinal blockage, he would not have been able to digest food properly over the several months he has had this condition.

Offer thawed out and shelled peas.

Been tried. When I used to have guppies, they went crazy for peas, so I've naturally tried them on every other species that came into my posession.

Change the diet. Offer a mix of regular tropical fish flake food with an equal amount of veggie flakes.

This is a reasonable suggestion, I'll look into it.

If you can get a piece of driftwood and allow algae to grow on it, it can provide for natural grazing.

I do have an algae-covered piece of driftwood. I have not seen any fish grazing on it. The angel and goldfish will occasionally nibble on the hornwort.

If you can, it's best to keep goldfish separate from tropical fish.

I am quite aware of that, but the previous owner was not. I do not keep a seperate coldwater tank, so I have no-where else to put him.

 

[dskidmore]

Aside from the lump he has no other abnormal symptoms?
And he has had this lump the entire time you have had him if I am reading your post correctly.

Correct. The lump was present from the beginning, but has slowly grown.

Any chance you would be able to get a pic of him?

I will try. My digital camera is really a horrible piece of junk.

 

[dskidmore]

It looks a little bit like this: http://www.fishpalace.org/cyst_alicedodge_alice@sixlizards.com.jpg

 

[dskidmore]

Well, someday I'll get a real digital camera. In case you can't tell, that blob is a fish, inside of a green net. Yes, that's the highest resolution my camera can do. No, I didn't shrink it any. Yes, that's a close up shot.

 

[Zagz]

It does seem like a tumor of some sort unfortunately. I wish I could be of more help.

LOL my pics look like that sometimes and my camera isn't that bad. In my case it is the photographer.

 

[dskidmore]

At some point we decided we needed a digital camera for web pages. We picked this one up for $25.

It doesn't seem to be infectious. I'll just let him lead what life he can untill the tumor crushes his organs too much to continue. He's too small to attempt any kind of surgery on.

 

[rubysoho]

I had a danio with a tumor very similar to your's. He lived a very happy life just like any normal danio. I had him for over a year before I gave away all my fish due to a fault in my tank that caused me to replace it.