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Three votes each when I voted - hope that helps

Looks bacterial to me.

I have seen attractive marine rigs, but am, and always have been, a freshwater, PLANTED tank guy.

It's ironic isn't it. People with hard water want to soften it, and people with soft want to harden! I envy your location!

Difficult question to answer without knowing more. Small fish generate less waste than large, so have less immediate impact on your system - which we know nothing about.   Small fish are /usually/ younger and therefore, in a well maintained tank, have longer life expectancy. What else is in the...

A pH of 6.4 is going to be liked by some of your fish, and tolerated by the others it is weakly acidic, as are most tropical freshwater environments. That is not your problem. Your tank IS overstocked which generates a large waste load, but you say you "clean" the filters" weekly. What do you do...

I posted another message a short while back which I can't find right now. The rub of it was, deep igneous rocks, granites, gabbros etc are generally neutral and safe. Intrusives and lavas also. High grade metamorphic rocks are also good, gneisses, schists etc. With igneous and metamorphics, you...

Water Wisteria.

The amount of bacteria in the filter will be proportional to their nutrient supply. In general over filtration is not an issue, it is more the flow that the filter genrates. That can be a problem for some species in small tanks.

>>> never seen any of the African barb species   Generally, barbs seem a little "out of favour" at the present time. I've kept hulstaerti, (a bit sensitive with regard water quality), and gambiensis, (easy). I saw a couple of others in West Africa when I was there, but there wasn't a collection...

>>>  easier to get hold of!   When I was in the Amazon basin in 1997, just about every river, stream, lake, pond, puddle seemed full of fish. A few years earlier when I was in Congo, (or Zaire as it was then known), I had the opposite impression. Many water courses seemed almost lifeless. In...

Look at the plants on http://www.tropica.com/dk/forside.aspx]Tropica[/url], if it comes up in Danish, click the flag top right. If you see a plant in the shop that is not on their site, be suspicious.   Ophiopogon japonicus was a plant I often saw in aquatic shops in the UK, it is a non aquatic...

The flashing of the front dorsal fin is typical behaviour when females are around.

Myxocyprinus asiaticus, a mega tank buster.

Neons typically grow to 2.5 - 3cm. They naturally occur in soft acidic waters, but are mostly farm bred. Before I knew better, I kept them in hard alkaline tapwater without noticing any issues. Your 6.5 pH will be fine, they don't need blackwater or peat. NTD is infestation with pleistophora...

Get rid of the dominant, and the next most dominant will rise. This species really needs to be kept in LARGE numbers in LARGE tanks and without any innocents in the way.   With six, you may just have enough to keep the trouble within species, (though I doubt it). The inevitable advice is to...

I found serpae to be aggressive nippers on the one occasion I kept them, (about 40 years ago). Gave them away after a short while. Have they been in there long? Anything else being bothered?

What else is in the tank? Schooling is a defense strategy, if they feel no threat, they will not feel the need to school.

It is a very desirable species, unfortunately not seen that often these days.

You ask two questions...   >>> Are any aquatic plants suitable for the aquarium?   The basic answer is, of course, yes,   You then ask...    >>> Would I be able to pull some out of the river and bring it home to my tank?   Thats where it gets more difficult. There are a host of biological and...

>>> 2 sunset barbs (just a kind of tiger barb)   Tiger Barbs have a reputation for being aggressive. When kept in small numbers, this can be true, and they can do some damage, to each other, and to anything else in there. I would always advise keeping AT LEAST 6 of them, ideally more. That way...

I wondered about what they were actually going to ban, ie. sales of what? They use common names, but a common name can be applied to numerous species, in some cases, to quite unrelated plants. I sent a mail to inquire.   There is also the "point of sale" mess to be clarified, ie. if someone in...

I read this with interest as it "might" include several plants I have routinely used, mostly in breeding tanks.   http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21232108   I don't yet know if this is species specific, or more general, warrants further investigation.

I knew nothing of pH and hardness when I started, but kept barbs and danios without any apparent problems. The water where I was back then, (Richmond, Surrey, England mid 1960's), was hard and alkali, I don't have figures, but from the scale in the kettle, it was obviously bad. Of course, it is...

It's a Nanostomus species. Not the easiest group to be sure, and it's not the best picture. N. mortenhaleri or N. trifasciatus perhaps.

>>> Admittedly barbs are fairly aggressive Direct quote from the OP's post.

The OP said barbs, not tiger barbs. Makes a difference.

Not all African cichlids are rift valley fish... Barbs generally do best in soft acidic water.

Neons and Black Neons are not in the same genus, thus fairly remotely related.

Dried flake is what I fed my fish for 30 years, when frozen bloodworm, (etc.), became available, I used that from time to time. I doubt that is/was a factor.

pH is high. Unlikely to be the cause of the deaths, but a weakening factor.

>>> barbs are fairly aggressive Raised my eyebrows. Very few of the many barb species have any aggression at all.

A rather shy fish, I would think they would be regarded as food and eaten, or else hide away to prevent that. Cherry Barbs are not, in my experience, good in groups, they seem to do better as a pair or trio 1 male 2 females.

I've always found Serpæ to be quite aggressive. Even in a good sized group, a little side swipe at a trailing fin seemed to be in order.

>>> it's gotten me thinking about bigger and better things Really? I've never heard anyone in a fishkeeping forum with that "problem" before... :D :D

Believe me, keeping fish in very small tanks is a lot harder than in large tanks. That means keeping any at all, let alone keeping them well!

You certainly don't want Tiger Barbs in there. These are quite large, very active, and need to be in good sized groups, (more than 6), otherwise their normal within group behaviour will be dropped aggresively onto the other tank occupants. That tank is really quite small, you are going to push...

:nod: All the commonly available Rasbora species are harmless. In small numbers, they can become shy, I always aim for at least six, normally ten or more.

Neither Danios or particularly Tetras will breed in regular tapwater unless you are in a rare place. Water needs to be soft and acidic, in the case of some tetras, particularly so.

Interesting to see a thread about duckweed which is not a plea for help as to how to get rid of it!