My uncle has had his zebra danios for forever. He used to have 3 and now he only has 2. My mom is taking care of them while he is out of town. Yesterday, she asked me to come take a look at them because she thought something was wrong. One of them was actively eating but had a huge bubble looking thing coming out of his side, the other was laying at the bottom and would only move if one of the cory's ran into him. He is extremely emaciated looking and his spine is curved into an "s" shape.
Like I said, my uncle has had this fish for many, many years (10+ probably), so I don't think he will be surprised that they are ill, but the one staying at the bottom, does it sound like fish tuberculosis? I don't think my uncle has a quarantine tank, but he does have other fish in there in addition to the other danio. He has 3 red live bearing fish, 1 male and 2 female. The females are very pregnant (I know, the young will get eaten) and the 2 cory's, and maybe a sucker fish. Are all his fish going to get it? What do I tell him? He's supposed to be back today.
It could be fish TB or it could be aging out..... I would go ahead and remove that Danio and euthanize it. Treatment at that stage especially with an older fish-usually is not effective and more important to keep the other fish safe.
I would also make a 25-50% water change on the tank after you remove the Danio. Depending on the nitrate and/or age of the system-Since we don't know the tank size, filter/filter media care, general husbandry and total stocking-If the nitrates are over 80ppm or the tank has been neglected-you don't want to change too much water at one time. Start with a low percent and increase by 10% every other day-until you reach 50%-Then make daily 50% for 2 days. Otherwise you can shock the other fish-especially if it has been neglected or it had high nitrates long term-since that can cause immune response issues.
Be sure and wash hands really good before and after handling the Danio and working on the tank.
Last edited by Oldfishlady; 10-20-2012 at 01:12 PM.
He keeps pretty good care of his tank and is very particular about how it's cared for. He's very wary about anyone doing anything to it except feeding the fish. I know he did a water change fairly recently because the trashcan he keeps his treated water in is empty, but still is wet in the bottom, so it was probably done before he left town on Wednesday. I think it's a 35 or 40 gallon tank. I don't know all of the nitrate levels, etc or the filter type. He will be back today, so I will tell him what you suggested. oHe has live plants in there as well and some pond snails. Thank you, the Danio is dead now, so we've removed it, but I will suggest my uncle does a water change when he gets back. The other Danio is still swimming and eating fine, but just has a huge lump on it's side, it's probably a tumor. But now I have some good information to give him when he gets back. Thank you
My uncle just got home and I told him about the fish. He told me that they were having trouble before he left. He also told me that one of his grandsons dumped some metal stuff in there and he thinks that may have contributed to a lot of their problems. The Danios were pretty old though, so it could be old age too. The others seem to be ok, but he is going to do a water change today and keep an eye on them.
Like I said above, it's not my fish tank, but I know that he tests it regularly with the api water kit (he told me that the ammonia and nitrates were all 0) and keeps it in the mid 70's (he does not have Bettas and the fish he has do not tolerate higher temps). He also does a 25% water change once a week. It's a 35 gallon tank with live plants and a filter. Also, I also mentioned that he discovered that his grandson had dumped some metallic objects in the tank. All of his bottom dweller fish are sick now as well as the danios. His other top dwelling fish are fine, but he's treating the whole tank with aquarium salt and medicines, and of course he removed the metallic objects.
He told me that the danios are about 5 or 6 years old.
For the Bettas I doubt old age they are bot that old if I read right.
No Bettas in his tank at all. Just Danios, catfish, some brightly colored live bearing fish, a cory, and 2 algae eaters - all are sick except the live bearers.
nope, not they're not chinese, he got them at the same time he got the danios - 5 or 6 years ago, so if they were going to cause a problem, it would have happened a long time ago. He's pretty sure it was the metal his grandson dumped in, because none of his fish were ever sick until that happened.
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