08 March 2014

problems

I lost another Danio, and a third is injured.
I found the second dead one stuck around the filter intake, and guess that the hurt one got stuck there too, but broke free. He has a wide scrape on his left side, and a smaller injury near the tail on the right side. He's not doing well, but not terrible either. Appears to not be eating much- he looks quite thin, holds his fins a bit clamped, but flares and keeps other fish off when the dart at him. I don't see any signs of fungus or infection yet, but he could have internal injuries, so not sure if he'll make it.
I put a baffle over the filter outflow (plastic cut from the side of a water bottle). Just to see if it would help any- thought perhaps when the fish are resting at night, they get caught unawares in the current in that corner, and pulled down to the intake? It did gentle the current considerably, diverting to the sides where it comes into the tank. Whether this keeps them from getting stuck again or not, they definitely look more comfortable. They don't struggle in that corner anymore, but swim evenly around the aquarium, calmer than before. I'm getting a pre-filter sponge to cover the intake as well.
The hurt one hovers in the floating plants, holds himself still. I'm doing more frequent water changes in the meantime, hoping it helps him. I'd add salt but it will hurt the plants. I'd put him in the extra tank but have it set as QT for newcomers- update coming soon!

The other Danios seems just fine. Spunky as always. Showing off their colors
and I finally caught a photo of one flaring his fins. Their bellies are fat here from just eating a meal of fruit flies.

1 comment:

Jeane said...

Yah, this was stupid. Why would baffling the outflow affect the intake? the motor pulls just as hard. I don't know what I was thinking. It did make it easier for the fishes to swim- they don't avoid that corner anymore.