Danios and Cherry Red Shrimp Dying - HELP!

[acleme1]

I have a 4 Gallon planted nano. It is about 2 months old now. I have killed 9 Danios (8 Celestial Pearl and 1 Zebra) and 3 Cherry Red Shrimp over the last 3 weeks. They are dying a slow death, and I feel horrible about that. I also am desperate to figure out what is going on. Their bellies are bloating before they die. In the end, they are laying on the bottom and opening and closing their mouths, then they just stop breathing. They are also turning pale white before they die.

I let the tank cycle for 2 weeks before adding any fish. The Celestial Pearls made it about a month before they started dying. Once they started, it didn't take long. About a week for them all to die.

I then checked the water parameters, made sure everything was good, and then added 2 Zebra Danios. In less than a week, one has a huge belly and is about to die. The other one is starting to show signs of stress.

I am using an API Master Test Kit. My readings are as follows: pH: 7.2, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: in the 20-40 Range

I do a weekly 25% water change, and dose with: 8 drops Seachem Prime with the water changes, and with Flourish Excel 1ml every other day.

I feed with Hikari Tropical Micro Pellets.

Please help me figure out what's going on???

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Hi. Welcome to AA!
Looks like you've got a bit if a mystery here. Do the fish have any other signs of disease such as odd poop, fuzz, spots or sores? How long from first symptoms to death? I don't have excel to reference the bottle but what are the dosage rates?

 

[acleme1]

Hi mumma. Thanks for the help. I don't see any other signs of distress. I haven't ever seen them poop, but that doesn't mean they're not. Just not sure. Once they start acting a little funny - its not long before they die. 24 hours maybe??

I thought the Nitrates might be killing them, but I don't know. I tested the tap water at my office, and it tested at 20-40 ppm right out of the faucet.

I think it may be dropsy, but could that be killing my shrimp too?

My aquarium is very clean and looks healthy.

The dosing for excel is as follows:

On initial use or after a major (> 40%) water change, use 1 capful (5 mL) for every 40 L (10 gallons*). Thereafter use 1 capful for every 200 L (50 gallons*) daily or every other day. Dosing may be slowly increased in high-growth aquariums. For smaller dosing please note that each cap thread is approximately 1 mL.

Thanks again for the help. Aaron.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Ok my very first thought was you could possibly be over dosing excel. According to those directions you're using 2-3x the daily dosage. That could explain the invert deaths. As for the fish other than possibly the excel I don't have any ideas at the moment sorry.

 

[jetajockey]

What all is/was in this tank?