corycatluvr

Does anyone know why my FIVE Zebra Danios would have an appetite for my CoryCat fish?
I came home last night to my albino cory cat headless and hollow. My lacy corycat previous died because "somebody" ate his skin...and my 3rd (lacy also) is simply gone! My 15 gallon tank holds 5 danios, was 5 tetras (but 2 of them have also gone "missing"), so 3 tetras and a pleco. Had 3 cory cats, but don't have any left! :P Please help! The fish I selected are recommended tank mates.
Corycatluvr

Butterfly

Danios will not as a usual thing kill other fish but they will eat them after their dead. Sounds like they died of something else. let me ask a few questions. What size tank? What are your water test readings (ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates) ? What is your tank maintenance schedule ? What all do you have in the tank? Thanks
Carol

corycatluvr

Hi Carol;
I have a pleco, 5 danios and 3 tetras in a 15 gallon tank.
Doesn't make sense cuz this cory cat is the happiest (litterally giggles with glee) fish.
Readings are doing ok...pH sits a bit high at 7.5, but I use ph reducer with each water change. Water is changed about every 10 days, usually 25% of it.
Nitrates and Nitrites are minimal.
Does this help?

Butterfly

What size is the pleco ? Some of them can get quite large and are heavy waste producers. 7.5 isn't really high for Ph. Ph reducers and Ph reducers can cause the Ph to fluctuate and this is more harmful than acclimating your fish to the natural Ph of your water.
So you've lost three corys in all right? If so then your tank was a bit over stocked in my opinion
Knowing the exact numbers for your ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates would be very helpful.
Usually it's better to do 25% water changes weekly.
Thanks for the information, we will keep on and find out how we can make your tank a happy tank again. Hang in there.
Carol

corycatluvr

Thanks Carol;
Pleco has grown to be 3" since I go him...don't remember when. I'm not convinced it's the pleco. Right now I'm blaming my Zebra Danios, I put a post up there under Danios too; try to solve the mystery.

The tank seems to keep quite good readings, we change the water mostly to remove "garbage" and pollution.
I don't have a tester for ammonia. I use the 5 reading strips...nitrate, niterite, ph, water hardness, and can't think of the other one. (maybe one of these is ammonia) But the readings really all remain good.

My pleco keeps to himself, but really loves (loved) to hang out with my lacey cory cat, both are kind of shy. They made good friends hiding under plants together and by the heater. The albino who was eaten was more social...he was all over the tank and fun to watch.

I'll keep in mind over polluting my tank with fish - though we tend to stay with small trops (except the pleco); thanks for the tip.

Oh, we live on an acreage...so the ph raises if I don't use PH reducer. We do use a product to make our water suitable for a tank. I can't recall what it's called. My hubby looks after most of that stuff.

Butterfly

I understand what your saying about your water source, some people keep tropicals in Ph as high as 8.4 and they are fine as long as they are acclimated to it.
The test strips are not very reliable for testing your water, the liquid testing supplies by aquarium pharmaceuticals are excellent and very precise. The Petsmart website has a coupon that can be printed off and you get a discount when you buy your freshwater testing supplies from them. (No I don't work for Petsmart or aquarium Pharmaceuticals )
I'm sorry for all the questions but it's the only way I know to get a good picture in my mind of your tank
How often is the substrate vacuumed? what were the Corys being fed?
Carol

corycatluvr

Don't apologize for the questions...it is a forum after all.
We have a gravel vac that we vacuum the gravel with every time we change water.
Feeding Cory's and pleco Algae pellets, Food Pellets and Shrimp Pellets (alternating). My albino liked to eat the flakes with the rest of the fish in the morning. I Try to drop these after the lights go out (they are on a timer) or else I feed the danios a few flakes to give the bottom feeders a chance to indulge. (The danios aren't afraid to see what's feeding on the bottom

Butterfly

All above sounds good. I would still advise getting teh liquid testing supplies as soon as possible so you can reliably test all three water parameters. (Ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates)
Carol

corycatluvr

Thanks for the tip...ya really think my Cory's died first, eh?

I'll hit up a pet store on the weekend.

Butterfly

yea 99% sure. Have kept Danios as dither fish in all my tanks for many years and have never seen them kill anything but a flake or a shrimp pellet but they are oportunistic feeders- meaning if it's dead they will eat it. Let us know how things go.
Carol

armadillo

I've just read an article that said that danios could be extremely aggressive if kept in too little a school. So I guess they have a nasty side.

Butterfly

Yes danios can be nippy if kept in too small a school but it's usually toward each other or nipping the fins of other fish although unlikely to just outright kill several fish.
Carol

armadillo

I don't think the article specified, actually. Thanks for all the !!!

Cody

the cory most likly died and the daino was eating off it ...its common if a fish sits in a tank dead .....