CPD Deaths

[JavierLW]

Yesterday, I bought 7 Celestial Pearl Danios from the LFS, and put them in a Quarantine tank that I setup for them.

The tank is a 5 Gallon AquaTop Pisces Tank, and I put a potted plant and a couple decorations in it just for potential hiding places.

The ratio they sold me was 5 Males and 2 Females. It was all that they had.

I had cycled the tank for a week prior using some media from my Main Display Tank. I put a small amount of ammonia in the tank as a test and by the end of the week Ammonia and Nitrites were at 0ppm.

I also drip acclimated the fish for 30 minutes.

I went to bed and they were fine although they are definately good at hiding, but when I woke up in the morning, I found 3 of the males dead.

This left 2 Males and 2 Females, which seemed to sort of pair off, although I know this species doesnt exactly work that way.

Tonight I found another male dead, this time with what appeared to be damage to it's underside.

Could it be that 1 Male killed the other 4? I know they have a pecking order, but they were fine in the store. Maybe the tank is way too small for this particular species with those numbers?

The plan was to eventually put them in my 15 Gallon Flex 15 Aquarium which is heavily planted and already has 8 Scarlet Endlers, 6 Assassin Snails, and over 20 or so Cherry Shrimp.

I checked the water after the last death (and prior as well):

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 15ppm (the water is from my main display tank)
KH: 4ppm
GH: 8ppm
PH: 7.5

 

[JavierLW]

I lost another "female" today. So now I only have 1 Male and 1 Female.

I saw it seem to breath heavier earlier.

Once I took it out, it may of been a male because it had red fins. The LFS said that these are young and that some of the "females" could turn out to be males.

But I am not as sure that it was Murder.

The water tested fine still.

0ppm Ammonia
0ppm Nitrite
5-10 Nitrate (I put a Water Sprite in the tank that maybe soaks some of the Nitrates)

The Filter that comes with the AquaTop Pisces has a flow rate of 50 gallons per hour. Maybe that is too fast for this small tank and for this type of fish.

I did notice that unless they were under the cover of some object, they seemed to struggle to swim or stay still.

So I went to the pet store right away this morning and bought a sponge filter. I removed some of the media from the Aquatop filter (which came from my display tank), and put it right next to it. And I took out the piece that holds the light so I can still hang the light that comes with it if needed.

Hopefully that helps, they do seem to be able to swim a little better, where before they were bobbing up and down with the current.

I also wonder if having an exposed heater could hurt fish? I moved it to the end for now so at least they dont have to go past it everytime they want to move anywhere. (in my display tank, a Flex 15, I hide it in the filter chamber)