I Dont Know What Happened!?

[mibson]

I have 6 Denison’s Bards, (Red Line Torpedo Barbs, Indian Flasher Barbs)

I bought them VERY small for a discount. Ive had them 12-14 weeks in a 10g tank with no problems. I used mature ceramic cubes and do a 40% change every 4 days...

Today I did a 60% change, changed carbon and rinsed the ceramic media. I rinsed the media in treated water. I used 50% RO and 50% treated tap water. Just now, 5 hours afer my water change and ceramic cube rinse, I have 4 out of 6 barbs dead!!!! I have done an emergency ammonia test, it reads zero, my nitrite test reads 0.1... I expected a bit of a spike after rinsing my ceramic media and planned to do daily 20% changes for the next 3-4 weeks! I dont know what happened!! Please any input?

I know that my PRIME smells sour or old... I thought I should get a new one... could this be the problem?

I have heard that these fish are very sensitive to temp and water condition changes. The temp went from 25.2C to 23.4C during the water change; this is more than usual as I usually control the water temp within 0.5C...Also, the total hardness went from 70ppm to 110ppm during the water change...I didnt expect a temp change and hardness change of these small amounts to kill my fish...!?

Thanks so much for ANY help

ps I am an experienced fresh water aquarist....and confused

More Details: I have no sponge/mechanical media in this tank. My ceramic media does it all. This is the first time Ive rinsed the ceramic media since these fish went into the tank. I replace carbon every 2-3 weeks.

Cheers

Kev

 

[WILDER]

Your water changes of 60% are to big on a 10 gallon no more than a 30%.
Was they gasping and darting around before they died, R.I.P.
Could be the prime if its smells off, what the date on the product.

 

[Meds081603]

I'd only worry about your prime if it doesn't smell like rotten eggs. Prime is known for its nasty odor.

 

[mibson]

Your water changes of 60% are to big on a 10 gallon no more than a 30%.
Was they gasping and darting around before they died, R.I.P.
Could be the prime if its smells off, what the date on the product.

Are u thinking oxygen content was too low? I used aged water...

I didnt see the gasping. A bit of darting but these barbs do that...

I cant find a date on the prime and Ive looked everywhere...It is about 1.5 yrs since I bought it...I didnt smell this strong when I first bought it....

 

[WILDER]

How do you store the aged water.

 

[mibson]

How do you store the aged water.

In a large plastic bucket. My treated tap water was aged, my RO water was not (it was in the sealed 3.5 gallon storage tank but I dont think any oxygen gets in there)

So I suppose half the water I added was aged...

Are you thinking o2 content?

Thanks again Wilder you have helped me many times

Newfish(mibson)