# Danios dying



## zyntec724 (Sep 7, 2014)

I posted yesterday that my Danios have been sitting at the top or bottom of the tank. I lowered their temp gradually and they are still in the top or bottom. This morning i found one stuck to a fake plant on the bottom. I ran my water tests and here is what i came up with.

Normal range Ph: 7.6
NH3/NH4: 0.25ppm
No2: 0 ppm
No3: 40+ pmm (cant really distinguish the color, but it is at least 40 or up)

I havent ran the high range ph yet, nitrates and ph is way higher than when i ran the test a couple weeks ago, im gonna do a partial water change and see if that will drop the nitrate gradually. I cant figure out what caused such a big spike in nitrate, but i think that may be why one fish died and the others look like they are on their way.


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## Arthur7 (Feb 22, 2013)

Maybe it is lack of oxygen. If you feed a few months many Danios in the 10 G, and plentiful, then this can happen.
Help: 1. half clean water suction from above.
2. fish out in this water.
3. wash gravel
4 fish back inside with backwater.
5 STOOd fresh water fill.
Then the fish will feel more comfortable.
In the future, feed less.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

40 ppm nitrates should not be a big deal,especially for a danio.I let my 180 get right up there and it has more" sensative fish".
I would still change water and make a regular adjustment to your maintenance schedule.
Kh,Gh,Ph and any other info you can offer will help.


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## lonedove55 (Jan 25, 2012)

I wouldn't be too concerned with your ph. Danios are FINE in that ph. You need to be more concerned with the Ammonia and the Nitrates! You should NOT have any ammonia or nitrites in the tank if you are fully cycled. The death of a fish can produce ammonia in a tank, and it should be removed as soon as you notice it. Do a* large* water change of at least 50% of tank as soon as possible to get the ammonia & nitrates down to a more manageable amount. 50% water change will cut both down to half of what the tests are showing. 0.25ppm of ammonia is not really_ that_ high, but any amount can and will burn a fish' gills.
You need to only feed once per day and ONLY as much as the fish will consume in 2 minutes. (I know this is contrary to what LFS and food packages say). Too much excess food can decompose and contaminate a tank. Also, it's good that you lowered the temp down. 

Are these glofish danios the longfin variety? If so, they are probably more susceptible to higher nitrates, just as the regular longfin zebra are. I speak from experience on this matter, as the regular longfin zebras I had could not handle NitrAtes over 20-30 ppm.

As a side note, have you tested your water supply straight out of the faucet?? You would be surprised at how many people have ammonia and/or nitrates in their water supply!


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## lonedove55 (Jan 25, 2012)

Oh, by the way...if the low ph test shows 7.6, run the high ph test. I know, I know...the high range starts at 7.4, then jumps to 7.8. Go figure! I haven't figured out their reasoning on why they did that either!


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## Arthur7 (Feb 22, 2013)

I hear the fish suffer. They are apathetic and snatch up for air.
By measuring can improve anything.
It is normal for an aquarium after some time accumulates a lot of dirt in the ground. A self-cleaning aquarium is not possible. Even with constant water changes you made ​​an accumulation of dirt. Smaller in a short time, larger pool much later.
There are other substances except nitrite, nitrate and ammonia.
For example, hydrogen sulfide and methane.
If you push the large cleaning too long beyond, the gravel can be black and smell bad. Then you have to take new gravel, and the bacterial milieu is easily lost. In addition, the roots and sometimes even with rosette plants of the growing point rot. Then no new leaves more.
Therefore it is better, time to clean. At 15 G after about half years. Then the gravel is very dirty, but not lazy. And you get on the gravel be bacterial milieu.
It is a technological routine and takes 1.5 hours.
One day later, you will be rewarded for the effort with new luster.


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## zyntec724 (Sep 7, 2014)

Did a roughly 75% water change, ran my water tests and came up with the following,
Ammonia: 0.50
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 20-30

I think the ammonia spike was caused by the fish being in weak condition, found another dead this morning, and i read that will cause ammonia to raise. 

I saw this stuff called Quickstart made by API, was wondering if anyone here has used it, if it works, or if it is even safe to use


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

zyntec724 said:


> Did a roughly 75% water change, ran my water tests and came up with the following,
> Ammonia: 0.50
> Nitrite: 0
> Nitrate: 20-30
> ...


What do you think the quickstart will do for you?
You already have nitrAtes so both bacterial colonies are present.I really wonder where the ammonia is comming from?If it is not your source water(you should test fresh out of tap),then some reading was wrong or something else is going on.
.5 ammmonia after a 75% change is 2ppm before change?
If you made any changes before it shouldn't have been that high(2?).
If all this is accurate then your danios died of ammonia poisoning.
I think you heat your tank also and most danios really prefer cooler(70-72 being upper) water.


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## zyntec724 (Sep 7, 2014)

I was just curious if the quickstart actually did what it says it does. Most cases labeling is misleading. And no there has been no other major changes. I've said in previous posts, not sure this one, I added in a new heater, clean some sort of white build up out of the corners and off the air lines and did a partial water change after. After that is when I started noticing weird habits in fish. And my tank is currently at 75F. Heater is there cause temp varies quite a bit where I live. Only thing I can think of is maybe my test was inaccurate, I use the API master test kit. And I have yet to test straight tap water. I will when I can later this evening


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## discusbreeder (Oct 7, 2014)

Check and see if your water is purified with chlorine or chloramine. If it is chloramine and you are using a chlorine only remover you are adding the ammonia yourself.


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