Aaargh

[MOW4T]

came across 2 dead BN's yesterday (approx 2 months old) looked in my tank not that long ago to find a dead L066 (approx 3 months old)

tank is approx 130 litres, with 15 or so guppies, 6 tiger barbs, 2 x brown bn's (adult 2 - 3") 1 x albino bn (adult 2 - 3") 1x 2 spot cat, 1 x RTBS, and about 15 more BN babies

the wierd thing is that they looked alive the first couple of times i looked but when i put my hand in to see they just flopped over on their backs.

all 3 ive found have been in the same place, which is where my current drops everything but it is also underneath my adult BN's breeding log/ornament

tested water today with "Tetra test 6 in 1" strip (the only test stuff i have)
readings were

CL2 = 0 mg/l
PH = 6.6 - 6.8
KH = 3oD
GH = 16oD
NO2 = 0 mg/l
NO3 = 50 - 100 mg/l

have done a 20% water change since, to bring down the NO3 (ates ir ites?)

checked over the dead ones and nothing seems wrong externally, have removed the tiger barbs to be safe though.

so did they die due to poor water or aggressive male BN or... any other ideas?

sorry about the life story trying to include as much details as poss

 

[Curiosity101]

I reckon that with stocking like that it's probably water quality that's the issue.

It could be a combination of ammonia and nitrites and nitrates...

Ammonia and nitrites may be spiking briefly every now and then (if the filter can't quite cope)

But aside from that the test strips are very inaccurate. I found mine often under estimated the water levels (When I switched to liquid I thought I'd find out).
If your nitrates are above 50 they could easily be causing problems. But more importantly if they're getting towards the 100 mark (possibly more knowing the strips). Then that really isn't good.

You need to either sort your stocking or really alter your water change routine. I would strongly suggest a 50% change to get them down now.

 

[MOW4T]

ok, whats wrong with the stocking? over stocked? i have kinda let the water change slip over last couple of weeks as ive been workng, usually do 2 x 20% a week, i did a 20% earlier today, will do a larger one tomorrow when im up.

thansk for replying

 

[Curiosity101]

Even being generous you have almost double the stocking that I'd recommend for that tank longterm. Plus alot of your stock is very waste heavy.
The problem will only get worse.

Oh and the BN's aren't adults at 2-3"

And the RTBS will more than likely become increasingly territorial in that sized tank. Anything much under 200l and there often isn't enough room for them to establish a territory they feel comfortable in. This leads to agression.

Also, I've never heard of a two spot catfish...could you describe this further or get a picture? It may be perfectly suitable for your tank, but it's still useful to know it's actual ID.

 

[MOW4T]

ok appreciate the info as, as you may be able to tell, im not that clued up.

the reason i say adults is because i have had them for 3+ years and just prosumed the were fully grown/matured!?

my RTBS so far keeps itself to itself but i do watch all my fish for signs of aggression etc

the baby bn's aren't in there long term, just for another month or so or however long it takes to get them to a sellable size.

may sound like excuses but i am taking on board what you are saying about waste and filtration

this is my "2 spot catfish"
http/www.itrademarket.com/hergunfish/39430/baung-lilin-mystus-bimaculatustwo-spotted-bagrid-catfish.htm

 

[Curiosity101]

No I understand that you may only have the baby bristles in there until they're big enough to be moved on. But presumably they'll be big enough at what...1"?
If so that's a heck of alot of combined biomass from them. So not only is it a bit of a strain on the tank now, but you'll find you may have quite a bad algae outbreak when you remove them as you'll be removing alot of biomass in one go. Plus it could easily be followed by an ammonia spike as a large proportion of the bacteria die off.

Depending on what bristlenoses you have they should be more like 5" when fully grown.
Were they ever kept in a very small tank?

 

[MOW4T]

ok so i have about 20 BN babies in total, a 130 litre a 60 litre and a 25 - 30 litre, would spreading these out between the tanks help? if so how many would you put in each?

and yes they were kept in the 60 litre for a long time, due to me knowing marginally less about fish than i do now

 

[Curiosity101]

If it were me I'd want to raise them soley in the 60litre.
But that may not be an option for you.

And if they were kept in the 60l and 'less than desirable' conditions. Then there is a possibility that your BN's have been stunted.

 

[MOW4T]

wouldnt be a problem, i will get rid of the tiger barbs tomorrow and put them all in the 60

thanks again for your help

 

[MOW4T]

ok so i did like i said and moved everything, left about 4 or 5 baby bn's in the tank that i couldnt catch, got the readings right down to pretty much 0 changed the flow direction of the filter, came home today to find another dead bn under my adult BN's breeding log, is there any chance this could be my male killing the babies and if so how is he doing it without leaving any visible marks? as i seem to have removed most other variables.. (that i know of)

any ideas?