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My smallest Zeb (Tiny) who's about 6mths old now is acting a bit strangely & I wondered if I should worry or not.

He always used to hide but now is visible most of the time & in the open - ie not under an overhang. If disturbed he'll swim in little circles before shooting away.
I had a bit of a bio film build up on the bottom & sides which I didn't notice for a few days - could this have poisoned him?

I've not noticed him eating - but then I've never seen him eat & he's not skinny so he must have got his share in the past.

I wondered if the tank is too crowded for him - it's a 2'x1'x1' with 3x 3yr zebs, 3x 9mth zebs, 2x 1" corys & him. What do you think?

The other fish are all fine & water perameters are normal.

Lucy <><

A hiding Zebra is a happy Zebra... there's something wrong with him. is he swollen? have you put him in a quarantine tank yet? tell me more?

He's not happy Lucy Erratic swimming enforces this notion. I've seen this before in both Zebras and other catfish.

I'm so sorry Butt all hope might not be lost. Does he have any red markings on him?

McEve wrote:A hiding Zebra is a happy Zebra... there's something wrong with him. is he swollen? have you put him in a quarantine tank yet? tell me more?

He's not happy Lucy Erratic swimming enforces this notion. I've seen this before in both Zebras and other catfish.

I'm so sorry Butt all hope might not be lost. Does he have any red markings on him?

McEve thanks for replying - I'd read before that 'A hiding Zebra is a happy Zebra' which was what allerted me to the fact that he may have a problem.

I managed to get some photos of him this morning & I'm horrified by what I see!!! - His tail is very ragged, also his dorsal fin doesn't look too good. There are no red patches & he doesn't look 'swollen' he looks well fed. He doesn't have any fungus on him that I can see so I'm wondering if he's being bullied - he's a fiesty little fish inspite of being the smallest!!

I don't have a quaranteen tank at the moment (I'm breeding corys & they've taken over all my spare tanks to grow on!) but I could put him in with some of the baby corys or I could put him in a floating breeding trap - what do you think?

I'll post the photos this evening when my son gets back from school to show me how!

Any advice is appreciated!!

Lucy <><

I don't think I would have put him in with other fish, just in case he's attacked by some kind of bacterial infection. Under the circumstances it would be best to put him in a fry trap and keep a close eye on him.

I would treat him with some antibacterial remedy as well, but that will be hard to do in the main tank, as you risk wiping out all the good bacteria in your filter.

Pictures would give a better idea as to what is wrong with him. Does he still swim erratically?

maybe som of the others have any ideas as well?

Lucy,

I never seen this behaviour on a bullied L46 before, however i have seen it on 2 of my young L66 (this was not result of bullying).
The first time i left the fish in the tank with the rest (they were allright) and it got worse and he died after 2 days
Just before he died he was swimming in cirkels and making spirals at the same time, it was a horrible sight.
The second one i transfered to a quarantine tank and got better and i transfered this one back after 2 weeks.
Still have no clue what happened both times.
The rest of this batch L66 was fine all the time.

So my advise would be : take him out of that tank and transfer him somewhere else preferably a quarantine tank but if you have none i would go for the babycory tank

BTW the L66 that i transfered to the quarantine tank did not affect the 2 L144 that i had in there

I am not sure but hope this helps....

Good Luck

Here's tiny attached

He looks well fed, but battered... I can't see any red blotches on him either, which often shows when the fish has a bacterial infection...

I don't know Lucy. Seems to me the best thing to do is what John suggested, and see what happens.

except.. is there something weird with his eyes..?

Thanks for posting the pics for me!!

I caught him - he was very easy to catch which worries me too - he's currently in a floating breeding trap with a small cave & the output from the filter going through it.

How long would it take the damaged tail fin to 'heal' do you think if it is just caused by him being battered by the others?

I'm going to set up a separate tank for him & the 3 nine month olds & leave the 3 biggest to themselves - maybe in time they'll provide some more 'tinys' - I live in hope!!

Lucy <><

Lucy wrote: How long would it take the damaged tail fin to 'heal' do you think if it is just caused by him being battered by the others?

This is minor damage nothing to worry about, i've seen a whole tail bitten off grow back within one month.
I am more concerned about his strange behaviour.
Keep a close eye on him.

Good Luck

McEve wrote: except.. is there something weird with his eyes..?

Agree , his pupils look to wide to me

Early on in spawning zebs I moved twp spawns to a 15 gal growout tank. I also added a the surviviors of the Hot Mag debacle. Soon after I noticed one of the fry was not hiding and would often swim somewhat erractically and rapidly in no real direction. He did not have any marks or axternal problems. He died about 36 hours later as I was watching. One minute he was swimming erratically and the next he rolled over dead.

None of the approximately 25-30 other fry in the tank had a problem. My hunch was that he must have had some sort of birth defect that took a bit of time to catch up with him. I would not be surprised if it was some form of stroke.

He seems to have settled down a bit & he is eating, but still not hiding.

I'll keep you all posted - thanks for all your comments.

Lucy <><

Well he's hiding again - under the piece of bogwood in the fry trap but now he's stopped eating

I managed to get a look at 2 of the 9mth olds & they have the same battered tails - do you think it's the 2 1/2 - 3yr olds who are battering them or are the younger ones bickering amoungst themselves?

I'm in the process of cycling a new tank for them & I was going to split the older 3 from the younger 4 - what do you experienced keepers out there think?

Lucy <><

How big is your tank?
Do you have a overview picture of your tank?

John Hi.
It's quite a small tank, just a 2' x 1' x1', I didn't think it'd be a problem with them at the size they are at the moment ( I've plans for a big corner tank when funds permit!).

The 2nd tank I'm setting up for them is differently shaped but the same volume.

Lucy <><

Lucy,

Are there enough hidingplaces/caves ?
A overview pic of the tank would be a great help in giving advice.