"Dropping dead syndrome"(tm)

[Jamesy]

I just made that syndrome up. However, last night, some of my fish suffered from it.

I have a 10gal tank with five golden barbs and a larger (something beginning with "a") barb. The tank is three months old, and all the fish have been getting on great - no algae build-ups, water crystal clear, lively and eating well.

Came home last night, said hello to the guys - they smiled back, and went to the kitchen to pour some stress relief.

Went back into the lounge and - boom - one fish is upside down on the bottom and two floating upside down on the top of the tank - one dead and one with about a minute to go.

Upon closer inspection, the three dead fish have eroded fins and left a slight red residue (like dye) on the tissue I used to wrap them in for their trip to the great aquarium in the sky.

I'm now left with two Golden Barbs - the smallest of the bunch, but both very happy, and the big Barb - none have any erosion of the fins.

Please can someone tell me what on earth happened.

All the best,

Jamesy

 

[William]

Barbs are generally quite agressive fish if not kept in shoals of at least 6 and even then they may attack other fish so it could be them doing the damage, your tank has already cycled but it may be worth buying a "NitrAte" test kit. Have you been doing regular water changes? Say 25% every week or two.

 

[Jamesy]

The fish have all been together for a couple of months now - so I would have thought that they'd gone through any fighting by now. Especially, as it's the biggest three that died.

As far as the nitrates/ammonia go, I did a filter change and 10% water change at the weekend.

I'm guessing that they've been hit by some kind of illness/infection or some such, but I'm stumped as to what would ;

a) Cause the fin erosion
and
B) Cause such a sudden and selective decimation of the population

ATB

Jamesy

 

[William]

Hmm let me think on this for a bit hopefully another member can help you sooner, got me puzzled

 

[semper fi]

since they were the bigger of the fish that dropped dead could be a fight for the king of the tank. they are now maturing and getting their rank and file in order. that is why you still have one large one left.

maggie

 

[Jamesy]

I see. Is it common to turn your back for a few minutes and find that three fish have gone from happy to dead? (I've just reread that and it sounds sarcastic - it's not meant to be)

I've looked up the type of the large single barb, and it's a Barbus Semifasciolatus (Half Banded Barb) - if that's any help. He/she's a lively bugger, but certainly not overly aggressive.

The two golden barbs that are left, are the two tiddlers. Are you suggesting a gunfight at the OK aquarium scenario, where the three biggest golden barbs all fired at the same time?!

trs

Jamesy

 

[semper fi]

could be that they were fighting all day and stopped when you came home. thought that meant food. were they swimming funny? have you tested your water? just cause the water is clear does not mean it is good. could of been a combination of the both. would test the water to make sure there are not any high levels.

my chippokae did this also. fed the tank and everyone was fine. answered the phone. went back and the cobalt blue was cowering in his hidey hole and two bumblebees were floating. next day found the other blue. never saw them fighting though.

maggie

 

[Jamesy]

Didn't notice any swimming funny - when they seemed OK. Water A&N is fine and dandy - tested that straight away.

The two tiddlers don't seem atall phased by the biggie, and he/she doesn't seem overly interested in them - all a bit odd really.

I was planning on going and buying a "proper" sized aquarium this weekend (as I thought that I'd finally got the knack of it), so I'm just trying to eliminate the chance that I've done something wrong.

They're fed once a day, no food gets to the bottom of the tank - as they're water-based hoovers. The filter gets changed every four weeks - it's a Biorb, so it's got heaps of levels of filtration. There was a little algae after cycling, but that's gone now and, up until yesterday, they were all very active - the five goldens wandered round in a shoal, and the biggie just did whatever he/she felt like - usually wandering round the bottom of the tank.

 

[semper fi]

are you using carbon in your filter? if so, would think of changing it more often than every four weeks. carbon can start to leech back into the tank the toxins it has absorbed after three weeks. change my carbon every two weeks.

could be a pecking order thing. big fish was king, got challenged and the littler ones lost. could be that one was a female that did not like the advances the male was making on her, as frequently happens with africans. if the water parameters are fine could be you just got a bully.

maggie

 

[Jamesy]

There is carbon in the filter - yes, though the filter had been changed, including carbon, a couple of days earlier.

All is quiet on the Western front at the moment, so maybe it was just a spat. Would the eroded fins be an indication of this and do you know what might cause the "red dye" effect?

Many thanks,

Jamesy

 

[William]

Well when you say you replaced the filter, you could well have forced your bio orb through another cycle as most of the bacteria live in the filter of the aquarium. Thats why when cleaning the filter you should only do it in old tank water and when replacing a filter you should squeeze the old sponge into the new one or leave a bit of your old filter sponge in the tank.

 

[Jamesy]

Well folks, we could have gotten to the bottom of this one. Conan (as I've lovingly named him) is now the only fish left. Got home today to find the chewed remains of the last two Golden Barbs at the bottom of the tank.
Conan is looking perkier than ever - fins standing to attention SIR!!

So could anyone hazard a guess as to why? Conan lived happily with the five Goldens for a few months and then wallop?

Bad day at the office? Been dropping a few hits of fishy PCP? What caused Conan to do a Rambo?

Will it be safe to add another Conan, or will he go a number on that one too? If so, won't he get lonely being the only inhabitant of the tank?

ATB

Jamesy