Two Barbs Dead Today

[laura120381]

Hi everyone,

I am haing a bit of a disaster! i got up this morning to find two of my tiger barbs dead. last monday another had died so i tested the water. the readings were ph 6.4, nitrite 0, nitrate 10ppm and ammonia 0. i carried out a 50% water change anyway (due to the dead fish...it hadn't been dead long but i like to err on the side of caution!) and thought all would be fine. However, I got up this morning to find two more dead fish.

I again tested the water (i test using the API Master liquid test kit) and the readings are now as follows - pH 6.4, nitrite 0, nitrate 5.0ppm and ammonia 0.25ppm. again the fish had JUST died when i removed them from the tank so i decided to test the tap water. it has an ammonia reading of 0.25ppm! i have emailed the water board about this but am now unsure what to do!! if i do another water change, the ammonia in the tap water will end up in the tank again!! should i leave the filters to deal with it?? (the tank was fish-less cycled and has been running for 6mths). should i go to the local supermarket and buy bottled water??


any help greatly appreciated. i don't want to lose anymore fish.

thanks, L

 

[laura120381]

bump!

 

[This Old Spouse]

What are you using to dechlor the water? If you use StressCoat + or Seachem Prime, that would take care of the ammonia in your tap water. How often are you doing water changes and how much?

 

[laura120381]

hi there.

i am using bob martin neptune tap water safe as i had ran out and had to get it at the supermarket!! i do 25% changes twice a week. should i try and get the conditioners you mentioned? if so should i do a water change or just dose the tank immediately?

thanks,

L

 

[This Old Spouse]

How big is your tank, and how many barbs are in it? Any other fish? What's your substrate, plants, decorations? Just trying to get to the bottom of this.

Bob Martin's won't neutralize any ammonia in your tank. I believe it's strictly a dechlorinator. Best to stick with Prime or StressCoat +

It's best to do a larger water change once a week, such as 50%. All that being said, how long have you had these fish?

 

[Dieses Madchen]

I would definately go with Prime or Stress Coat. I have 1ppm ammonia in my tapwater, so it is really important to use a dechlorinator that will neutralize it while the filter gets rid of the ammonia. I haven't lost a fish due to ammonia poisoning yet. Hope this helps

 

[laura120381]

there are now 8 barbs in my tank (there were 11) there are no other fish in the tank at the moment (was building it up slowly!) i have had them for about 3 and a half months. there are live plants in the tank and 3 decorative stones. the tank is filtered by a fluval u3 and an aps 600l/h filter. temp is 25. i have black gravel substrate. the tank is 90l.

L

 

[This Old Spouse]

Did the deaths just occur since you started using the Bob Martin's?

 

[laura120381]

not really. i have used a bottle of this once before and there were no deaths.

 

[crunch7]

Too Bad Laura, hope things get better.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

The advice to change to Seachem Prime is good but I doubt it's the ammonia killing your barbs. The ammonia, by the way, comes from the chloramine that is put into the water by the water authority to prevent bacteria growing. A reading of 0.25ppm from your tap water is perfectly normal. And at your pH the amount of free ammonia (the lethal stuff) is minute. barbs are quite hardy so the ammonia is very unlikely to be the cause as it will process quite quickly in a mature tank like yours.

It's just too much of a coincidence to have two barbs die at the same time and have another one die a bit earlier. If it were ammonia poisoning you'd be seeing other signs and the deaths would be more staggered. I suspect it's more likely to be a rogue barb in there, harassing the others to death at night time.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Well, other than asking about whether you've used any aerosols recently I'm at a loss. It's generally the introduction of something new and different that has some adverse effect that does this, but I can't see anything you've done.

 

[laura120381]

hi again,

sorry...had to go to work. i have not recently added anything new or used any aerosols in the same room as the tank. i do have one large barb that seems to chase all the others. however, the two that died seem to be of equal size to him. should i try upping the barb numbers again to try and reduce aggresssion in the group? in the meantime, i have got some seachem prime so that should take care of the ammonia.

thanks again for all your help,

L

 

[This Old Spouse]

Did the dead barbs show any signs of trauma?

 

[laura120381]

no...absolutely none. i examined them closely and luckely got them out of the tank quite soon after death so they were still intact. there did not seem to be any sign of disease or trauma. they looked perfectly normal. it is all very strange!