Whirling Disease On A Gold Zebra Danio?

[ZeCapitane]

The tank is a 20 gallon,
the pH and Nitrate levels I'm unsure of, but the nitrite and ammonia levels are extremely safe (either close to 0 or exactly 0)
The tank temperature is at 76, and it's been at this since I set up the tank.
My poor little gold zebra danio was swimming fine all day today, but when it came time to feed them, I noticed he was swimming with a whirl. It's a very prominant whirl, too. As in, he spins almost rapidly while swimming. I can't see any other symptoms, but it does look a bit like his gills aren't as large as they used to be. It's hard to tell, since he's swimming so much.
I've been changing 3 gallons of the water every second day, just to be safe. I've "cycled" the tank, so ammonia levels haven't actually been near 0.25 recently, but I'm changing the water just to be on the safe side. At least, until I get the Nitrate and pH tests. (Didn't buy a testmaster kit--Couldn't afford one at the time, so bought an ammonia and nitrite liquid testing kits)
This little fish is actually one of the recent additions. I added four gold zebra danios to the tank, to accompany the remaining 2 zebra danios in the tank. (I had bought 3, one succumbed to dropsy less than 24 hours after I bought it. I was not happy with this, at all.)
There's no chemicals in the tank. I haven't added anything, except the dechlorinator when I'm changing the water, but I add that in to the water I'm going to put in.

I guess it would be interesting to point out I had similar symptoms in my little Zebra Danio last week, but he was also being terrorized by the other fish--I was working on setting up a smaller tank for him, so I used this as a hospital tank. He died because of the whirling-ness he had, but I thought it was just the stress of being picked on by the other Zebra Danio (whom I call Jaws).
Could it be a parasite of some sort? And, I know it's probably too far along to help (the sick fish) but is there anything I can do to prevent the other fish from getting this? It's happened to 2 already, so I'm scared.

(Sorry if that was excessive, I tried to provide as much info as I could)

EDIT: Well, the fish ended up dying, I'm keeping a very close eye on the fish now. It's happened to two, now. When they die, they sink to the bottom. I know its dead, they don't breathe and eventually, if you disturb their bodies, they do float to the top. Is that...normal?

 

[RushingChamp28]

The tank is a 20 gallon,
the pH and Nitrate levels I'm unsure of, but the nitrite and ammonia levels are extremely safe (either close to 0 or exactly 0)
The tank temperature is at 76, and it's been at this since I set up the tank.
My poor little gold zebra danio was swimming fine all day today, but when it came time to feed them, I noticed he was swimming with a whirl. It's a very prominant whirl, too. As in, he spins almost rapidly while swimming. I can't see any other symptoms, but it does look a bit like his gills aren't as large as they used to be. It's hard to tell, since he's swimming so much.
I've been changing 3 gallons of the water every second day, just to be safe. I've "cycled" the tank, so ammonia levels haven't actually been near 0.25 recently, but I'm changing the water just to be on the safe side. At least, until I get the Nitrate and pH tests. (Didn't buy a testmaster kit--Couldn't afford one at the time, so bought an ammonia and nitrite liquid testing kits)
This little fish is actually one of the recent additions. I added four gold zebra danios to the tank, to accompany the remaining 2 zebra danios in the tank. (I had bought 3, one succumbed to dropsy less than 24 hours after I bought it. I was not happy with this, at all.)
There's no chemicals in the tank. I haven't added anything, except the dechlorinator when I'm changing the water, but I add that in to the water I'm going to put in.

I guess it would be interesting to point out I had similar symptoms in my little Zebra Danio last week, but he was also being terrorized by the other fish--I was working on setting up a smaller tank for him, so I used this as a hospital tank. He died because of the whirling-ness he had, but I thought it was just the stress of being picked on by the other Zebra Danio (whom I call Jaws).
Could it be a parasite of some sort? And, I know it's probably too far along to help (the sick fish) but is there anything I can do to prevent the other fish from getting this? It's happened to 2 already, so I'm scared.

(Sorry if that was excessive, I tried to provide as much info as I could)

What kind of filtration do you have in this tank? Perhaps there is not enough dissolved oxygen in the water (mechanical filtration). This could cause similar symptoms as you described. Even if you do have the correct gph flow from the filter, there have been cases where the tank is filled too high and there is not enough room at the top of the tank between water level and the hood to allow proper air flow/surface disturbance/oxygen exchange.

Also, ANY ammonia/nitrite reading is not safe, and should not be present in a "cycled" tank. pH should also be monitored, as they are living things and most need ph generally fairly close to neutral. As a side note, what type of test kit do you use?

I would guess that what is happening with the fish is something chemical such as the 3 listed above, or another contaminant introduced into your tank. Have you put anything else into the tank recently? (meds/decor/substrate/etc) Do you have anything in the room that could contaminate the water? (candles/cigs/other smoke/air fresheners/cologne&perfume/cleaning chemicals)


If indeed it is not something listed above (or related) I would speak with Wilder about disease <-- the expert.

Hope this helps
-Evan

 

[ZeCapitane]

Should I try lowering the water levels a bit? I noticed the water pouring in is almost directly at the surface of the water--which is where my heater tells me to fill it to. Can I still have the water levels a bit lower?

I'll pick up a pH test ASAP--and when I said almost 0, I mean I can't tell the colours exactly. All I know, is, for the ammonia testing, it's as yellow as its ever been.

The tests I use--I can't find the name, it's not written on the bottle as far as I can see--come in a white bottle, with the red safety-cap thing, and you open them and put them in to the glass tube you fill with 5ml of water. Although, I'm pretty sure you do this with every test... The test tube itself says API on it, above the mark.

Nothing except the fish have been added to the tank recently--I've had the same gravel, plants(Fake) and aquarium ornament since I got the tank. As far as contaminants in the air that could effect the water, those would never go near the aquarium. I've had nightmares about dumping something that'll kill all my fish in to the tank, so I'm very careful about that.

 

[Bigbadbaz]

If the output of the filter is disturbing the surface of the water then I would not worry out oxygen in the water. Could be the new fish has an infection or parasite. Keep an eye on it of quaranteen if possible.