I've seen people use the term darting with fish? What exactly is darting and how do I know if my fish are?

Question

And if my fish are darting, what can I do to make their situation better? I find they only tend to swim really fast like that along the side where the filter is (which I feel they go to on purpose) and so I'm not sure if they're stressed or it's just them swiming in the current. They are fancy guppies.

Answer 1

There is a difference between Darting and Dither . as shown under this question, folks are confused. Darting is when they swim real fast as if they are being hunted and trying to hide Dither is a type of fish that are used to keep the main fish calm and content. such as cichlids that like to hide in caves or rocks but adding Dither fish, danios tetras guppies platies mollies and smaller fish that don't have enough brain to know to be scared.. swim around happy and carefree. This shows the other fish in the tank that everything is ok.

Answer 2

Darting is a way to describe when a fish quickly moves back and forth usually in a random pattern. I also have fancy guppies and had to reduce the flow of water on my filter as they kept getting swept away. Now they are able to play in the current by choice.

Answer 3

Darting is when fish swim VERY quickly from one place to another because they are nervous. They become hyperactive and continuously dart from one place to the next.

Soop Nazi

EDIT: It can also mean, like Bettachris said, a darting fish can be used as a dither fish used to distract other, more territorial fish like Cichlids.

EDIT: Guppies often enjoy playing in slight currents (currents are also associated with food because it would flow downstream). Unless they look distressed, it sounds like you have healthy Guppies. Look for small, white, salt-like granules on their bodies as well as "melting" or reddened fins. If they show none of those symptoms, they are perfectly fine.

Answer 4

Like soop nazi said, fish darting is where they shoot/swim across the tank fast.
DITHER fish are what's used as BettaChris said, fast moving fish to distract larger fish.

A fish darting across or around the tank could be a sign of poor water quality and/or external parasite infections.

I think with your fish, they're fine, doing like what you said just swimming through the filter output quickly, or getting caught in the current.

Answer 5

darting just means that the fish is moving forward very quickly over a short distance. it's almost like they jump ahead through the water. it's just how they get around if they're feeling lazyish.

Answer 6

if your guppies are swimming fast it could be something or they could just be playing. if it looks like they are rubbing up against things or otherwise irritated then it could be parasites or water quality. if you do weekly 25% cleanings then don't worry about the water quality.

my brief experience with guppies is they like more space than they are usually given so they will "dart" up and down or back and forth but not for very long peroids of time. its more like something to do to entertain themselves in small spaces.

Answer 7

I'm inclined to go toward tiki on this outlook. If your fish are darting around, my experience is that generally they are stressed and that almost always is linked to poor water conditions to some extent. Perhaps you've got a dead fish somewhere decomposing in your substrate and that excess ammonia has thrown the water chemistry off. There are other fish as the others have said that use spurts of speed to move about, hunt, or are just overactive compared to others. Giant danios, Irid Sharks, Tin Foil Barbs are fish that move about quite excessively compared to say a Gourami, a cory catfish or like even clown loaches. It's a difference in overall activity as compared to bursts of speed used to avoid aggression or something that is disturbing them. The first thing I think you'd want to look at is your water chemistry if you see your fish darting around the tank, and if that checks out, then just watch them for an extended period of time to see if there is aggrestion being exerted from some of the tank mates.

Answer 8

darter fish are used to break up aggression, basically fast small little fish that arent minded by the owner if they get eatten.

Most common being danios as they are cheap, generally small, and the key...FAST, they will generally break up aggression between aggressive fishes and generally fast enough to avoid being attacked.