Sick zebra danio

[Cazharris]

My danio (I have four in a 30 gallon tank), is swimming erratically all of a sudden, after months of happiness with his chums!

He is having trouble staying upright, he is not eating, and is jamming himself behind the filter so that he does not have to swim. He still has all his colour, and has not yet lost any weight.

He seems to be suffering an awful lot - can anyone help me before it's too late?

The other ones look fine.

 

[FroggyFox]

Maybe he's just feeling ill for some reason...do you have another tank with less current that you could seperate him to?

If he's still eating and his color is still good then it doesn't sound like he's suffering too much. Danios are very resilient and good at overcoming what ails them. I have one that swims in circles a lot...and then sometimes just floats around the tank wherever the current feels like taking him...its actually kind of funny, but I think one of his fins isn't working too well (like Nemo...he has a 'special fin'). He's been like that for a few months, or maybe since I got him and I just didnt notice?? At first I was alarmed...but he's still happily chowing down on food and playing with the other fish so hey I figure he's making the best of a bad situation.

 

[Lotus]

You could also check to see if his fins have been nipped. Sometimes the danios' playfulness gets out of hand.

 

[Cazharris]

cheers for the info - I'll keep an eye on him.
I would like to have a 'sick-fish' tank, because sometimes I think when one of them is ill, the filter is too strong for them and just makes them worse.
How do I set one of these up?
I have knocked my filter off (carbon) for the last couple of days to help my poorly Danio - is this wise?

 

[FroggyFox]

Generally if you keep the bacteria wet thats in your filter...and turn the filter on for a few hours at a time, I dont think there will be any lasting damage to the filter/tank. I would seperate him though if you think the strong current is really doing that much damage. I guess I'm not sure what you mean by knocking your filter off (carbon) for the last couple days...do you mean completely turned it off? or turned it down...or just took the carbon out??

How would you set up another tank? Um...I think I would set up something like I already have...cycle a little 1G tank (or bigger depending on the types/sizes of fish you have) and keep it cycled all the time. Its got a UGF so not really any current to speak of if I have a fish that is having troubles swimming.