New Rasboras Dropping Dead

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anibis

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Messages
106
Location
Columbus, Ohio
I decided to set my 29G aquarium back up about a month ago. I did a fishless cycle that took around 5 weeks. I did a 100% WC, re-checked the water perimeters after 24 hours and all was good. I went to the LFS and bought 8 Harlequin Rasbora, and 8 White Cloud Minnows (not the best combo, impulse buy). The minnows are fine, but I'm having issues with the Rasbora's.

The Rasbora's didn't look great at the LFS, they were skinny with dull colors, but they were active and didn't have clamped fins. This is a reputable non-box store, so I trusted that they were healthy and brought them home.

I lost my first Rasbora after about 24 hours. This particular fish had clamped fins from the get go. I figured it didn't acclimate well, so I wasn't concerned at that point. The next morning most of the Rasbora's had clamped fins, some were flashing off the decor, and most refused to eat. These fish have continued to show signs of stress with no improvement at all. In 1 week, I have lost 4 of the 8 I bought, with one or two more that look to be on their way out. I have done a couple 30% PWC's with no improvement.

All the fish that have died thus far (and two more that are living, but stressed) are very skinny, such as their bellies are in line with their spines. They all had clamped fins as well. I do have two that seem to be doing well. Their fins aren't clamped, they eat, have rounded bellies, and are active. The Minnows don't mess with the Rasbora's at all, but they do chase each other around.

The tank is moderately planted, I do inject Co2, and have added nothing but Prime to the aquarium (after PWC's) since I added fish. I do have 2 good sized pieces of Malaysian driftwood that have been in the aquarium for a month, and were bought from a reputable source online.

Amonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: ~5
PH: 7.6
GH: 8
KH: 3
Temp: 76

Any thoughts?
 
I agree with Nirbhao. From your description, they don't sound like they were healthy. I made that same mistake with some Petco neon tetras: bought seven, six were dead within a week. I'm sure they had something.
 
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