Sick Zebra Danio?

[blackers92]

Ok i have a group of 6 zebra danio, all of them seem to pick on the smallest one, this smallest one also doesnt eat when the others eats, kind of floats at the back right hand corner of the tank, while all of the others are swimming frantically. Today when i turned of my lights i saw him literally sitting on the bottom of my tank, but when i came back a few hours later he was up schooling with the other ones. One minute it is a loner the next it is with the group. It seems to get picked on alot though. Also, 5 of my zebra danios have a golden/yellow tinge and then their blue strips, this one seems to just have blue stripes no yellow tinge. It is also very small and has a weirdish stomach it is more round then the others

is something wrong with this fish? should i remove it?

 

[Gilli]

Thats because your small fish is a female and all the rest are males. If it is getting picked on id get a few more females to take the pressure off. Mature Zebras are very easy to sex, most of the males are very slim torpedo shaped, more active and have a more intense colour, thier stripes are yellow whereas the females are cream coloured and they have a rounded shape.

When you put the food in spread it evenly across the tank - that way everyone gets some and it will give your little fish more of a chance to feed.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Ok i have a group of 6 zebra danio, all of them seem to pick on the smallest one, this smallest one also doesnt eat when the others eats, kind of floats at the back right hand corner of the tank, while all of the others are swimming frantically. Today when i turned of my lights i saw him literally sitting on the bottom of my tank, but when i came back a few hours later he was up schooling with the other ones. One minute it is a loner the next it is with the group. It seems to get picked on alot though. Also, 5 of my zebra danios have a golden/yellow tinge and then their blue strips, this one seems to just have blue stripes no yellow tinge. It is also very small and has a weirdish stomach it is more round then the others

is something wrong with this fish? should i remove it?

The golden/yellow colouring indicates that those are males.
'Fighting' between them is quite normal, they basically chase each other around 25/7, it's all they seem to do. However, sitting on the bottom is not normal behaviour and may indicate something is wrong.
Do you know what your tank chemical stats are?
What are you feeding them? The 'wierdish' stomach may be an indicator of constipation, try adding a few mashed up de-shelled peas into their diet, this can clear their stomachs. I had a similar problem with one of my zebra danios but peas cured it. I now feed peas twice a week.

 

[waterdrop]

I agree with Gilli, it sounds like a case of 5 healthy males and one smallish female. She probably really is staying clear because of being chased so much. Its an unfortunate combo and adding several healthy females would be the best fix. Zebras don't represent a lot of bioload, so they, like neons, are small fish that you can "cheat" your bioload up with (ie. less worry that you are overstocking.) ZZ, I think your points are well taken but I believe I remember that blackers water params have been quite good, so I'm less suspicious of a problem with the water or individual fish, I think its more the male/female ratio. But of course all things should be watched.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[blackers92]

yeh my water parameters as of tonight were, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 5, pH 6.6
so its not too bad, well i think there is another female in their so it is 2/4, but this one is significantly smaller then the other one. I didnt know that there colour of them indicated their gender, i thought it may have been based on the water parameters I am just feeding them flake at the moment but i will try the pea method, hopefully it will work. Next time im at my LFS i will probably get a few more females to even it up abit, hopefully it shouldnt stress my bioload too much

thanks for all the responses