Urgent Help With My Longfin Zebra Danios, Please!

[InariSalmi]

Hi!

I am very worried about my longfin zebra danios!

I need help! I just got my tank (29 gallons) stocked with fish, water parameters are all zero for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. pH is 7.8. Water temp is 79 degrees F (can't get it cooler, that's what the house is inside).
My tank is medium-heavy planted.

I have cycled the tank, took about a month and a half, and it was done cycling for a week before I stocked it (kept adding ammonia of course to keep bacteria alive).

I cycled without fish, using Dr. Tim's ammonia and nitrite combo.

Stock currently is 4 neon tetras, 5 rasboras (3 harlequin and 2 black), and 5 zebra danios.
Here is a gif I made for ease of explanation. My school of 5 danios are acting weird. 2-3 of them are very active, swimming all around the tank, seem to be enjoying life.

However, 2 of them just float around at the top of the water, and I recorded the feeding time for you to see. They don't even go up to snatch food pieces!

I just got them all on Wednesday.
One danio seems to constantly hang out near the end of the water in-stream pipe, just under it. The other floats around in the more open space.

I am so worried!

All the other fish seem to be OK, except I had one neon tetra die overnight. I think it was already sick/dying when I got it from the fish shop, as it mostly kept to itself and not go around schooling with the other 4. It brightened up and became active for a day or so after coming into my tank, but in the end, it went belly up on the bottom I got very sad about this ( My first fish death Not taking it so good

Anyway, I'd do anything to prevent any of my other fish from dying. What can I do to help my two danios? I have no idea what the problem could be!

Here is the gif: https/gfycat.com/FlickeringLargeGavial

Any advice is appreciated!

Edit: I drip acclimated all the fish, went the extra length and it took a couple of hours. I made sure it was nice and slow.

Edit 2: I turned on my bubbler again on the lowest possible bubbles setting.

Edit 3: I just checked and the danio that used to hang out under the filter in-stream pipe is now resting on the java moss under it. Doesn't move its fins, but still breathing. I think it's dying. I don't even have clove oil to euthanize it.
I feel so horrible.

Please help me, so I don't lose more fish!

 

[InariSalmi]

The two danios died by today morning.

...

...

Is this normal? For new fish to die? I am really sad

 

[Goggy]

your neon probably died of stress as he may not have had enough company (as neons are schooling fish) a school of 6 neons will help you reduce stress. also your neon could have died of a high saltinity.
Your rasboras should live in groups of 6 as well as neons. 6 black rasboras 6 harlequin. These rasboras also could have died of saltinity level
5 danios is the recommended minimum school, but do a lot better as groups of 7-8. your 2 danios were drifting on the top of the tank unlike normal danio behavior of being extremely active, this tells that the danio is most likely stressed of not having schooling friends and so, they died of stress (danios can do well in 7.8 pH)
 
Advice: get 6 harlequin and black rasboras, get 6 neons, get 8 danios, neutralize the saltinity level to 7.0 pH.
 
if you choose to follow my advise, space MAY be a problem, so there is the option to return the fish and change your current residents to different types of fish (MAYBE A SINGLE GREEN SPOTTED PUFFER WOULD BE NICE

 )
Sorry for your fish, but welcome to the forums! 

 

your tank is full of schooling fish and once your tank is full of them it will be a fun little active tank to look at 

try not to purchase giant danios!

 

[InariSalmi]

Thanks for the reply!

How do I reduce the ph?

Is it really that easy for the fish to die of stress? Should I go out asap and buy more fish to complete the schools?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Changing pH and TDS of one's water is difficult for even advanced fish keepers. For one it is best done using ro or ro/di water. Next, one needs digital testers in order to know what is going on.
 
Next, when one's tank parameters and water quality are decent and fish from the store die rapidly, the fault is usually the quality of the fish and  poor conditions at the store The problem is that failure to use a quarantine tank means a sick fish from the store can infect a tank.
 
Finally, diagnosing diseases in fish can be very difficult when all one has to go on is behavior. Usually there is no way to know what bacteria might be at work because we need a microscope and the ability to ID them to do so. And if we are not certain about the cause of the problem, we can do harm than good trying to medicate.
 
While schoolers prefer living with others, not doing so should not kill them. Earlt last Oct I got a shipment of 48 dwarf loaches. Mixed in with them was a tiny fry I could not ID because it was so small. Turns out it was a neon tetra. It is still with me in a 20 gal with the remainder of the loaches. It has grown, it swims fine etc. This is not an endorsement for keeping solitary schooling fish, but it is an observation that this does not kill them.
 
Under no circumstances should any new fish be added to your tank until the deaths have stopped or you have figured out what the problem is and dealt with it.
 
I realize this is little help. I could suggest you take a shot at using a broad spectrum antibiotic as a last resort. However, there is no guarantee it will help and it may actually do more harm than good if the problem is not bacterial.
 
Finally, when it comes to stores which sell fish it is important to find good ones. Before buying any fish watch them. make sure they are not skinny, swimming erratically etc. Moreover, if you can, make a few visits to a store before you buy. Look in the tanks and see if there are dead fish. It is one thing for there to be the occasional dead one in a tank here or there, its is not good if you see a number of them as well as fish stuck to filter intakes. Avoid buying fish from such places.

 

[InariSalmi]

Two tank amin:
Thank you very very much for the advice. I appreciate it!

The danios were all from Petco. The other fish were from my LFS, who refuses to sell fish to you unless you bring in a water sample that proves a cycled tank.

The rasboras and 4 tetras seem to be doing fine so far, it's only the danios who are dying. One more is floating close to the top right now, two are chasing each other around and swim all about the tank.

It's really hard for me to handle fish loss like this, especially that I did not prepare myself. I have been researching for months before buying the tank and equipment, spent a month a half cycling, a week of dosing up to 4 ppm every day to make sure the cycle was done (it was), taking hours to drip acclimate my new fish.... Absolutely everything I read and could think of, was done. I wanted very happy and content fish.

And then 3 dies within 3 days (4th is probably slowly dying now as well).

It's very tough.

Thank for the heads up and info on pet shop buys!

(I scoped out the pet shops for fish quality, I only bought from Petco because I did not see a dead fish anywhere and their fish seemed healthy. There's a Petsmart here as well, and there was at least 5 dead fish in every tank housing more than 10 fish. Absolutely horrible conditions.)

 

[Munroco]

I agree with Amin, I don't think fish are stressed so much that they die because you don't have the proper number of them. Sometimes fish die for no apparent reason. In the case of the Zebras, IMO fish that are bred to be mis-shapen have been interbred so much that they lack the robustness of normal varieties. This is a pet hate of mine, seeing fish like balloon mollies and the like makes me wonder why people think they are improvements on the norm.

 

[InariSalmi]

Just gave them all food, and all of them ate except the floaty danio.
I feed them Hikari micro pellets and a touch of tubifex.

Starting to worry about a rasbora as well.... If one of the rasboras die, then I know it must be a sickness or disease of some sort, because the danios and rasboras came from different places.

The rasbras have acted fine, and so have the last two danios today. The tetras seem fine too.

I am so on edge... I did not think I'd be scouring the web all day every day since I got the fish, instead of enjoying them

 

[Goggy]

Changing pH and TDS of one's water is difficult for even advanced fish keepers. For one it is best done using ro or ro/di water. Next, one needs digital testers in order to know what is going on.
 
Next, when one's tank parameters and water quality are decent and fish from the store die rapidly, the fault is usually the quality of the fish and  poor conditions at the store The problem is that failure to use a quarantine tank means a sick fish from the store can infect a tank.
 
Finally, diagnosing diseases in fish can be very difficult when all one has to go on is behavior. Usually there is no way to know what bacteria might be at work because we need a microscope and the ability to ID them to do so. And if we are not certain about the cause of the problem, we can do harm than good trying to medicate.
 
While schoolers prefer living with others, not doing so should not kill them. Earlt last Oct I got a shipment of 48 dwarf loaches. Mixed in with them was a tiny fry I could not ID because it was so small. Turns out it was a neon tetra. It is still with me in a 20 gal with the remainder of the loaches. It has grown, it swims fine etc. This is not an endorsement for keeping solitary schooling fish, but it is an observation that this does not kill them.
 
Under no circumstances should any new fish be added to your tank until the deaths have stopped or you have figured out what the problem is and dealt with it.
 
I realize this is little help. I could suggest you take a shot at using a broad spectrum antibiotic as a last resort. However, there is no guarantee it will help and it may actually do more harm than good if the problem is not bacterial.
 
Finally, when it comes to stores which sell fish it is important to find good ones. Before buying any fish watch them. make sure they are not skinny, swimming erratically etc. Moreover, if you can, make a few visits to a store before you buy. Look in the tanks and see if there are dead fish. It is one thing for there to be the occasional dead one in a tank here or there, its is not good if you see a number of them as well as fish stuck to filter intakes. Avoid buying fish from such places.

nice job you really explain well, Better than me!

 

[InariSalmi]

Here is a high quality video I took of the floaty danio.... Anyone sees anything that shows sickness or disease?
https/m.youtube.com/watch?v=ivWXhtIlbss

 

[InariSalmi]

Anyone?

Ok now I start to worry about a couple of my rasboras as well.

What in the world is going on?

I have two that swim close to the middle level and side glass of the aquarium, and swim nearly in the same place. I cannot see anything on their bodies! That's how the danios started!

I sincerely hope it is not a disease! In any case, I will not buy any more fish until the current ones are okay for a while, or all of them died.

But the problem is, do I even want to attempt to buy fish again? I still have no idea what is going on and ever since I got the fish, I spend all my time researching, writing and reading, worrying and feeling bad

How does one bounce back from having all of their first fish DIE, after one spent months preparing everything to be perfect?

I have not read about this happening to anyone, anywhere, who prepared. I mean people who don't prepare and know nothing about fish manage to keep them alive, and I can't!

Do you guys understand how this feels? It is horrible and I don't even know.... (((((

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Anyone?

Ok now I start to worry about a couple of my rasboras as well.

What in the world is going on?

I have two that swim close to the middle level and side glass of the aquarium, and swim nearly in the same place. I cannot see anything on their bodies! That's how the danios started!

I sincerely hope it is not a disease! In any case, I will not buy any more fish until the current ones are okay for a while, or all of them died.

But the problem is, do I even want to attempt to buy fish again? I still have no idea what is going on and ever since I got the fish, I spend all my time researching, writing and reading, worrying and feeling bad

How does one bounce back from having all of their first fish DIE, after one spent months preparing everything to be perfect?

I have not read about this happening to anyone, anywhere, who prepared. I mean people who don't prepare and know nothing about fish manage to keep them alive, and I can't!

Do you guys understand how this feels? It is horrible and I don't even know....

(((((

 
 
Yes, I feel your pain.  There's a variety of reasons that trouble can strike some prepared or not, and others are fine, again prepared or not.  The primary reason comes down to dumb luck at times.
 
 
For example, as TTA stated, not having a quarantine tank for your new fish additions allows all sorts of infections to be introduced to your tank.  And your happy and healthy fish can be infected and next thing you know, you've got an epidemic on your hands.  There are ways to limit this, but it can always strike. 
 
Limit additions of pathogens to your tank:
1 - use a QT for a month before moving new fish from the LFS to your main tank (not always possible)
2 - be VERY careful about where you buy your new fish.  Visit the LFS often, even when you are not in the market, and study the tanks.  Look for illness.  Look for how clean the tanks are.  Find out when new stock come in.  Ask about their quarantine procedures before the fish go on sale.  
3 - never add bag water to your tank, always net the fish out separately.
4 - keep a close watch on new additions.
 
 
Unfortunately, I don't know what you may be dealing with in terms of a potential pathogen.  
 
 
 
And yes, I've had this happen to me.  It was much more dramatic and frustrating than yours.   110 gallon tank, 25 bloodfin tetras added to a properly cycled tank, and all the fish were dead in a matter of hours!  ANd I never did figure out what the problem was, but the bloodfins never worked out.   I was able to keep cories, neon tetras and skirt tetras, but never guppies or bloodfins.