# Zebra Danios turning organge.



## Ipsissimus (Jan 30, 2008)

We've got a 30 gallon tank and are cycling it with 10 Zebra Danios. Tanks has been cycling for 2 weeks with fish now. I seeded it with some sand from a previous tank, and cycled for 1 week w/o fish. About 5 days ago I added 2 Zebra Danios from my old 2 gallon tank. The 2 new fish appears mildly discolored, a tiny bit orange. They still had the blue stripes, but the white and blue seems turned to an orange hue.

I didn't think much about this, but now it seems some of the other Danios appear a bit orange, and the 2 original ones are considerably orange. I read through the list of diseases and only Trichodina calls for reddening of certain areas. But my fish are Not lethargic, they swim around actively, like normal. They Always seem to be hungry. And the orange/red discoloration is all over their bodies, not in spots. 

Now, this IS a cycling tank. Ammonia is steady at 0.0-0.5ppm. Nitrate from 40-80ppm, and Nitrite used to be .5-1.0ppm. Last 2 days I think I hit my Nitrite spike and it went to 3.0-5.0ppm. So I've been doing a 15% water change daily.

I tried to take pictures, but they swim around so fast. The pics are blurly but you can see the color difference between a healthy danio and one of the orange ones:

















*Tank Info:*
1. Size of aquarium. *30 gallons*
2. Is your aquarium setup freshwater or brackish water? *Freshwater*
3. How long the aquarium has been set up? *2 Weeks*
4. What fish and how many are in the aquarium? *12 Zebra Danios*
5. Are there live plants in the aquarium? *2 Grassy plants, about 20 seedlings that came with the gravel I bought.*
6. What temperature is the tank water currently? *73 degrees*
7. What make/model filter are you using? *Old Whisper 3(rated for 40-60gallons), Undergravel filter /w 2 Penguin powerheards*
8. Are you using a CO2 unit? *No*
9. Does your aquarium receive natural sunlight at any given part of the day? *No*
10. When did you perform your last water exchange, and how much water was changed? *Yesterday, 30% becvause of high nitrate/nitrite levels.*
11. How often do you perform water changes? *Been going every-other, to every day 5Gallon changes*
12. How often and what foods do you feed your fish? *Fish get Tetra Flakes, dried bloodwormds as a treat.*
13. What type of lighting are you using and how long is it kept on? *30Watt Incandescent, 12hrs/day*
14. What specific concerns bring you here at this time? *Zebra Danios turning orange*
15. What are your water parameters? Test your pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.*Above* 
16. What test kit are you using and is it liquid or test strips? *Using 'Jungle' 5-in-1 test strip, plus 'Jungle' ammonia test strip*
17. When was the last time you bought a fish and how did they behave while in the pet store tank? *N/A*

Should this be a concern? Or is some discoloration during Nitrate/Nitrite spikes normal? This is my first aquarium, so I'm not certain.

Thanks in advance.


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## herefishy (Dec 14, 2006)

Many times on of the sexes of a fish will "morph" in color as they mature and as breeding time approaches. Many other animals have sexual dimorphisms, so it would only be natural for fish to follow the characteristic. It is usually is the male, but that is not a rule etched in stone.


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## The-Wolf (Mar 15, 2007)

very hard to tell from those pics, but I belive most of you zebra danios _Danio rerio_ are in fact orange finned zebra danios _Danio kyathit_


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## Ipsissimus (Jan 30, 2008)

Well, 1 or 2 of the fish did seem to have larger stomachs and looked pregnant. I did notice a small film on the back of the tank that could be eggs. Wasn't positive it was eggs, or something from the 2 snails. They may just be breeding. Which would be much nicer than a disease. Thanks for the input, I'll just monitor them closely.


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## Flashygrrl (Jan 18, 2008)

Danio eggs drop into the rocks, they can't stick so it's probably snail eggs.

Keep an eye out for teensy little danio babies sticking to the sides of the tank, they're impossible to catch with a net though.


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## Lupin (Aug 2, 2006)

Flashygrrl said:


> Danio eggs drop into the rocks, they can't stick so it's probably snail eggs.
> 
> Keep an eye out for teensy little danio babies sticking to the sides of the tank, they're impossible to catch with a net though.


Ditto.


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