Zebra danios in need of treatment

[thegrandpoohbah]

I recently adopted a zebra crayfish and put him into my 35G. The tank was already home to 18 zebra danios and some platys but I figured the danios would be quick enough to avoid getting eaten (I moved the platys to a different tank). Well, they were quick enough alright. But no amount of speed is going to help when they keep darting directly at the crayfish trying to steal his food! I've lost two and just managed to fish the other 16 out of the tank. One is missing a tail and a couple others have pretty nasty flesh wounds. All are still swimming actively though. What, if anything, should I treat them with? I was thinking of a pre-emptive dose of Melafix. Any help would be appreciated.

[CACAdmin]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. I'm not sure what to advise... except to say that I too would dose with Melafix to reduce the possibility of infection. I don't know much about danios so am not sure how well they would tolerate salt in the tank. If you know that they are fine with it, I would be tempted to add some of that as well.

Good luck!

[Melody]

Ditto the above and an extra clean tank. Sorry to hear about the problems in paradise. Anyone who ever said this hobby is boring, obviously never tried doing it right.

[Tanya in Moncton NB]

Danios are good teasers and they chase constantly! The odds are that this will happen again. I would move the crayfish to another tank or buy a tank divider, that way, there's no way the danios can be snacks.

Danios should be ok with salt, I've treated some with it before and they tolerated well.

[CACAdmin]

If you would like a tank divider, I have the stuff you gave me to make mine and can cut you one to size... just let me know.

[Melody]

I thought Crayfish could leave the water? Could they climb over a divider?

I know next to nothing about them:Confused:, just a thought.

[blainep]

I thought Crayfish could leave the water? Could they climb over a divider?

I know next to nothing about them:Confused:, just a thought.

Yup crayfish can leave the water for short periods of time, and they love to climb. If they can get a grip on something, they'll try to climb out.

Mine used to do a Tarzan impression by climbing up the tubing for the airstone.

[Melody]

:laugh: That must be amusing to watch.

[CACAdmin]

Priceless!:laugh: Although I never saw my crayfish do it, the one I had years ago managed to crawl out of the tank and walk all the way to the other end of the house!:twitcy:

[blainep]

Back on track......

Danios don't seem to mind a little salt. Mine never showed any distress with it. Lots of clean water and a little salt and they'll probably be fine.

Crayfish, however, I don't think they handle salt to well. I attempted to use a little salt in the tank it was in and it appeared to be quite stressed by it, so I water changed it out right away.

[Melody]

Sorry Mr. GP, this is serious business! Thanks for guiding us back on track Blaine.

It has been years since I had Zebra Danios, but I'm reasonably sure I used aquarium salt (as opposed to marine salt) in the tanks back then. That'd be a memory to take at face value though. You can always start with less and work your way up. Personally I think the same benefits are obtained with less than half the dose anyway. There's no obvious reason that I know of to indicate that they wouldn't tolerate it just fine.

[thegrandpoohbah]

The danios are in a 10G and being treated with Melafix at the moment. All are doing well and I see no signs of infection. Looks like I'll end up moving the cray into a 15 or 20G tank by himself. No point tying up a 35G with just one occupant who only ever comes out at night. Makes for a pretty boring display.