My Zebra Danios aren't eating

Hello everyone! I am new so if you have any suggestions or require additional information I will be happy to reply.

I have an uncycled 37-gallon aquarium (30x12x22)" with 2 zebra danios. I originally got 3 two weeks ago, and my mom decided to pick up 3 comet goldfish that I kept in my tank because my mom wasn't taking proper care of them. The goldfish all died and I found one of my danios dead in the filter. The dead danio was a female and the other two are males if that means anything. I performed a 40% water change a few days ago to get rid of the dead fish matter.

My remaining danios are not eating. In fact, I have never seen any of my danios eat. The goldfish ate before they passed but never the danios. I have tried blood worms and Omega One flake food and API tropical flake food but they just swim right past. The bloodworm got carried by the filter current into one of my danio's face and the danio tried to eat it but failed, probably because the bloodworm was too long.

Does this mean that my danios can't recognize food unless it flies in their face or is it another issue? Anything helps, thank you.

Sorry I forgot to mention, I know that zebra danios should be kept in schools of at least 6, I wanted to only add a few at a time and once I realized that fish-in cycling wasn't optimal at all I didn't want to risk any more. The goldfish were an exception because they were in a tiny fish bowl.

 

first off. you should cycle your tank before adding any kind of fish

 

first off. you should cycle your tank before adding any kind of fish

Yes, I know that now.

 

Well... to put it blunt there a lot wrong. First read up on the nitrogen cycle and better understand fish in cycles ( you have to moniter the water very VERY closely with very frequent water changes) Danis are too my knowledge schooling fish and need to be in groups of at least 6. Comet goldfish are way too big for a tanke like that let alone 3. They died due the the lack of cycle ( and please tell me you are conditioning the water) it is likely the stress if being in a small groupe with no cycle that stressing them. And I'm betting thats why that one died.

 

I think is no their numbers are too Low. When 3 of my ember tetras died the remaining 3 would not eat. Can you give your danios back to your LFS and gets more when your tank is done cycling? Goldfish produce a lot of poop so adding 3 goldfish is even worst then having another 3 zebra danios. Also, do you test your water? If yes, using what test kit?

 

I think is no their numbers are too Low. When 3 of my ember tetras died the remaining 3 would not eat. Can you give your danios back to your LFS and gets more when your tank is done cycling? Goldfish produce a lot of poop so adding 3 goldfish is even worst then having another 3 zebra danios. Also, do you test your water? If yes, using what test kit?

No, the fish store won’t take them back, I already contacted them.

The goldfish are gone now so they won’t be producing anymore waste.

i test water daily using the API Master Test Kit, ammonia levels usually read .25 ppm. I added Tetra SafeStart to hopefully speed up the nitrification cycle.

No, the fish store won’t take them back, I already contacted them.

The goldfish are gone now so they won’t be producing anymore waste.

i test water daily using the API Master Test Kit, ammonia levels usually read .25 ppm. I added Tetra SafeStart to hopefully speed up the nitrification cycle.

Does this mean that I should add more danios to get them to eat or should I hope for the best?

Well... to put it blunt there a lot wrong. First read up on the nitrogen cycle and better understand fish in cycles ( you have to moniter the water very VERY closely with very frequent water changes) Danis are too my knowledge schooling fish and need to be in groups of at least 6. Comet goldfish are way too big for a tanke like that let alone 3. They died due the the lack of cycle ( and please tell me you are conditioning the water) it is likely the stress if being in a small groupe with no cycle that stressing them. And I'm betting thats why that one died.

I know about the nitrogen cycle, I learned about it after I added the three danios in though.

I didn’t expect the goldfish to last due to the conditions they were subjected to before I added them in the tank and the fact that my tank is uncycled.

I condition the water daily to keep ammonia levels low and I added Tetra SafeStart to hopefully speed up the nitrogen cycle.

 

i test water daily using the API Master Test Kit, ammonia levels usually read .25 ppm. I added Tetra SafeStart to hopefully speed up the nitrification cycle.

Does this mean that I should add more danios to get them to eat or should I hope for the best?

I didn’t expect the goldfish to last due to the conditions they were subjected to before I added them in the tank and the fact that my tank is uncycled.

I condition the water daily to keep ammonia levels low and I added Tetra SafeStart to hopefully speed up the nitrogen cycle.

Adding water conditioner daily does not keep ammonia Low. In my opinion, you should buy 4 more and do small water changes( I think 20%, not sure tho) daily. Try to keep ammonia at 0. Just to let you know, healthy adult fish will be fine for 1-2 weeks without food. Some even say that they are fine 3 weeks without food.

 

Adding water conditioner daily does not keep ammonia Low. In my opinion, you should buy 4 more and do small water changes( I think 20%, not sure tho) daily. Try to keep ammonia at 0. Just to let you know, healthy adult fish will be fine for 1-2 weeks without food. Some even say that they are fine 3 weeks without food.

Thank you, I will do that. Should I add water conditioner anyway and if I should, should I add it after the water change? The water conditioner is API Aqua Essential, which is supposed to bind ammonia.

 

Thank you, I will do that. Should I add water conditioner anyway and if I should, should I add it after the water change? The water conditioner is API Aqua Essential, which is supposed to bind ammonia.

Add water conditioner to the water that you add into the tank. The water conditioner will only remove some ammonia from tap water(if I am correct).

Edit: Wait no, it does remove ammonia. Ignore what I said about water conditioner not removing ammonia.

 

Add water conditioner to the water that you add into the tank. The water conditioner will only remove some ammonia from tap water(if I am correct).

Thank you for your help. I’ll do what you said and buy 4 more tomorrow.

Oh, so should I keep adding the conditioner or just do water changes?

 

The water conditioner does not remove ammonia!, It neutralizes ammonia temporarily. Your tank will have dangerous bouncing levels until the tank is filtered, You are better off waiting until the tank is completely stabilized before adding anything more fish. New fish will be active, they will stress the sick fish and hod the food. They will make even ammonia, you are going to end up with the original fish dieing, and the new fish getting sick and stressed. Let the tank cycled before adding more fish!

 

Pictures of the aquarium and its filter would be useful so people know how to advise, even if they are pictures of the box it came in or off the web.

Temperature, current, oxygenation, substrate, current maintenance regime are all relevant. I think there is a good template for info on this site somewhere.

Zebra Danios can be hardy and very satisfying to keep, but you first need to understand how to create good water quality and keep it stable before adding a large group.

Zebra Danios only need a flake or two a day to maintain bodyweight and are easily overfed. Any surplus food uneaten will foul the water.

 

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The water conditioner does not remove ammonia!, It neutralizes ammonia temporarily. Your tank will have dangerous bouncing levels until the tank is filtered, You are better off waiting until the tank is completely stabilized before adding anything more fish. New fish will be active, they will stress the sick fish and hod the food. They will make even ammonia, you are going to end up with the original fish dieing, and the new fish getting sick and stressed. Let the tank cycled before adding more fish!

So should I continue to try to feed the danios in my tank right now?

Pictures of the aquarium and its filter would be useful so people know how to advise, even if they are pictures of the box it came in or off the web.

Temperature, current, oxygenation, substrate, current maintenance regime are all relevant. I think there is a good template for info on this site somewhere.

Zebra Danios can be hardy and very satisfying to keep, but you first need to understand how to create good water quality and keep it stable before adding a large group.

Zebra Danios only need a flake or two a day to maintain bodyweight and are easily overfed. Any surplus food uneaten will foul the water.

I have blue gravel substrate that I washed thoroughly, bubble wall at the back of the aquarium, HOB Top Fin 40 filter, and water is around 73 degrees Fahrenheit. I’ll try to send a picture in the morning.

 

Yes still try to feed them!

 

Update:
I moved the danios to a plastic container where I will be performing 100% water changes daily. One of them has a curved spine that I noticed yesterday afternoon, and is now lying on the container bottom. He is still breathing but probably will die in the next couple hours. The other one is doing fine but still refuses food. He leaves the other fish alone except to go check up on him at times.

I’ll be a doing a fish less cycle in the main tank for the meantime. If there is anything else I should know, please let me know.

 

You are making things hard for no reason.

Do a big water change on the main tank and stop overfeeding. As was mentioned above they only need a flake or two a day. If you do a big water change, put them back in the main tank and only feed a flake or two per day the tank will cycle itself in a few weeks.

 

You are making things hard for no reason.

Do a big water change on the main tank and stop overfeeding. As was mentioned above they only need a flake or two a day. If you do a big water change, put them back in the main tank and only feed a flake or two per day the tank will cycle itself in a few weeks.

The danio passed away so the other danio has the 11-gallon tub to himself. I scoop out the food he doesn't eat and it will be easier to do 100% water changes using the tub. I don't want to expose him to any more ammonia. It's also faster and easier to do a fishless cycle. The treated water from my tap has the same temperature and parameters as the water in the tub because I keep it at room temperature.