One Danio Behaving Diferently

[mnew]

Just added 5 danios to our new tank yesterday all seem very happy having 300l of water swim around in on thier own! but one of them has just started swimming at the top and seems to be gulping all the time. The tank is new but the water is testing fine.

Any ideas?

 

[Breeze7050]

A few question so we can help you better...
1. how "new" is the tank?
2. how was it cycled?
3. what are the parameters - specifically ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte?
4. are there any other fish in there? how are they acting?
5. were any chemicals added?
6. how much and how often are water changes?

It sounds to me like maybe you are doing a fish cycle with your tank...? If that is the case even though danios are hardy, you can expect to lose some if you are using them to cycle the tank.

 

[Christine1014]

Hi! Sorry to hear about your Danio. Can you give us some more info? Tank size, is it cycled, specific water stats (ammonia levels, nitrate, nitrite, ph), type of filtration...? Sounds like the fish is gasping for air, but not sure since your other fish don't seem to be affected...

 

[mnew]

He seems to have perked up a bit, but still breathing more heavily than the others.

The tank is 44 x 30 x 15 inches with an external eheim thermo filter

ammonia tonight went from 0.25 to 0.5
nitrite is 0
nitrate went from 20 to 40 from last night.

the fish were added yesterday afternoon

the tank water had the declorinator added as well as the tetra bacteria tablets to help things off.

the other danios seem very happy, with a couple of them chasing and doing fin displays

someone suggested it might be indigestion, and this might be possible as when we first fed them after getting them back from the shop they were ravenous !

 

[Breeze7050]

good that he's doing better. I would do water changes every other day to keep those ammonia readings down. Sometimes giving them a pea will help with constipation, not sure if it will help with indigestion, but worth a try. Just cook it and peel it and break it up. Good Luck.

 

[*Fishkies*]

Do you have any areation in the tank? That can sometimes help improve the oxygen intake of a fish.

 

[fishkers]

Definatly check the aeration! Also like previously stated do water changes. The nitrate level is high which is a concern. I had that happen once and well mine got a lot higher than that and well it doesn't end well. Do water changes, keep and eye on it and hopefully all will be well.

 

[mnew]

Airation is not the problem as the large buble curtain gets turned on each eveningh and with just 5 danios in such a large tank I don't think that could be it. The little fella died yesterday, but the others are as happy as anything with two of them chasing each other through the plants and it looks as if they are trying to do naughty things! Perhaps I should get some screen for the tank

I suspest that the danio that died was not heathy when we got him as he was showing signs of distress from almost the moment we released them.

I'm keeping a close eye on them and the water quality. Fingers crossed.