fish acting strange

[UDCatFish]

I have a 36 Bowfront freshwater, non planted aquarium. I have an Aqueon 50 hob filter that cycles 250 g/hr. I have had it for 8 months. I currently have 12 Golden Cloud Minnows ranging from half an inch to a full inch, 6 Zebra Danios that are all about one and a half inches, and 4 Upside Down Catfish 3 of which are two to two and a half inches and one that is one and a half inches. I just tested my water: Ammonia 0 ppm, Nitrites 0 ppm, and Nitrates 10 ppm. I used an API Freshwater Master Test Kit. The water temperature is 74. The last time I added new fish ( 3 Gold Cloud Minnows 1/4" long at the time) was about 3 weeks ago. There was a slight ammonia spike a few days later, but was back to 0 within 2 days due to daily 25% water changes following the spike. I vacuum my tank, wipe the sides with an aquarium sponge on an aquarium adjustable rod,, and change approximately 25 % of the water weekly. I feed flake food daily and about every other day, frozen bloodworms

Water is clear and all the fish are doing very well except one Female Zebra Danio. Yesterday she started swimming strangely. The best I can describe it is that she sways back and forth in the water. At times she stops swimming and starts floating to the bottom of the tank, but then she swims back up and starts swaying again. She ate some flake food this morning. She is obviously in distress, but I have no idea why. I have had her for about 6 months. She is staying in the middle of the tank.
Any ideas about what could be wrong with her? Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

[Delapool]

How's the fish going - any other signs? Bloating or anything?

 

[UDCatFish]

Fish acting strangely

Thanks for responding. She is still doing the same things. She sways or zig zags, and then she stops with her tail pointed down and floats downward for a few seconds and then starts to sway again. She is not bloated nor does she appear to be gasping for air. This is the second day she has not eaten unless she is eating very tiny pieces as she swims by them. She does not go to the top like the others to eat. Today is the first day one of my male danios took an interest in her, but it was very brief. The other danio's leave her alone for the most part since she started acting strangely. She stays in the middle of the tank for the most part and the other fish will school with her until she either floats down or sways away. I am surprised she is sill alive. I would really like to know what is up with her and am hoping it is nothing contagious.
Any ideas? Thanks again for responding.

 

[Delapool]

Nothing really springs to mind but some quick ideas would be:


Canary in a coal mine - everything looks good but perhaps this fish is just sensitive to something. Just in case is PH ok? Nothing added recently like driftwood that might release oils or anything?


Something internal like bacterial infection or not liking something in the feed or off-colour. Sorry! Hard to be specific there. You could try some brine shrimp which provide a bit of roughage and cut back on blood worms as a treat. However as not eating this is pretty hard to do.


Is the fish pooping ok?


My experience has been that some sort of internal problem is hard to cure but if there are no obvious signs of anything wrong, than it tends to be just one fish (touch wood!).

 

[thing fish]

sometimes these things just happen, despite all our best efforts. i am curious about what temp you keep the tank at.

 

[coralbandit]

Is there any "heavy breathing"?
The settling and swaying could be an indication of gill issue if accompanied with heavy breathing.
Look into symptoms of gill/scale flukes?

 

[UDCatFish]

Fish acting strangely

She did not eat again this morning and I have not seen her poop, but I do not always see my fish poop. My PH is 7.7 I know that is a little high, but it has always be that high. I was told by several people not to mess with trying to lower it as long as the fish were okay; which they were until now. My water temperature is 74 f.
Her behavior is still the same. I did try giving her blanched peas a few days ago because I thought she might be constipated. My baby UDC is the only one who ate the peas . ( I missed a piece on the bottom when I cleaned them up ) He wont be constipated!
I am sure she won't live much longer since she won't eat. I realize she is not a fancy or expensive fish, but it makes me sad to see her like this. I try my vey best to maintain a healthy environment for all my fish. Guess this is just one of those things that happens. I probably will never know what is wrong with her.

 

[UDCatFish]

Fish acting strangely

Her breathing does not appear to be labored at all. How can I tell if she has flukes and won't my other fish get them if she does?

 

[Matt68005]

A video would help us. You have a iphone or ipad to take a short video of the sick fish? All we have to go by is outward signs symptoms and water quality.

 

[Johnny32561]

Is she swimming all clunky? It could be swim bladder try feeding it nothing or peas it's usually caused when they "eat" air or constipation One of mine had it before I fed it peas but if that doesn't work then don't feed it and it might pass

Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[UDCatFish]

Fish acting strangely

I don't know how or why, but she is much better. She still sways when she swims, but she started eating again and does not float down to the bottom anymore. She got really thin, but is eating better every day. I am wondering if she got a concussion and now has some neurologic damage. My male Danios get pretty aggressive chasing the females sometimes. Thanks so much to everyone who responded. Hopefully she will continue to improve. I thought for sure she would not make it. I am happy she did. Thanks Again