Slowly Losing Fish

[Jinxxie]

Hi,

We've had our tank set up for almost a year, we got in about April last year and started stocking in may after it had cycled.

Everything was fine for a while, we stocked up slowly, but in the last two months, we have lost 4 fish, one gourami, one barb, and our two corys Not all at once. On and off two of our barbs have started looking puny also, this seems to have gotten worse in the last week. I'll add a picture at the end.

I don't know if this is normal? I don't really know what the life spans of fish are, if they suffer from over breeding or something. Could the barbs just be harrassing these other fish to death?

Tank stats are, 50 gallons, with 8 white clouds, 8 harlequin rasboras, and 7 barbs. We do a water change of about 10% every week, we have a bit of an algae problem, but all the other parameters are within normal ranges (I have to wait for my SO to get home to get you numbers, will get them in an hour or two, and add them to the post).

Here's a picture of our puniest barb (sorry about the quality, it's the best I could do). Please let me know if I have missed some vital bit of information, any help or ideas you can offer would be welcome, we both get absolutely miserable when we lose a fish. We have a hospital tank we can use if you think that will help the puny barbs.

Obviously, puny barb is on the right, the left is a normal apparently healthy barb, both are still eating and swimming.

Thanks in advance for reading, and hopefully helping

Michelle

Okay, here are the numbers:

pH 7.8
0 Amm
0 Nitrite
0-5 Nitrate
25 Hardness
0-5 Phosphate
76 temp

 

[phlawed]

looks like fin rot...not sure though

 

[ringham]

It may be that there is some fin nipping going on when you are not around. Try treating with a general tonic or a general medication. A specific finrot medication called Coppersafe by Mardel laboratories.

 

[Jinxxie]

Wouldn't fin rot affect everyone in the tank? The Rasboras and white clouds appear fine with no fin problems.

M

It may be that there is some fin nipping going on when you are not around. Try treating with a general tonic or a general medication. A specific finrot medication called Coppersafe by Mardel laboratories.

 

[WILDER]

I can't tell by the pic, does the fish look skinny with a sunken in belly, or he might of just been a runt of the litter.

 

[Jinxxie]

He looks sunken. They all used to be the same shape. I wasn't sure if it was a she and was just maturing differently, but the fish definitely seems sunken, theres another similar, but not as bad. Could it be bullying?

M

I can't tell by the pic, does the fish look skinny with a sunken in belly, or he might of just been a runt of the litter.

 

[WILDER]

I would issolate the sick fish he's not right, sunken in bellies can mean internal parasites or fish tb.
Check the anus to see if it look enlarged or red and inflamed, can you see anything prutruding from the anus.
Also what does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet.

 

[Jinxxie]

Nothing protruding, inflamed or red or enlarged. I have a hospital tank, I will isolate him and the other barb that is looking a bit like him. I haven't been able to catch them going to the toilet yet.

M

I would issolate the sick fish he's not right, sunken in bellies can mean internal parasites or fish tb.
Check the anus to see if it look enlarged or red and inflamed, can you see anything prutruding from the anus.
Also what does it look like when the fish goes to the toilet.

 

[WILDER]

Issolate them as you are putting the whole tank at risk, watch out then for when they go to the toilet its internal parasites or fish tb, do they also look like they are really wasting away.

This is not to panick you just to watch out for these sort of symtoms.
http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html

Just wanted to ask you don't feed feeder fish to your fish.

 

[Jinxxie]

Okay, two fish are Isolated. I'll keep an eye on them.

Thats a very startling webpage, I'll keep an eye out for any other symptoms.

Oh, and no feeder fish.

Thanks.

M

Issolate them as you are putting the whole tank at risk, watch out then for when they go to the toilet its internal parasites or fish tb, do they also look like they are really wasting away.

This is not to panick you just to watch out for these sort of symtoms.
http/www.4qd.org/Aqua/disease/tb.html

Just wanted to ask you don't feed feeder fish to your fish.