Dead Zebra Danio

[dalethewhale]

Tank size: 6.5 gallons
pH: 6.5
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp: 24

Overnight all 7 of my baby zebra danio have died, my 3 red cherry shrimp seem to be oke, still slightly inactive due to cycling issues. What could have caused the deaths and why hasnt it affected by cherry shrimp?

Volume and Frequency of water changes: usually 30% a week, but recently 50% twice a day to help with cycling issues. one 80% change this morning when i found the dead fish.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants: 7 zebra fish and 3 red cherry shrimp

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): mature filter material yesterday. Cabomba and moss ball when i introduced the cherry shrimp last week.

I removed the mature filter material at once and did an 80% water change. Does anyone know hat it is? and will it affect my cherry shrimp? sorry about the lack of info, i will have more on sunday when i have a test kit.

 

[marieukxx]

Well if you have these fish in a tank that isn't cycled I guess that is your problem. When you get your amonia and nitrite results people will be able to help

 

[dalethewhale]

Well if you have these fish in a tank that isn't cycled I guess that is your problem. When you get your amonia and nitrite results people will be able to help

LFS is closed at the moment but i just went to pets at home and they only had test strips and no ammonia ones. Nitrate is 10mg/l and nitrite is 0mg/l

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Tank size: 6.5 gallons
pH: 6.5
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp: 24

Overnight all 7 of my baby zebra danio have died, my 3 red cherry shrimp seem to be oke, still slightly inactive due to cycling issues. What could have caused the deaths and why hasnt it affected by cherry shrimp?

Volume and Frequency of water changes: usually 30% a week, but recently 50% twice a day to help with cycling issues. one 80% change this morning when i found the dead fish.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants: 7 zebra fish and 3 red cherry shrimp

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): mature filter material yesterday. Cabomba and moss ball when i introduced the cherry shrimp last week.

I removed the mature filter material at once and did an 80% water change. Does anyone know hat it is? and will it affect my cherry shrimp? sorry about the lack of info, i will have more on sunday when i have a test kit.

You are doing very extreme water changes right now. While the tank is cycling you will be getting ammonia/nitrite problems, doing excessive size water changes (like 80% once daily or 50% twice daily) can be stressful to the fish and actually prolong the cycle. While zebra danio's are hardy fish by nature, fry of any type are sensitive to water quality & changes in water conditions.

Adding the mature filter media would have helped a great deal in cycling the tank- the beneficial nitrifying bacteria can double its numbers in only 24hrs. You may have been able to finish cycling the tank by adding the mature filter media alone, so i would strongly advise putting it back (as long as there are still inhabitants in the tank). What are your ammonia/nitrite readings? Knowing those can give a better idea on when you should be doing water changes and how big a water changes you should be doing. Unless the ammonia/nitrite problems are very bad, i wouldn't recommend taking out more than 50% of the water in a single day. A 15-30% size water change with dechlorinator should be enough to stave off any daily ammonia/nitrite problems while the tank is cycling.

 

[dalethewhale]

Tank size: 6.5 gallons
pH: 6.5
ammonia:
nitrite:
nitrate:
kH:
gH:
tank temp: 24

Overnight all 7 of my baby zebra danio have died, my 3 red cherry shrimp seem to be oke, still slightly inactive due to cycling issues. What could have caused the deaths and why hasnt it affected by cherry shrimp?

Volume and Frequency of water changes: usually 30% a week, but recently 50% twice a day to help with cycling issues. one 80% change this morning when i found the dead fish.

Chemical Additives or Media in your tank:

Tank inhabitants: 7 zebra fish and 3 red cherry shrimp

Recent additions to your tank (living or decoration): mature filter material yesterday. Cabomba and moss ball when i introduced the cherry shrimp last week.

I removed the mature filter material at once and did an 80% water change. Does anyone know hat it is? and will it affect my cherry shrimp? sorry about the lack of info, i will have more on sunday when i have a test kit.

You are doing very extreme water changes right now. While the tank is cycling you will be getting ammonia/nitrite problems, doing excessive size water changes (like 80% once daily or 50% twice daily) can be stressful to the fish and actually prolong the cycle. While zebra danio's are hardy fish by nature, fry of any type are sensitive to water quality & changes in water conditions.

Adding the mature filter media would have helped a great deal in cycling the tank- the beneficial nitrifying bacteria can double its numbers in only 24hrs. You may have been able to finish cycling the tank by adding the mature filter media alone, so i would strongly advise putting it back (as long as there are still inhabitants in the tank). What are your ammonia/nitrite readings? Knowing those can give a better idea on when you should be doing water changes and how big a water changes you should be doing. Unless the ammonia/nitrite problems are very bad, i wouldn't recommend taking out more than 50% of the water in a single day. A 15-30% size water change with dechlorinator should be enough to stave off any daily ammonia/nitrite problems while the tank is cycling.

I was unsure of what to do and when i found the dead fish i figured i must have introduced a bacteria of some kind into the aquarium that's why i did such a large water change. I'll do 30% water changes each day, I'll have an ammonia test kit tomorrow so i'll let you know. Still not sure about putting the mature filter material back though... that was the only thing i changed on the day that the fish died and i dont want it to affect the remaining shrimp. But if you think it's best... I'll post ammonia readings soon, thanks for the advise, really appreciate it.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

No worries glad i can help . The Zebra Danio's almost certainly died because of the unstable water quality conditions- a bacterial disease would not cause the fish to die that quickly. The main thing to do now is to test the tanks water quality and keep with up regular but smaller water changes. Make sure that when you pour the new water into the tank it is as close a possible to the temperature of the tanks water and is poured in slowly .

 

[joeskandal]

not too many fish then>?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

not too many fish then>?

If the Danio's are only fry then the tank shouldn't be overstocked for the time being. If they are adults then the tank is too small.