Wondering Whats Going On

[thisguyek]

long story short, last week i added in 9 tiger barbs to a community of fish as stated in my signature. Everyone was doing fine. The barbs kept the chasing to themselves and for the most part, the rest of the clan didnt seem to mind the new addition. A few days ago, i noticed that 3 of my smaller female platies were quite 'quiet'. They werent laying on the bottom or hanging in plants, but it was like they were swimming very cautiously. One (the smallest of the three) has been hanging under an immobile water wheel for most of the day yesterday. she seems to be breathing quite rapidly, opening and closing her mouth with each breath. Today she is towards the top (but not like shes right at the surface) still breathing heavy.

Did a water test last night 0, 0, 15. Ph was a touch higher than normal, which confused me. it was about 8.4 (usually 8.0-8.2)

Did aprox. 65% water change this morning.

There is more about this in another post in the Tropical Discussion board.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/365346-additional-stocking/page__view__findpost__p__3048545__fromsearch__1.
It would be towards the end of the thread.

Just looking to know what the rapid breath COULD mean. No other fish are showing signs of distress at the moment.

Thanks

 

[Louiseness]

Well when female platies get overly harassed by males trying to breed they tend to hide behind things and breathe heavily, just through stress and swimming away constantly I imagine.

Maybe the barbs are chasing them when you aren't looking perhaps?

 

[thisguyek]

could very well be. maybe just being the runt of the litter then... cause no one else seems to be displaying this behavior. Last time i saw here she was behind the spill guard of my filter at the top... which is a pretty #41#### good hiding place, took me a while to find her!

so is it just stress that causes heavy breathing or could it be something more serious? I thought one of my barbs were gasping too, but it was hard to tell.

 

[Louiseness]

I'm sure it can be other things too but since your water seems OK, that was the only other thing I can think of

 

[thisguyek]

nevermind... she died

 

[KendaMc]

i'm sorry to hear that. hopefully the rest of you fish stay healthy.

 

[thisguyek]

Well i have another death to report. this time my largest male platy... I am at such a loss with what is going on here. this ALWAYS happens to me!!! Ill have a batch of fish last for months... everyone healthy. then ill get some more and after a week or so, POOF. death, death, death! All of my stats are fine!

the male was fine three days ago... and yesterday he stayed in one sport for most of the day. mid tank, close to the side. And now my biggest female is in the same spot doing the same thing.

This is so ridiculously discouraging! why can't i enjoy happy fish keeping? I'm doing everything the way its supposed to be done. I put more than enough time in keeping a clean tank and ensuring stats are at a premium.

I'm sure I'll have another death to report within the next day....

HEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP MEEEEEEEE!!!!!

 

[danstoner]

HEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP MEEEEEEEE!!!!!

Did you say that you added 9 fish at once to an existing community?

That sounds like a lot.

I've seen lots of recommendations to add just a couple fish at a time so the tank biology can adjust.

 

[Caprichoso]

Rapid breathing can be a sign of many things; ammonia/nitrite exposure, stress, gill flukes, etc. Gill flukes can be difficult to diagnose because often there are no other outward signs. Sometimes the fish will "rub" itself on something but sometimes not. It will kill the fish quite rapidly. Gill flukes can be infecting the fish from the lfs and the stress from transport seems to speed up the process of killing the fish. I've seen fish healthy at the lfs then dead a week or two later from gill flukes. If it's just your platy's that seem affected, it could be that the Tiger Barbs are scaring them to death. Having a high pH is not suitable for many fish, that could also be a problem, especially if the pH elevated quickly.

 

[thisguyek]

My Ph is constant... beginning to think the barbs are to much excitement. but which way should i go. all of the barbs are still alive... what would be a MORE SUITABLE tank mate for a tiger?

 

[fluttermoth]

You could get a larger shoal of tigers; perhaps some of the green and/or albinos; as they are just colour morphs of the same species they will all shoal together.

I've got zebra loach with my tigers, but I'm not sure if your water mightn't be too hard for them; you'll have to ask someone with more experience of more alkaline waters.

 

[thisguyek]

I kind of came to that conclusion in another thread. I'm going to clean up my 10 gal really good and put the remaining guppies and platies in there (4 platties, 2guppies) ive got male and females... so ill have to watch that until i can figure out what to do with one or the other.

as far as my 55... I think im going to build a group of just barbs... the tiger, green, and albino. That might be enough diversity to keep me happy, and i know that will benefit them as well having a nice large shoal. somewhere down the road i might get a shoal of danios... depending on space available.

 

[thisguyek]

well it seems I'm going through one of my 'cycles' again... got a batch of juvie green barbs last thrusday, and BAM just like that i lost 3 of my tiger barbs. I woke up this morning and there was one stuck way at the bottom inside of one of my plants. can still swim but its struggling... of course, as usual, my green barbs that i just bought are all doing great. nice rich colors, swimming back and forth in a loose group. I bought my greens from a different LFS than the tigers. i've been there a few times, but they carry more of the specialty fish, so i dont go there too often. I guess i could pass this off as a difference in quality, but i wont know for sure until i see how my greens do...

I just wish i knew what to blame it on I'm doing everything I feel i should be doing, yet time and time again the results are the same. perhaps a bit more research and another stock change will do some good... well see how the greens do in the near future. ill keep u posted.

 

[thisguyek]

I am curious as to what could be causing one of my little green barbs to be rolling around in the tank. I noticed that after i did a water change this morning it was at the surface ( like how they gasp at the top.... but it didnt appear to be 'gasping') anyway... its been several hours since and its rolling around. looks like it might have a hurt side fin, but not too sure.

just did a water check: 0, 0, ~15 Temp ~76F water added this morning was of the same temp.



any thoughts?