Bisc

Ok, I have always had fish before, but this is my first attempt at barbs. This tank is new, a week old now, and I have never had problems with ANY fish like I am having now.

I don't have the tests nessisary for pH, nitrate levels, etc at the time being, so any questions pertaining to that can't be answered. My tank is cycled however before this issue started happening. The tank is 10 gallons.

Firstly, I purchased one Raphael catfish, 2 Tiger Barbs (one plain, one albino), and a Rosey Barb. I decided I would also purchase 4 more Tiger Barbs the next day to make a school of 6. Once I bought these new fish and aquamated them, I added them to my tank. This was roughtly 4:30 ish, and around 9 that night, two of the Albino Barbs were skimming the top of the water and were gasping for air. (That has never happened for me before...EVER) So I was concerned, but I wasn't sure what to do for them. About 9:30, one of the Albino barbs died, and the second one found a random spot in my tank and stayed there the rest of the night. The next morning, another Barb (a plain one) was dead, and the Albino Barb I thought was gonna die, was still staying where it was the previous night.

So, the rest of the day, I watched the fish carefully, I did a 25% water change just in case, and continued to monitor them. The one Albino Barb still stayed in the one spot, and none of the other fish would go near it at all. I had purchased another Rosey barb to add to the tank, and both the Rosey Barbs also ignored the Albino Barb. Everything seemed to be going the same, none of the Tiger barbs were chasing the fish or anything at all, and that night when I fed them, it would eat anything at all. The next morning (today) I found him dead on one of my plants. I continued to watch the fish, and I had left to take care of my new dog for a few hours. I came back (about 6:00 ish) to find one of my Plain Tiger Barbs dead.

Right now, one of my other Plain Tigerbarbs is hovering the top of the water much like the others had done, while the other 2 remaining Tiger barbs are schooling and behaving normally (my origional two Tigers) and my Rosey barbs and my catfish are also behaving normally.

What the heck is going on?!?!? I have never had this issue with fish before in my life! I have never owned Tiger barbs before, but I have done my research on them, and I still have no clue why this is happening. I'm waiting now because I know this one barb will die too based on how it is behaving.

Zia

Hi Bisc! Sorry about your fish. I'm going to jump in and ask: if your tank is new (a week old), and you haven't tested ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate levels, how do you know your tank is cycled?

I had kept fish previously but never measured anything. After losing four mollies in a manner very similar to what you described, I tested the water and was shocked to see my Ammonia was at about 8 PPM. Might be worth checking your parameters.

Prince Powder

Hello Bisc and welcome to Fishlore!

I'm sorry you're losing your fish. I agree with Zia, with no parameter tests there is really no way to know if your tank is cycled. Having had it set up for only a week, it is most likely not. I think the most likely reason for your fish issues is high ammonia levels, but you would need to get a testing kit to be sure. Until then I would recommend doing a 50% water change with Prime and continue to do these water changes daily until you can get a test kit to find out what your water parameters really are. I would also not recommend getting any more fish until you are able to sort this out and figure out what is killing your fish.

Furallicah

Hey everyone I would like to add in some extra info. Bisc is a friend of mine. I have been helping her with her tank. Tommrow im going to give her some of my old filter material to help with the tank. And she is using prime with daily water changes. I just didnt know about the barbs because usually ammonia sickness show signs of their gills turning red from the burning affect, but their gills were perfectly normal. So I didnt know what was going on.

Prince Powder

Furallicah, if Bisc is a friend of yours perhaps you can do a water test for her? It would help greatly if we could find out what the water parameters are.

Bisc

Yeah, I was wondering about that. I don't have the proper testing stuff as of now, but I will have it soon. I don't plan to have anymore fish til this is done with, but I still have no idea why only the Tiger barbs are reacting like this?

GoGreen

Hi Bisc!
Based on the newness of your tank, it sounds to me that the bacteria in were not able to handle the addition of fish, IMO you added too many at once. I firstly don't think that your tank has cycled yet (usually takes a good month) What are you using to condition the water with?
I have discovered that even a newly cycled tank (say, 2 months old) is still a very delicate balance, and new fish should be added slowly (say, 1 or 2 every 2 weeks, depending on their size and if they are big waste producers)
I am also thinking that 10g is too small for eight fish of the potential size you have chosen.
It sounds like ammonia poisoning to me. Some fish are tough enough to handle a spike, some are not. Nevertheless, it is hard on any fish.
I am very sorry that you lost some fish. Do you have Prime? The wonderful people on this site converted me to it and it really is great stuff. I would suggest a 40-50% water change using Prime, as it detoxifies ammonia for 24 hours, but leaves it available for the bacteria so your tank can continue cycling. You may be looking at daily water changes for a while.
You will need a liquid test kit so you can monitor things also.
I would do a big water change asap if you don't have Prime yet,(if you can't get to the store right away) go out and get a test kit and some Prime (I believe Amquel+ is a similar product), test your tank and do a water change as needed with the Prime, I hope you can find it. Type Amqulel+ into the search engine on this site for more info on that!

Good luck getting things running smoothly, I am sure someone with much more experience will step in soon and offer some good suggestions.

Furallicah

She does have Prime GoGreen and is using it along with water changes. Tommrow I am going over their to test her water do a water change and add in some of my tanks used filter matieral what is nice and bacteria covered. I'll update you all tommrow.

*Edit, I was the one to suggest her to this site because I wasnt 100% sure what was going on. lol*

Bisc

Yeppers!

Prince Powder

Excellent! Don't forget to test her tap water as well so that we can establish what she is starting off with!

GoGreen

Glad to hear that you have Prime!
Hope to hear that all your fish are doing well.

Jaysee

Bisc, welcome to the site!

No ones said it yet, so I will - the fish youve chosen are not appropriate for the size tank you have. youre going to have continual problems with the tank.

IMO you should get some zebra danios (or glofish) or some small tetras and just hang tight with then for a while.

Bisc

It's 9:50, I am at school right now. I checked my fish and fed them before I left, and so far, my remaining 3 Tiger Barbs are still there. I will update with more news as I am able to.

Tigerfishy

Best of luck Bisc, Furallicah put you onto the best help you could get (well, obviously I speak for the more experienced members than me!)

Also, don't say anything, but I might want to steal that fish in his avatar lol!

I hope you get to the bottom of this, I looked at the tiger barbs, but realised I'd need a bigger tank for them . When I have money, don't worry, I'll be getting them and a nice new big tank, so let us know how you go!

Furallicah

Ok so update, im about to head over to Morgans (waitting on my sister to get here) And clean up her tank and installe the uses filter media. Ill get test results when I get back. Im also running to petsmart for a few supplies my fish need. ttyal

Furallicah

Ok im home and not busy now lol. So went to Bisc's house today did a good cleaning and the water tested as fallows. Ammonia .5, Nitrite 12, and Nitrate was 1. I added the used filter material into the tank added an emergency dosage of prime. So the tank is cycling in full swing, and the fish look much better now. Thanks everyone for the help.