# Danios and Platys Red Gills New Tank



## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

Hi All. It's been years since I've been able to keep fish and just started up a new tank. The PH was 6.5 and everything else read 0 since it was a completely new setup.I added a couple of plants, then I let everything settle for about 2 days. 

I just added 2 platys and 3 very tiny danios. It's a 10 gallon. When I had them in the bag from the store I noticed their gills were turning a bit red. I started trying to acclimate them and the redness went down briefly. After an hour of adding a bit of water every 10-15 minutes I put them in the tank. 

They act fine, but they are all red behind their gills. I even decided to give them a little food which they gobbled up happily. I'm wondering if they're just stressed or if the water in my tank is messed up. I used water conditioner (at the recommended level on the bottle) to remove the chlorine so I know I'm not killing them off that way. 

I do remember losing a few to new tank syndrome last time I started up a brand new tank, but they didn't have any redness...they just died  

Any thoughts on what I could do for these poor little guys?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Ammonia. It burns the gills. It accumulates in the bag from the store and from food in an "uncycled" tank. Plants help, but they likely aren't taking up enough. "cycling" can be really slow at pH below 7. 

Read your water conditioner. If it is something like Prime that "detoxifies ammonia and nitrite", dose the tank again. If it isn't, go buy something that does. Go buy an ammonia test or go to a daily water change routine. 

If the water conditioner has "bacteria to cycle the filter" or something like that, good. If not, consider getting something that does. 

Reread all the "new tank syndrome" and cycling a tank stickies. 

Don't be complacent. Ammonia gill damage is cumulative and the longer the fish are exposed the more likely the are to die later or fail to thrive. When in doubt, change water.


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

*?*

Thanks for the reply. I just have another quick question. There was 0 ammonia in the tank when I put them in and they've only been in there a few hours. I can look at some of the new tank treatments tomorrow morning at the store. I have a suction cup ammonia tester in there (which I know aren't THAT accurate) but it only shows as <.02ppm which is pretty darn low. 

I'll be keeping a close eye on them, but if there isn't any ammonia in the tank (I know there will be soon from the new fish and cycling) could it just be from the bag? I only had them in the bag 15 minutes before I started adding a bit of tank water since the pet store is very close to my house.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If the red gills aren't from ammonia, the may just be showing them from stress. That should go away in a few days. Hopefully you don't have gill irritant in the water or some gill-attacking disease.


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## mlefev (Apr 19, 2005)

They aren't as red today. Hopefully that means they're happier. I will keep a close eye on them though. Thanks again.


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