Fish are losing Color

[Derpeder]

A few of my tiger barbs are losing their color. they look faded. But then in the morning the will have more color, and then kinda lose it again. Does anyone know whats up?

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10
PH - 7.6

 

[tttnjfttt]

Need to know how big of a tank they are in, how many tigre barbs you have, what other tankmates are present, and what the temperature is set at.

Also, is there any chance anything could have gotten into their water? Check with your family or roommates if they have sprayed anything near the tank.

 

[Derpeder]

The tank is 55 gallons. 4 tiger barbs (I had seven but the 4 bigger ones killed the littler ones) and 4 cichlids and one pleco.

The temp is about 84-86. I try to get it cooler but its so hot in my house in the summer. Plus I just had a small case of ich (which thank the lord is finally delt with) that I raised the temp for, but to treat it I put salt in the tank.
2.5 tspns per gallon about 12 days ago.

Ah yes and my roomate did spray the outside of the glass with windex to clean it. I said to him make sure none of that gets in the tank and I know he was careful but maybe some of that got in.

what do you think.

 

[tttnjfttt]

What type of cichlids are they with? (this is more out of curiousity as I am going to be settingup an african cichlid tank and trying to leave tiger barbs in the tank)

The pale color means they are stressed from something, and unfortunately, there are alot of possible somethings here. Possible stressors include the high temperature. To lower the temp, take the hood off while you are in the room and blow a fan on it. That seemed to work pretty well when the temp in my tank went up. The large amount of salt (the highest I've ever seen recomended is 1 tbsp/5 gal), and you are at about 5 x's that could also be stressing them out. I won't let anyone spray anything NEAR my tank. If the roomie is so desperate to clean the outside of the tank, I would make her spray it on a clean rag away from the tank and use that to clean.

I think you should begin daily water changes of around 15%-20% to help the fish out. This will slowly lower the salt level and also help incase any windex got into the tank. I know tiger barbs are very sensitive to bad water. They are usually my alarm for when something is wrong in my tank.

 

[Derpeder]

Great. I will do that. I thought that maybe it was the temp thing with the salt. I'm pretty sure my roommate (he) didn't get any in the tank. But its better to be safe then sorry.

I did just do a water change about yesturday morning and I think that already helped alot. I will make sure to do a few more over the week.

and try to lower the temp.

What is the best temp for that mix of fish?

the cichlids are Cynotilapia Lion Mara..... Malawi Cichlids.
(2 female, 2 male) I love um. They are my favorite fish i've ever had. Real lively and one of the males is real curious and will eat out of my hand and actually bite at my fingers. (my girlfriend named him Buddy)

They actually seem to rule the tank over the tiger barbs. They generally are chasing the barbs and not the other way around.

ben

 

[Kajuki18]

I never heard of Cynotilapia Lion Mara do they have a common name?

 

[tttnjfttt]

I would do the water changes daily, because right now the salt level is very for tiger barbs. As for the temp, the best for this mix of fish is in the upper 70's.

That does not suprise me at all, that the cichlids rule the tank. I know they are very agressive. Also, the species that you have weren't even on the list that people suggested to me as potiential species. Are yours full grown yet?