The Mass Murdering Zebra Danio

[DRay]

So about 3 weeks ago I picked up 8 Zebra Danios. The next day they started dying off one by one. I feared bad acclimation, or disease. Turns out it was one psychotic Danio, killing off the rest of the school. Has anyone ever heard of this with Danios?

 

[Ch4rlie]

Have you seen this danio attacking / bullying the other danios?
 
Is there anything else in this tank?

 

[DRay]

Yeah, after number 4 or 5, I noticed the one Danio just full speed ahead charging the others. There were my Angels in w/ them, but they left the Danios alone. Now the rabid Danio is in my RTC tank, so he can get a taste if his own medicine. He started to try to kill the couple of guppies I had in there, so I decided enough was enough.

 

[betta fish]

Have you a pic?

 

[DRay]

Of the lone killer Danio? Not handy, no. I mean, it looks like every other Zebra Danio I've seen.

 

[betta fish]

How big a tank were they in?

 

[DRay]

Effectively, a 30 gallon. Regular rectangle shaped tank.

 

[nigsy]

Strange. I've kept Zebra dannios and always found them to be peaceful towards other fish and themselves; they do annoy other fish when they tear around the tank chasing each other, but nothing aggressive. Think you may just have a physco-dannio!

 

[DRay]

I know rabies is a mammal specific viral disease. Is there anything in the fish world that effects the brain?

 

[RobRocksFishTank]

I have heard of rogue fish like that. I never heard any theories about why it happens, though. Captivity has a widely strange affect on certain individuals of just about any species. I once had the pleasure of taking care of a rabbit that had become extremely aggressive for no apparent reason. I had to where heavy leather gloves in order to clean the cage because it was guaranteed to attack anything that entered it's cage. It happens the other way around, too. Individuals of aggressive species, even cichlids, can become very peaceful, even personable, with their human caregivers. I've even pet a few from larger species. Oscars being the most common that seemed to actually enjoy it.

 

[DRay]

I had a Tokay Gecko that was the worst (they are all bad). Wore welding gloves to clean his setup. They have backwards facing teeth like a snake.