Strange behaviour ...

[Nerine]

I have 3 Zebra Danios, and I noticed that two of them rub on EVERYTHING...they swim normally then suddenly rub their noses on other fish, decorations, in the plants. it's odd...no new fish have been added in a very long time and nobody else flashes, and they don't scrape their gills on anything, just their faces, it's been at least 9 years since I've had danios and I dont remember their behaviours...

[Nerine]

well I'm guessing since nobody has replied, nobody knows

[HappyGuppy]

You said no new fish have been added, but have you added anything else, such as plants, rocks, driftwood, whatever that have been in other tanks?  Even a plant clipping from an infected tank can bring in stuff.  Furthermore, how long is a "very long time"?  How long has it been?  It is possible that "long time ago" you brought in one or two nasties (ie ick), and that the first few life cycles you didn't notice it.  Generally ick & other stuff only become noticeable once your tank is heavily infested.

Now I am not saying that it is a certainty that your tank has something, as it could be for some other reason we don't understand that they are flashing, but if they are flashing then I would consider that an amber alert.  Keep your eye on them.  Look for any symptopms on any of the fish in the tank.  Keep observing them for the upcoming weeks. 

As a preventative measure I would add 2 tablespoons of salt per 5 gallons of tank (divided over a few days) and raise temp for two weeks.  This can have three results.  1) It does nothing, so no harm done.  2) Raised heat accelerates the life cycle of disease to see it faster, if it exists.  3)  Raised temp and/or salt may cure the problem and in a couple weeks you may be symptom free.

Good luck, and I wish you healthy & beautiful fish.

[Nerine]

they are sitting at 80F right now...don't want to go too much higher!

the tank hasn't had anything new since the beginning of october! and I'm super weird with nets/plants Each tank has their own net and bucket for water changes!

yeah, it's weird though that they just started this flashing business...and don't do it all the time, but it's not flashing as in normal flashing where they rub gills...it's just their noses...I've seen fish flash where they are scratching up their whole bodies on stuff, but they run up, and rub noses on stuff...how weird is that?

I haven't had danios in eons so Ican't remember all their oddities...my woodcats will rub their whiskers on things and my gourami pokes other fish for fun...ahhh fish

thanks HappyGuppy!
btw - not to threadjack my own thread, but how are your blue platies?!

[HappyGuppy]

Hmmm... weird indeed.  Sounds like you keep sanity to the max... good for you.  I am at a loss.  I guess just keep an eye for any new developments.  Maybe they're just wiping food off their faces with any available "napkin" (jk).  Hope that it's nothing.

I ended up doing quite the search for the blue platies, but every source I went to only had platies that are with a hint of blue; not what I was looking for.  I have decided to give up looking for them.  Too bad you can't easily get stuff from the USA.  I should mention that after years of trying I have finally managed to get the super rare in Canada Blueberry Blue Ramshorn snails (yay!!).  Anyhow, a sideline tank project has been evolving over the past few months into a new obsession.  I've gone over to the salt side, which has converted over a few freshwater tanks.  I'm working on creating a saltwater planted (macro) tank as my main focus, which features a few fish, but most notably endlers.  Yes, you read that right.  I love planted tanks, and endlers, and marine plants are my new cool challenge, so decided to combine them all.  It is currently my favorite tank to look at (even more so than the one with a bunch of corals and ocean fish).  Anyhow, done with the thread hijack.  If you wanna know more feel free to pm me.

[Nerine]

yeah it's weird, they do have whiskers too...so maybe???

blue platies are realllly blue in toronto I'm hoping to get some more when I go again!!!

hahaha have fun on the salt side I'm gonna be doing that later!  and congrats on the snails!

[HappyGuppy]

Want some of the snails?  I figure that around sept/oct I should be able to share some.  Remind me then, and that I offered you some Nerine.

[Nerine]

thanks!! maybe by then I'll have my MTS's under control...it was a massive population explosion in my tank, the sand is covered in pockmarks from all their trails