I Don't Understand What's Wrong

[Dr Bob]

Over the last 3 weeks or so 3 albino catfish and 1 clown loach have died and another clown loach probably wont make it to the mnorning.

I've did a 50% water change on Thursday and checked the water today.

Amonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 5

I've not got a ph test kit at the mo.

I still have the following fish alive;
2 angels.
3 lemon barbs.
3 Silver tipped barbs.
1 cherry barb.
1 orange platty.

The clown loach is currently laying on one side at the top of the tank

A bit of history, I originally had a biorb which had 3 neons tetras, the lemon barbs, silver tips, cherry barbs (2 at the time) and Platties (again 2 of at the time). I transfered them over to the cayman scenic 80 approx 2/3 moths ago.
Since having the cayman setup the following total number of fish have died;
7 Neon Tetra.
5 Albino Catfish.
2 Clown Loach.
1 Orange Platy.
1 Cherry Barb.


I carry out a water change normally around 50% every couple of weeks or less.

Each time a fish has died I've checked the water but never really seen any thing out the ordinary.
Am so fed up and feel like not replacing anymore fish, but with so much money invested I'm loathed to do this. I know they are 'only' fish but I'm very passionate about animals. I don't want to be responsible for more suffering/death

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

 

[fishcrazy55]

i'm not a real expert on this but i think some barbs(not cherry barbs)are semi aggresive...so maybe your fish are being attacked...that is my only guess

 

[sylvia]

2 angels - these can be aggressive if they pair up/breed
3 lemon barbs - do you mean lemon tetras?
3 Silver tipped barbs - again, do you eman silver-tipped tetras?
1 cherry barb - these are not aggressive
1 orange platy - obviously not aggressive

How many gallons is your tank? It's probably too small for clown loaches anyway.

Have you been using de-chlorinator in your tank?
Have you seen any signs of disease - bloating, white spots, fuzzy areas, flashing, shimmying, white stringy poo, lack of appetite etc?
What do you feed your fish?
How often do you do water changes?
I know you posted test results - but can you check them right now and post again in case they aren't the same? I'm mainly looking for fluctuations.
Are you injecting CO2? Try to get a pH test kit soon...
Two things I want you to look evry carefuly for are, firstly, white spots/flashign against things which are a sign of ich and, secondly, any sign of red/inflamed irritated-looking gills. Also, have you used anys alt in your tank?

I'm just looking for hints as to what might be wrong.

 

[Dr Bob]

2 angels - these can be aggressive if they pair up/breed
3 lemon barbs - do you mean lemon tetras?
3 Silver tipped barbs - again, do you eman silver-tipped tetras?
1 cherry barb - these are not aggressive
1 orange platy - obviously not aggressive

How many gallons is your tank? It's probably too small for clown loaches anyway.

Have you been using de-chlorinator in your tank?
Have you seen any signs of disease - bloating, white spots, fuzzy areas, flashing, shimmying, white stringy poo, lack of appetite etc?
What do you feed your fish?
How often do you do water changes?
I know you posted test results - but can you check them right now and post again in case they aren't the same? I'm mainly looking for fluctuations.
Are you injecting CO2? Try to get a pH test kit soon...
Two things I want you to look evry carefuly for are, firstly, white spots/flashign against things which are a sign of ich and, secondly, any sign of red/inflamed irritated-looking gills. Also, have you used anys alt in your tank?

I'm just looking for hints as to what might be wrong.

Hi,

Thanks for the reply, I posted pretty much just before going to bed so didn't get a chance to retest the water. The results seem pretty consistant whenever I check them.
I use Stress coat de chlorinate the water.
Fish are fed tropical fish flakes.
The Loach I never saw really go for the food, all the survivors come to the top of the tank when the feeding hatch is opened.
Not seen any white spots, bumping against things, flashing, shimmying or fuzzy spots. Will take a look at poo.
I thought when looking at the fish that have died their gills have looked a little red but to be honest I'm not sure.
I'm not injecting C02 nor have I used any salts. Water changes have been about 50% every couple of weeks or less.
Tank size is 34 gallons, 150 litres.
The silver tips are tetras.
Lemons were sold as lemon barbs
Not seen any sign of aggression from any of the fish really. There's one silver tip who occasionaly chases the lemons about but never the fish that have died.

I'll get a ph kit tonight.

Cheers,

Paul.

 

[fish_fetish65]

do your fish die shortly after water changes? i would suggest starting up a 20-30% water change once a week, so you aren't replacing too much water at a time and shocking the fish.

also, do you have a heater? do you have a thermometer in the tank? sometimes the heaters will malfunction making it too hot or too cold for them.

 

[Dr Bob]

do your fish die shortly after water changes? i would suggest starting up a 20-30% water change once a week, so you aren't replacing too much water at a time and shocking the fish.

also, do you have a heater? do you have a thermometer in the tank? sometimes the heaters will malfunction making it too hot or too cold for them.

I do have a thermometer.

Will try smaller water changes.

 

[mypapercuthurts]

Ive heard that the salinity of the tank can harm loaches, catfish, etc. but im not sure it can kill them. Other than that im not sure. But listen to the other posts.

 

[fish_fetish65]

do your fish die shortly after water changes? i would suggest starting up a 20-30% water change once a week, so you aren't replacing too much water at a time and shocking the fish.

also, do you have a heater? do you have a thermometer in the tank? sometimes the heaters will malfunction making it too hot or too cold for them.

I do have a thermometer.

Will try smaller water changes.

good the reason i say this is that changing 50% of the water every two weeks is too much of a change for the fish. if you change it in smaller proportions more often, you will achieve the same water change overall, but can slowly acclimate the fish to it instead of putting 50% fresh water in there. if they ARE sick, this will help to prevent them from going into shock.

they haven't been rubbing up against the rocks or decorations have they?

 

[Dr Bob]

do your fish die shortly after water changes? i would suggest starting up a 20-30% water change once a week, so you aren't replacing too much water at a time and shocking the fish.

also, do you have a heater? do you have a thermometer in the tank? sometimes the heaters will malfunction making it too hot or too cold for them.

I do have a thermometer.

Will try smaller water changes.

good the reason i say this is that changing 50% of the water every two weeks is too much of a change for the fish. if you change it in smaller proportions more often, you will achieve the same water change overall, but can slowly acclimate the fish to it instead of putting 50% fresh water in there. if they ARE sick, this will help to prevent them from going into shock.

they haven't been rubbing up against the rocks or decorations have they?

No rubbing that I'd seen.

Will get a ph test kit (didn't manage it last night) and if all test's fine will replace the loach and catfish and monitor.

Cheers.