Suzanne17

Hello-I inherited an aquarium from a friend. It had 6 lovely zebra dannios, one of which died immediately (from the stress of the move maybe?). We set up the tank with its old gravel and 3 gallons of the old tank water, then dechlorinated my tap water with AquaSafe and filled the tank with that. I got fish happy and went to a reputable fish store in the area and came home with 4 cardinal tetras which fit right in to the tank without problems. My water parameters have been as in my profile from the beginning (with exception of nitrates-that has been from 5-10). On my first water change, unfortunately I lost a zebra. I do 20% water changes biweekly. I got more fish happy and the store sold me a pair of black mollies and a leopard cory cat. They told me to start adding salt to the water. That was a couple of months ago and since then I have had a slow die-off-zebras and mollies both. Now I am down to 2 zebras which breaks my heart and the male mollie died last night. I am doing a water change today and the last I checked my parameters they were the same as always. I am not sure if there is a bacteria in the water from the store or what is happening. I just find the fish dead on the bottom of the tank, and they look normal. I did notice a couple of days ago that my two zebras have reddish gills. Again, the ammonia is negative.
I guess I am wondering what I am doing wrong. I feel awful about the adopted fish dying. I have a feeling I overstocked, but I do frequent water changes and the parameters have been great. Of course, I am also wondering if I should get more zebras now since I know they like to be in a school but I don't want to kill more fish! When I move, I am upgrading to a larger aquarium (or two) but I can't have a larger one in this apartment.
Thanks for any help!

AlyeskaGirl

Welcome to FishLore! Aw, I am sorry you lost some fish.

Do you have an airstone in there?

Yup, you overstocked the tank but you were keeping up on your water changes so that was good. Also when you add more fish the bacteria needs time to adust to the bio-load. After you added the Tetras you should of waited a few weeks before adding the Mollys and Cory to make sure everything was ok. Corys like to be in groups of 3 or more to be happy. Tetras and Catfish do not care for salt. Do not add anymore fish right now....need to figure out what is going on first.

http://fish.mongabay.com/diseases.htm

Suzanne17

Thank you- I was thinking the same (not adding more fish for a bit). I will stop adding salt. I read up on it more and it does look like there is a division on whether it was a good idea or not.
I will wait a while to make sure things are on the right path after this water change today. If I added 2 more cory cats wouldn't that be too many for a 10 gallon? I don't want Nubes, my cory, to be lonely. He or she is so fun.
Thank you for the link on illnesses. I will read it to see if I can figure out what happened. I have heard that black mollies tend to be a little more difficult-don't know if that is true or not.

ETA-should I add an airstone? I am going to the store today.

AlyeskaGirl

Yup, it would be too many if you added 2 more Corys. I was just letting you know more about them.

Other fish that don't care for salt also are Angelfish and Loaches. Loaches are scaless fish as well as all catfish...so the salt irritates them. Good info to know.

Aw, you don't have an airstone.....oxygen shortage could be the problem. Surface agitation is what makes the air. You just have a whisper filter on there....how much surface agitation is it making?

Suzanne17

It doesn't seem like a lot...but it is what my friend had before. But maybe when I added more fish it caused problems? I can get an airstone. I don't see them gulping at the surface or anything like that but of course I'm not watching them constantly.
I won't get more cats...I figured that would be too many. Maybe when I upgrade. If I added more zebras to get them up to a school and continued with the biweekly water changes, do you think that would be ok? (Not right now...I am planning on waiting a month or so). Thanks so much for your help.

AlyeskaGirl

Your Welcome! It's hard to figure it out when all the parameters are good. Could very well be what happend when you added more fish to the tank. It wouldn't hurt to add one. I have about a 3 inch one in my 10 gal q-tine. You will need an air pump, airstone, check valve and airhose. Check valve is if the power goes out then the water wont drain out of the tank or ruin the airpump.

Adding a few more danios wouldn't hurt until you upgrade to a bigger tank. And the cory will be fine until then too. Make sure you drop a small piece of a sinking wafer in there for him. Danios and cory would love frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp too..but not everyday too much protein.

dbrown918

Is the fish store you are getting your stock from trusty? It sounds like the problem may have come straight from there with your water parameters being ok. Doesn't sound like there isn't enough oxygen, but you should still get an airstone just in case. The reason I think it may have come from the fish store is because zebra danios are known to be particularly hardy fish and if one died right after you added it to your tank thats not a good sign of health from the health store right there. Unless of course you forgot to dechlorinate the water. I would recommend being wary of that fish store from here on out. Is there anything else that happened?

Suzanne17

The dannios were the ones I adopted from my friend-they were around 6 mos old. The mollies and two dannios have died since I got the mollies. I wonder if they brought something home. The store (House of Tropicals) is reputable, from what I've read. I also have added a couple of plastic plants but I rinsed them off well before adding them. I got the tetras and the cory from the same place and they seem to have thrived.
I may overfeed them...but the cory cat is always busy in there on the bottom. He gets algae wafers too and shrimp pellets.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore suzanne!! im also sorry for the loss of your fish its so hard to loose them and not know why..

from your original thread, it says to look at your info to get your tank readings..the only thing I see if your nitrate...what is your ammonia and nitrites? do you test for pH? if the ph in the water you used from the original tank , was much different than your tap water, that could have done something...although ph usually isnt a factor in fish health, a drastic change (with your water change compared to the water in the tank) can harm them...

when you reset the tank up, was the filter still wet? how long was it before you reset it up? water doesnt contain enough beneficial bacteria to sustain the cycle, as most bacteria is in your gravel/decorations, and filter media so if any of that got dry, it would start to kill off the bacteria needed...

most of the fish we get from our LFS and from others, do not use salt anymore..so the salt could have been a shock to them...its always hard to trust a LFS especially when they dont know why the fish have passed and they then start to recommend things that arent always helpful...if you fish were not use to salt and the LFS didnt keep them in salt, it probably shocked them ...

I do hope things get better and doing partial water changes with some stress coat+ , never hurts and usually does much better than the salt additive...goodluck!

Suzanne17

Hi everyone-I don't know why my info isn't in there-I will add it again after I test tonight. I just installed my airstone and did a 20% change. I did add some Stress Coat and Cycle (the Stress Coat is new to me today) and NO SALT! The fish store that I have bought all of my fish from told me they put salt in every single tank no matter what and that it was very important. Yeesh!

Regarding the initial set up, yes, the filter and gravel and everything was still wet when they arrived. It was a short drive. I still have that biobag in the whisper as well as some filter floss. The bag is grungy but I am told that is good. I rinse it out in the old tank water when I do water changes. There are also some ceramic stone (small cylinders) in the filter that were there when I got this tank.

Re: the airstone-does it matter where it is in the tank? I kind of want to hide the airline tubing but that will mean the airstone will be at the front of the tank on the same side as the whisper. Does that matter or should I put it on the other side so the agitation is more spread out?

I've learned more from this site than that stupid fish store! They are always crowded and busy but they have such a great selection-I will likely still buy my fish there but come here for advice.

ETA: Is it normal for me to now want like 12 more tanks? I want a guppy tank, gouramis, bettas, saltwater, on and on and on. Aigh!

Shawnie

cycle (the product) will not help with the cycle process its not a self sustaining bacteria and will die off the second you stop using it ...did the LFS recommend it?

the airstone is great and it really doesnt matter where it is but I try to put mine where its in the middle and the water gets great movement throughout the tank...

and yes its so normal to want more tanks and we ENCOURAGE IT often..its called MTS (multiple tank syndrome) and there is no cure...!!

Suzanne17

Cycle is what my friend was using, so I just got more. Dang it all. I guess I will put it in weekly and when it is gone switch to Bio Spira (I think I can get that at the LFS).

I just tested and pH is 7.2, nitrite and ammonia are 0, and nitrate is 5. So that's good, right?

I am buying a house soon...one of the requirements is a lower level on concrete for a fish room. It's already bad enough that I have a yarn room for my other hobby, knitting (we call yarn acquisition stashing, and try to attain SABLE-stash beyond life expectancy). I will be bankrupt! But it's so fun!

Shawnie

bio spira doesnt exist anymore...its now called tetra safestart....the cycle (product) will make the tank worse especially seeing how your readings are 0-0-5(yes thats very good!!) ..it will interupt the beneficial bacteria...

seeing how all your readings were on the mark, im going to think the salt additive is what shocked them .....

Suzanne17

Boo! So I shouldn't use the Cycle at all? That stinks. I just bought a new bottle . Is it ok to not be adding anything until I can get the safestart? If it was the salt, that makes me sad...maybe I shouldn't even buy my fish at that store. Although it was a cashier who told me that...she sounded so knowledgeable though. That's pretty frustrating, that a reputable (in this area) store would give out bad info, especially to a new fish enthusiast. I do research here too, but a store dedicated to fish you would think would know better.

Shawnie

unfortunately, alot of LFS give horrible advice..but they make money off of it...MOST of us have been there before and it stinks ..and no you shouldnt use the cycle at all..return it for some prime, in case you go into a mini cycle...(which is what the product cycle could force your tank to do so keep a close eye on things for a week or so.. ) but right now, you are cycled with the 0-0-5 reading and again , I think it was the salt that might have caused things to go wrong..over time, they succumbed to the salt in the tank..

Suzanne17

I'm losing another zebra...he is lethargic and lying at the bottom of the tank with his spine bent. He looks in the last stages-he is also darker than usual. This is breaking my heart! I was thinking I shoulg bag him with some water and take him to the LFS. I will try to get a picture here. I just don't know what to do! The biggest zebra is bopping all over the place like normal. He was a bit of a bully with the mollies. But maybe he is bored because there aren't enough of them.

On top of that, I think my cory is lonely...he just stays in the corner of the tank alone and only comes out when it is feeding time...he doesn't do the "wall dance" anymore. I'm so sad!!!!!

Attached Images

sickfish.jpg (65.2 KB, 22 views)

Suzanne17

Well, the fish store couldn't find anything wrong...they said that the dannios sometimes have a hereditary problem that causes this bent spine and lethargy. They also said it might be old age, but I don't think they were that old. Anyway, they euthanized the lil guy b/c he was obviously struggling. I decided to isolate my lone zebra left in a little tank (a 2.5) because he is such a bully...I have seen him nipping at the other zebras and the mollies. The tetras were also hanging out only at the bottom of the tank which made me wonder if they were nervous around the dannio. We will see...

ETA I did add a couple tetras and one more catfish when I took the zebra out. They all look a million times happier (ALL of the fish).