Danios Still Not Eating

[mfernott]

Our Zebra Danios have eaten little to no food since Monday.

We have 3 (we did have 4 but one has disappeared) and having checked everywhere my only possible conclusion is that the others have eaten him! (see here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/333100-zebra-danios/)

But when I put flakes on top of the surface they show little or no interest. The biggest one had a little nibble at some once is started sinking this morning, but one of the fish seems to permanently live behind the filter and didn't show any interest (or even awareness that food was being offered).

Is this normal in a new tank?

They've been in the tank since Sunday, water stats are all fine (small amount of ammonia which I am doing daily 20% water changes to combat) but everything else fine.

Also for the missing Danio I've checked under and around all the ornaments and even taken the filter apart - no sign!

 

[orangefish]

Do you have other fish in the tank? I say this because some of my fish are slightly more nervous and instead like to scurry around the bottom for food once it has dropped, and let the other fish eat at the top. Are they being bullied by any other fish?
Also, have you tried different foods such as live food or frozen live food. They might have been used to something different in the fish shop
It's a bit wierd because my danios are the greediest in my tank and slightly overweight too- so I just presumed all danios were like this!
It could be a disease as well I guess.
Also, when you say your tank is new- did you let the tank cycle before you introduced the danios?

 

[Corleone]

How small is the ammonia? Even 0.25 ppm over prolonged exposure is very stressful, even for hardy fish like danios. Fish under stress often stop eating, and ammonia stress would also most likely explain the one hiding behind the filter as well, and gives a pretty good idea about the fourth one - you'd be surprised how small the window is to find the body of a small fish after it dies, but danios are also pretty good jumpers and will try to escape poor water in hopes of escaping the "puddle" they think they're trapped in and getting back to the river. They can find even small gaps after a few tries, too.

 

[walkers101]

really they need bigger numbers i have a group of 20 and never noticed a period of none eating

have you checked water stats etc?

 

[mfernott]

OK hopefully this will answer most of your questions:
 
The ammonia is somewhere between 0 and 0.25 – it’s not as dark as the shade of the 0.25 on the API test scale but it does have a green tinge, so it’s not at 0.
 
I’m doing a daily change of 20% of the water to try and combat this so hopefully before long they will begin eating.
 
Well we weren’t aware of cycling until after we got the fish due to some poor advice we received from a shop which we presumed knew their stuff.
 
The tank was set up for 7 days with the filter running before we added any fish (there was no testing being done as we weren’t aware of the need to do so) and then we added the 4 Danios.
 
Since coming on here I have been doing daily water tests and changes to try and reduce the ammonia to 0.
 
So will the other Danios eat one that dies? Oddly enough since the 4th has disappeared the other fish seem much more lively and happy, whereas before they were very lethargic and not moving around the tank like they did when we first added them.
 
The Danios are the only fish in the tank, we were told to start with 4 and then wait a few weeks before adding more. I’ve since been made aware they should be in bigger groups, but I’m reluctant to add more fish now if we’ve already lost one – I’d rather wait until the tank is right and the fish will be happy.
 
PH is around 8.2, Nitrate 5, Nitrite 0, Temp is around 25.

Thanks for your help.

 

[the biffster]

are you useing a dechlorinator
and what size tank is it

 

[mfernott]

Hi

Yes I'm using Tap Safe. It's a 64l tank.

 

[Littlemonkey]

I personally would suggest a larger water change, 50% +. Some-one may correct me if I'm wrong but 20% I feel isn't going to make much difference.

 

[the biffster]

I personally would suggest a larger water change, 50% +. Some-one may correct me if I'm wrong but 20% I feel isn't going to make much difference.

agree

 

[mfernott]

Ok thanks will try that tonight.

Can someone confirm whether the other danios would eat another one if it died?

 

[Harlequins]

I personally would suggest a larger water change, 50% +. Some-one may correct me if I'm wrong but 20% I feel isn't going to make much difference.

I agree has well,a 50% w/c would have the 0.25 ammonia,so therefore you may need to do another w/c to bring it back down.
Just doing 20% is barely touching it and it will continue to rise...

 

[nurglespuss]

Although teh maxim 'you can never change water too much/too often' is regulalry quoted, it is also a little innacurate.

The biggest cause of odd behaviour/stress/vulnerability to diseases is caused by the fish feeling insecure. Over interference with the tank, and constant rising/falling of the water level can cause a large ammount of stress.

Although a 50% water change is great for reducing ammonia, its not going to be much more effective than your 20% change, in such a small volume with so few fish.

a couple of factors to consider are:

Do the fish have any where to hide? is the lighting too bright/on for too long? are the fish being continually disturbed (by situations not involving tank maintainance?

On to the food, are the flakes too big? (danios have little mouths), what were they being fed at the store? what ph level is the water at the store? (pH 8.3 is fairly high).

Personally i would find a regular schedule for water changes and stick to it (e.g. 30% every other day) and also stop feeding (if they arent feeding, its adding to your porblems).

Turn off the aquarium lights, and leave them alone as much as possible (unless you have live plants). add some plastic plants for cover, if you don't have them already.

After a couple of days approach the tank, and see if the fish run and hide, or start to follow your movements.

Now in the interim of this process pop down the petshop and pick up something tasty, that the danios will find hard to resist (e.g. frozen blood worm, daphnia - or - better live daphnia), and add a small quantity to a corner of the aquarium, then sit back, and see if they feed.

If they don't, then you've pretty much done all you can do.

 

[mfernott]

Although teh maxim 'you can never change water too much/too often' is regulalry quoted, it is also a little innacurate.

The biggest cause of odd behaviour/stress/vulnerability to diseases is caused by the fish feeling insecure. Over interference with the tank, and constant rising/falling of the water level can cause a large ammount of stress.

Although a 50% water change is great for reducing ammonia, its not going to be much more effective than your 20% change, in such a small volume with so few fish.

a couple of factors to consider are:

Do the fish have any where to hide? is the lighting too bright/on for too long? are the fish being continually disturbed (by situations not involving tank maintainance?

On to the food, are the flakes too big? (danios have little mouths), what were they being fed at the store? what ph level is the water at the store? (pH 8.3 is fairly high).

Personally i would find a regular schedule for water changes and stick to it (e.g. 30% every other day) and also stop feeding (if they arent feeding, its adding to your porblems).

Turn off the aquarium lights, and leave them alone as much as possible (unless you have live plants). add some plastic plants for cover, if you don't have them already.

After a couple of days approach the tank, and see if the fish run and hide, or start to follow your movements.

Now in the interim of this process pop down the petshop and pick up something tasty, that the danios will find hard to resist (e.g. frozen blood worm, daphnia - or - better live daphnia), and add a small quantity to a corner of the aquarium, then sit back, and see if they feed.

If they don't, then you've pretty much done all you can do.

Thanks, that's really helpful.

Tonight I will check the stats again, do a small water change to try and help with the ammonia, and then do as you say, perhaps reducing the 30% water changes to every other day, leave the lights off, and stop attempting to feed flakes for now.

The fish have decorations to hide in and around, and some plastic plants.