# zebra danios hiding



## cinthy14 (Jul 31, 2011)

I just got a new 30gallon aquarium. I let the filter run for a day and yesterday I bought 5 zebra danios. They were doing fine until today I went out for a couple of hours and now they are hiding in the decorations and the bottom of the tank. Is this normal???


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Well, it sounds like you didn't cycle your tank. If you do a search on the forum for "Nitrogen Cycle" it will explain things for you...... you can't just run the tank for a day and put fish in.... you have to build up some ammonia then that in turn will build up bacteria that eats the ammonia (NitrItes) then that builds up bacteria that eats the Nitrites (NitrAtes), then you remove the Nitrates by doing partial water changes each week. 

Putting a bunch of fish in a tank that has not cycled is one way to cycle a tank, but the fish are at risk of getting sick and dying from ammonia or nitrite poisoning. A nicer way to do it is a silent cycle or a fishless cycle... that way there are no fish at risk of getting sick - there is a sticky on fishless cycling.

Do you have a test kit? You need one so you can test the water and keep an eye on the ammonia levels. If they get up to 1ppm or higher, you need to do a 50% Water change to keep the fish from dying. You also need to be testing for NitrItes. The ammonia will start to fall and the NitrItes will rise and peak after a few weeks, then begin to fall. When they start to fall, you will see a rise in Nitrates. When you can get your tank to 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm NitrItes and x amount of NitrAtes (under 40ppm), the tank is cycled. (The tank will have 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm Nitrites and 0ppm Nitrates to start with, because there is no ammonia source.) Now that you have fish... you will start getting ammonia. 

I would feed one small amount every other day until you've got a handle on things.

It's a lot to take in, but it's something every tank has to do before you can keep healthy fish.


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## cinthy14 (Jul 31, 2011)

I was told I could add fish after letting the filter run for a day and that the danios would help cycle. the fish are swimming no sign of stress but they just swim n hide by the plants.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

Cycling with a few hardy fish is definitely one way to cycle a tank, you just run the high risk of having sick or dead fish by the end.

I would suggest getting a good liquid test kit that tests for ammonia, nitrites and nitrates. Keep and eye on all 3 of these. You will have to do partial water changes when the ammonia gets too high, or it will kill the fish.

Good luck! Many people cycle their tanks this way and don't loose fish, but more than likely, they do loose some. Keep us posted!


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