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A few days ago, I received 6 zebra danios from a friend. These fish were bred in a lab, but no experiments were done on them. I was told to use deionized water for the tank, and so I set out water overnight so that any chlorine and fluorine ions would evaporate. The fish were doing fine, and so I put them in their new tank. She then gave me five more. The 6 stayed in the larger tank for two days while the five stayed in their smaller tank for the time. They were fed Tetramin. Yesterday, I bought a two gallon tank to put them all in, which has an air pump. I also put two plastic plants and gravel inside the tank. I washed the inside of the tank and the gravel before placing the fish inside. The fish seemed to be very happy and chasing/playing with each other. They ate well that night. When I woke up this morning, two were dead. A third died within the next 2 hours. I left for three hours, and two more died. I have six left. They won't eat, and they are at the bottom of the tank just barely swimming. I am afraid the rest will die. I don't have a test kit to test the pH or anything, and being a college student, I can't easily get to a pet store. Please give me any suggestions to salvage these last few fish. I am rather fond of them. <img src='/images/forums/tear.gif' border=0> <br><br>Thanks.<br><br>Patty

Well a 2 gallon tank is wayyyyyyy to small for 2 zebra danios let alone 6...there probably isn't enough oxygen in the water and they also need a lot of room for swimming. They are probably producing to much waste for the tank to handle. Your ammonia and nitrite is probably sky high. Can anyone else help out? I'm not an expert so i may be out to lunch.

Last edited by kelso at 24-Oct-2004 17:50

Danios are very hardy, but only in correct conditions. Being active schooling fish, they need some room to zip around. A 2 gallon, is WAY too small. If you want to keep them, spend the $8 to get a ten gallon. There is not nearly enough surface area for them in the tank now.

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

I was totally unaware that there wouldn't be enough room in the tank. The girl who works for the lab said that it would be fine... I spent quite a bit on this little aquarium tank, but I think I'll go get a larger one as soon as I can for the remaining fish. I feel so terrible. Thanks for your all your help.

I agree with both of the other posters. A two gallon tank is much too small for six danios. If there is a Wal-Mart near you, you can buy a ten gallon tank there for $10 or so. That would be much better for your danios. Also, you should get them a heater. That would benefit them a lot, and help reduce their susceptibility to disease. If I were you, I would buy a dechlorinator while I was there. That would instantly remove chlorine from your tank's water, and then you wouldn't have to wait for the chlorine to disappear on its own.
I hope that you can get these guys a bigger tank soon, it would be a shame if they died.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."