# Zebra Danio extremely erratic - help!



## tf1265 (Jul 26, 2011)

I have a ten gallon tank, been set up for approximately 4 months. I have 5 zebra danios and 1 sunburst molly in it right now. Aquaclear 20 filter, aerated, heated to 76-78 degrees. Live plants. 25% water changes every 4-5 days. Fish are all fed a mix of tropical flake medley and brine shrimp. 

Last week the molly developed ich, so I treated the whole tank with rid ich+ and upped my water changes to 25% every other day. The ich was a little stubborn, so I had to treat for a full week and today is the first day that I definitely see no spots. I never saw spots on any of the danios, but left them in the tank while treating it to be safe. 

All the fish seem to be fine and seemed to do OK with the treatment, but 1 of the danios is definitely sick. He got increasingly lethargic - I first noticed because he would just sit at the bottom of the tank while the others were playing at the surface. I wouldn't be able to find him until I used my net to poke around at the bottom because he would sit that still for that long. That was about 2 days ago. 

Today he's been doing the same thing, only every once in a while he will swim to the surface like a maniac and flop around up there. He doesn't really seem to be "swimming" as much as chaotically flopping and zig-zagging and jerking. His breathing is pretty heavy, but otherwise I don't really see any sign of "disease" on his scales or body. 

What is wrong with him? It doesn't look like a swim bladder thing, as he can definitely keep himself balancing and sitting on the gravel for a long period of time. 

Does it sound like something he might recover from? I moved him into an isolation tank (I do treat the water with Jungle conditioner) with all fresh water, but I'm not sure what else I could do. The isolation tank so far hasn't made a difference. 

Thanks!


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## brokenrules69 (Aug 27, 2011)

is it well oxygenated?
and what are the other conditions in the tank
ph? alkalinaty? stuff like that?


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## tf1265 (Jul 26, 2011)

Whoops, I meant to include parameters in my first post 

It is aerated so it's not an oygen issue. 

pH: 7.6
ammonia, nitrite - 0
nitrate - 10-15ppm

The water quality seems fine, my parameters have all been where they should be - the pH has been varying a bit with the rid ich treatment, but I've been keeping an eye on it. It has gone up to around 8.0 once or twice but I've been testing the water daily while medicating so it doesn't stay up there for long (I alter the parameters with water changes, I don't add weird alteration chemicals hawked by chain petstores).


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## brokenrules69 (Aug 27, 2011)

dam that has me stumped i haven't been doing this too long tho
but i know to make sure ur hospital tank u are using has as close as possible tank parameters to avoid shocking it


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## brokenrules69 (Aug 27, 2011)

maybe this can help u idk how much tho in ur current situation 
Zebra Danio Profile and General Information


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## Jerhyer (Aug 21, 2011)

I'm no expert by any means but is it possible that it still has ich? I had to treat my aquarium for 10 days to be sure it was completly gone. Soon after the first time I treated and thought it was gone I noticed one of my cichlids staying near the bottom most of the time. Then he would swim all crazy darting around banging into the side of the tank, againts the rocks and at the surface. I didn't see any obvious signs of the ich but was advised to treat the tank again. The parasites are only vulnerable for the 3 days that they are free swimming in the aquarium. Maybe some got pas tyour treatment. Something to think about but I differe to those with much more experience than myself.
Good luck at anyrate!


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## tf1265 (Jul 26, 2011)

Thanks for the thoughts. It is still possible that it has ich, the main tank is stil being treated for it. I haven't treated his QT tank yet because I'm hoping someone will be able to give me some idea of what might be wrong or what ideal treatment might be. I guess since it's a small non-cycled tank there is no harm in treated it for ich and just doing total water changes if I want the meds out. 

I'm concerned that it's something else that he won't recover from. He was looking pretty miserable for a while, I almost euthanized him (now I'm glad I gave him a little more time, he's swimming again but mostly in clock-wise circles only).


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## tf1265 (Jul 26, 2011)

My fish died. The others still show no signs of stress of disease, so i'm still not sure what happened. 

Where have the experts been? I usually get a lot of really great advice within a day or two on this site. I asked another pretty urgent quesation about my work betta the other day as well and no one has been around to help  I guess they all took the weekend off


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## Jerhyer (Aug 21, 2011)

I'm so sorry about your fish!


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## tf1265 (Jul 26, 2011)

Thanks :*(

I hate when my fish die, I feel like such a failure. I always apologize out loud as I'm flushing the bodies.

The good news is that I spotted a little (VERY little) baby red wag platy in my other tank this morning, so that has elevated my mood. My betta didn't eat all the fry!


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## Jerhyer (Aug 21, 2011)

Well there ya go! Like a phoenix from the flames!! Sorta.... Not really. I love it when my fish have babies!!
After I nurse these two Bettas I rescued back to health I'm going to see if they are interested in one another and let nature take its course!!
Good luck with the baby!


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