Dying danios

[Wobbly]

I'm not sure why my leopard danios keep dying.

I'm a newbie at fishkeeping.

I had 3 leopard and 1 zebra danios. I also have a Triops longicaudatus as cleanup crew.

I have a seven and a half gallon tank, it has been running for two weeks with 6 triops in it, I have used the filter and some gravel and rocks from my 3 gallon triops tank, I also have elodea, spiralis and cabomba growing fairly happily in it.

I bought these danios on monday from pets at home, I acclimatised them properly (floating bag for 30 mins, gradually adding tank water, leaving lights off for an hour after releasing etc.)
That night I noticed that the smallest leopard was looking a bit "off" and the others were a lot less active than the zebra (hiding and being chased a lot by the zebra who I am assuming is the dominant female)
The zebra also seemed to be eating all the food and chasing the others off when they tried to eat.

On wednesday evening I saw the smallest leopard hanging at the surface, ignoring food and looking very ill. Two hours later he was lying dead on the cabomba, I netted him out and examined him, but I couldn't see any obvious signs of injury or disease.
Last night the second smallest leopard went the same way.

The last two seem to be doing ok at the moment, although the last leopard is a bit subdued, but that could be due to the zebra bullying it and eating all the food.

my readings today according to my tetra 5 in 1 test are
NitrAte 10mg/l
NitrIte 0
GH >6
KH 3
pH 6.8

(I tested on thursday and the readings were the same apart from the GH being <3, I think this might be due to adding tonic salts.)

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edit: I've just had a nasty thought, it might be chloramine poisoning. I've had a quick google and welsh water has started using chloramine instead of chlorine. Does anyone know if interpet fresh start removes chloramine?

 

[dfitzger]

Hey, if your treatment treats chloramine it will clearly state it on the bottle.
Leopard danios could have died due to a dody fish as i like to call them. A way of shecking this is to go back to your dealer and politely ask about past deaths in the tank within a week or two. If they have had a problem with this species ask them what they are doing to treat them and ask what to do with yours.
But the rest of your fish seem to be fine except for the dominant zebra so if it is bothering you further you could just trade it in.

hope i have been a help

 

[gourami]

hi i'm new to this site but have been keeping freshwater fish for years and in my experiance pets at home keep very underfed poor quality fish. did the fish look healthy when you bought them?

 

[Wobbly]

To be honest, all of them looked skinny and washed out when I got them. (The zebra is a little pig and became fat almost immediately.)
There were also a couple of dead fish in the tank which I maybe should have paid more attention to.

I think if I get any more fish I'll get them from a small fish shop I've found in Cardiff market, all the fish seem much healthier there.

At least these last two seem pretty happy, although the leopard is still not eating...

Edit: I think I'll have to buy some stuff that removes chloramine too, any recommendations for a good one?

 

[fish_breeder_05]

triops

if you want triops for very long, you better buy some more eggs. they only have a life span of 20-90 days. grow the fry in a jar of spring water so the adults don't eat them at a young age. the reason your danios die and not your triops is that triops are artheopods and have different requirements. danios can take most water but all fish need a healthy slime coat and your tank has not built enough yet. buy more triop eggs, buy stress coat and stress zyme and other water conditioners, use the recomended amount, wait about a week, then stock with fish. also, just a hunch,but, are useing the triop pellets on the danios? dont.

 

[Wobbly]

I have a batch of eggs laid by my current triops drying in the airing cupboard.

The water conditioner I use has "a natural colloid which coats the fish with a protective barrier".

My triops eats the fish flakes that fall to the bottom of the tank, nibbles the plants and I give it a sinking catfish pellet every few days.

 

[Holly9937]

The extra slime coat stuff is not necessary, just a good water conditioner that says it removes chlorine/chloramine.

 

[wataugachicken]

nevermind