Swantekkie

Sorry this is the photo. I’d love to find someone who’s kept these guys and could give me some insight.

I recently got what was sold to me as “golden zebra loaches” from my local pet store. They only had two so I purchased both. I know they like to be in groups but when I went back to get more the tanks were all riddled with Ich (big box fish stores amiright?) So opted to hold off. Lately though they have both, one more than the other, started to darken up in color, losing their “golden” sheen. Both seem to be acting normal, eating and exploring the tank. So I’m wondering are they just darkening with age? Or are they stressed because there are only two and they need some companions? There really isn’t a lot of info on these guys, as they are also described as a “burmese border loach” but those look nothing like mine. They look more like a yo yo loach but definitely not yo yos. Anyone else keeping these? I did one video with Cory and his seemed to look a lot like mine. I attached a pic of what they looked like before they started darkening up, couldn’t get a good recent pic.

So a bit of an update, after removing the blueberry wood and multiple water changes I just added a new fish to the aquarium an he seems to be doing great. Still not sure if it was my parameters or the blueberry but it’s quite the coincidence that everything’s fine after removing. Can’t 100% say but I for sure will never use it in an aquarium again.

Yeah I’m sure I read the same article, scoured the web for anything that mentioned blueberry. Only found one other forum and they only put one nerite snail in there with no recent update on if it survived. I also found that cherry/choke cherry is poisonous in aquariums, so I guess it’s not all fruit trees 🤷🏻‍♂️. I’m trying new fish tomorrow without the blueberry wood so I will update on if they survive. 🤞🏻🤞🏻 I wouldn’t suspect bacterial or fungus only because it was over night they all died. Parameters were all “good” with no spikes. I was converting from a 10 to a 20 gallon, but reused all my media and had the old filter running with the new one until it was “seeded”. I thought ammonia spike for sure but it’s been at 0ppm and I’m showing nitrates so seems like I kept my cycle. I’m really at a loss and hoping it was the blueberry all along.

Basically what I found was that dark berries that contain good antioxidants for us are bad for fish, and that it’s similar to deadly nightshade, all things I was told by a supposed aquarium guru. I know you can’t use choke cherry/cherry so maybe it’s a similar thing. I believe I read the same thread and the person had only put a nerite snail in. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I didn’t have any sort of ammonia or nitrite spike so it’s the only thing I can think of to cause such sudden death of every fish twice now. I’ve done a full water change and then multiple 50% changes, as well as add some new carbon in the filter to remove any remaining toxins. Getting just a few guppies tomorrow to see if the tank is ok now 🤞🏻 Then I’ll know for sure if it was the blueberry.

So after more and more research, and some help from fellow aquarist I’ve come to the conclusion that it is not safe for the aquarium. Quite sure it’s what killed all my fish but I won’t be able to say for sure until I get new fish in the tank without the wood. Just wanted to update since I could find just about nothing on the subject matter and hopefully save some others the trouble I went through.

I’ve got some dead blueberry branches and was wondering if anyone has any experience with them in their aquarium. Will it leach toxins?