My Rasboras are dying! What is going on?!

[Cherry Barb]

Okay, this is gonna be a long one, but I need help, so please forgive me.

Tank: 20g high
Filter: Bio-Wheel
Heater: Whisper maintains 78 degrees
Feedings: 2x day no overfeeding (I think)

My fish:
5-Harlequin Rasboras
5-Zebra Danios
5-Cherry Barbs
2-Spotted Cory Cats
2-Boesmani Rainbows

I started this tank on July19 and added 4 zebra danios on the 20th. (I keep a diary so I'll try to give best timeline here)

I was going to cycle with my danios, but I lost one on 22nd. Within couple days of that I joined aq advice and had found a lfs expert. By July 30th I was testing my water daily. (Now that I knew I had to test H2O)

Anyway tests were PH=7.4, Ammonia=0 and Ites=.25. Not bad from what I heard. By August 5 I decided after lots of research,etc I was going to take the Bio-Spira plunge. So that day I added Bio-Spira and stocked my tank with the little fishies I listed above.

Within 24 hours all my tests were 0 and my PH remained same. All fish were happy, but water was a little cloudy due to Bio-Spira. As days go by my water was starting to clear and test results were still same. ( I test every 2-3 days.)

Then my world went topsy-turvy. This Monday on 18th I found one of my sweet little Harlequin Rasboras stuck in the Bio-Wheel intake tube. I inspected him and found nothing obviously wrong. I did a test and my ammonia and Ites had spiked to .5. So, I did a 30% water change. ( I was scheduled to do one anyway.)

This morning I get up and find 2 more Rasboras dead. One was floating on top of water the other was at bottom of tank wrapped in a plant. I have no ida what is going on. My ammonia reads 0 and my Ites are at .25. They have dropped since the water change. I see no obvious marks or anything wrong with my little guys. I have spent 2 days in front of my tank literally inspecting every fish anyway, but I see nothing. No one seems to be breathing hard, the corys especially are acting normal. I'm not even sure if I know what I'm looking for because I am still new at this.

Can someone please give me some advice before any more of my little guys suffer?

Thanks in advance and I'm sorry for rambling.

 

[Cherry Barb]

Well, I have solved my own problem, but it took the death of all 5 of my Rasboras before I figured it out. Apparently, my Boesmani Rainbows decided the Rasboras were a great fish to bully around. My last two Rasboras died on Sunday. One had a torn fin and was upside down gasping for air and the other was was hiding under a cave rock and was obviously beaten to death.

Once I figured this out, I started watching the Rainbows when they didn't know they were being watched. It turns out after the Rasboras were gone they started on my cories. So, the Rainbows have been moved to their very own 10gallon tank.

All of my other fish cheered when I moved them and now it appears the Rainbows are courting each other....Boesmani Rainbow fry?...Well, we'll see. 8O

 

[madasafish]

Well, thanks for letting us know about the Boesmani aggression. I've been thinking of getting them for my 55 for a while, but will hold off, since I don't want my tetras and danios to get beaten up!!

Good luck with the BR courting! If I lived in Kentucky, I'd keep an ear out and bug you for some of the fry for my new tank! lol