Glofish deaths.

[martiniduck]

I purchased 4 Glofishfor my tank from a reputable LFS. After 2 days they all died. I decided to give it another try and bought them again from a Petsmart. They were half the price there. After one day, 2 of the fish have died. I do not see any discoloration, spots, or any other common signs of sickness. They seem to be fine, until I find them dead. We have hard water and a water-softener. I have not ever had any problems with any of my other fish. I have raised angel fish, Kuli loach, guppies, swordtails, and Redtail black sharks without any problems in my hard water. Are these fish not as strong as standard Zebras, because of the mutation? I can't see what I am doing wrong.

1~What type of fish is afflicted? Glofish
2~What are your tank parameters
Ammonia=0, nitrites= 0, nitrates=<20 Tested with API master kit.
Temp=80f, PH=8
3~ How large is the tank? 29g How long has the tank been set up? 3years
4~What type of filtration are you using? aquaclear 70 + under-gravel w/2 powerheads
5~How many fish are in the tank? 12 What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes? 3 mollies 1.5", 2 platy .75", 2 corys 1.5" 2 cory .5", 3 glofish .5"
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? yesterday and a week ago How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time? 25-40 %
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them? left bag float for 45m then added some water to bag then waited to add fish to tank
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?no
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?flakes no change

 

[Coursair]

I purchased 4 Glofishfor my tank from a reputable LFS. After 2 days they all died. I decided to give it another try and bought them again from a Petsmart. They were half the price there. After one day, 2 of the fish have died. I do not see any discoloration, spots, or any other common signs of sickness. They seem to be fine, until I find them dead. We have hard water and a water-softener. I have not ever had any problems with any of my other fish. I have raised angel fish, Kuli loach, guppies, swordtails, and Redtail black sharks without any problems in my hard water. Are these fish not as strong as standard Zebras, because of the mutation? I can't see what I am doing wrong.

1~What type of fish is afflicted? Glofish
2~What are your tank parameters
Ammonia=0, nitrites= 0, nitrates=<20 Tested with API master kit.
Temp=80f, PH=8
3~ How large is the tank? 29g How long has the tank been set up? 3years
4~What type of filtration are you using? aquaclear 70 + under-gravel w/2 powerheads
5~How many fish are in the tank? 12 What kinds of fish are they and what are their current sizes? 3 mollies 1.5", 2 platy .75", 2 corys 1.5" 2 cory .5", 3 glofish .5"
6~When is the last time you did a water change and vacuum the gravel? yesterday and a week ago How often do you do this? How much water do you remove at a time? 25-40 %
7~How long have you had the fish? If the fish is new, how did you acclimate it/them? left bag float for 45m then added some water to bag then waited to add fish to tank
8~Have you added anything new to the tank--decor, new dechlorinator, new substrate, etc.?no
9~What kind of food have you been feeding your fish, have you changed their diet recently?flakes no change

The only thing that raised a red flag for me was letting them float for 45 min before adding water.
Glofish are Zebra Danios. Very active. The bag may have been full of Ammonia by the time you started adding new water. ???

I float a bag for 15-20 min for temperature and then start adding tank water. I either drip acclimate or just keep adding tank water every 5-10 min till I'm ready to release. In rare cases I float for temperature then net them out straight into the tank ( this is only when the bag water has turned toxic from a dead fish or other reason ).

If your stores are buying from same source it may have been a bad batch ?

Do all the fish in the store tank look good ???

You may want to QT new fish from now on to avoid issues.

Also you may want to gradually lower your tank temp. 80f is at the high end and means less oxygen in the water. Zebra Danios like it a bit cooler I think ?

 

[martiniduck]

The fish at both stores looked fine. Very active and healthy looking. I will try to do your method of slowly adding water. I was wondering about the temp. I will lower the thermostat on the heater.

 

[butterfly_koi]

Also you may want to gradually lower your tank temp. 80f is at the high end and means less oxygen in the water. Zebra Danios like it a bit cooler I think ?

Yes 68°-80° but considering the other fish in the tank I wouldn't drop it drastically. I think around mid 70's would be fine