Fish Just Keep Dying

[Sheridanp]

Well, I went into my room yesterday and one of my older lemon tetras was gasping for air right at the top of the tank. About 10 minutes later I saw him laying upside down dead in a plant. About every two weeks a fish dies in my tank. I could not find anything on his body that could have caused him to die, but I can never tell unless it's really obvious. Anyway, I just finished treating with Maracyn 2. The fish that had problems are now cured, so that's good. But I'm just worried that another fish will drop dead.

It just occurred to me that I use sand, and I don't turn it over too often. Could it be anerobic gases? Anywho, I just know that Ammonia is 0, and I will try to get the rest of the tests later tonight. Anyway, what could it possibly be? I just feel like I made a big mistake, and I want to take all my fish back to the LFS and start all over again. But, I can't do that. So, I'm really stuck.

 

[achalagal]

Fist i would like to say that you have to decide wich fsh you can put in to gether.
sometimes you can't put barbs with other fish.

The amount of fish that is optimum for a tank is decided by the square footage of the tank not the water limit. 12 fish per square foot (4 cm fish) is the optimum amount. If you have a air pump you can put a bit more but if they come up for air that means that there are too many fish in the tank.

 

[Sheridanp]

I was told it would be alright to have 24 fish of what is in my sig, 6 of each. The barbs are great and don't bother other fish and sometimes school with them. I'll do water tests soon like I said.

 

[ArielC]

Your problem could be one of three things:

1: a lack of oxygen, this can be cured by increasing filtration, or adding an air stone.

2: gill parasites or an infection of the gills. See here: http/www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hdgilld.htm

3: bad water quality, i.e. too much ammonia, nitrate

Also the rule i go by is one inch of fish per gallon. It could also be anaerobic gases, but im not too much of an expert on that, you should try to turn over your sand every once in a while, that would probably increase the health of the fish in your tank in the long run.