Lost 2 Barbs In 20 Mins

[jmartin71]

Here where my fish before the losses

Fish

3 Baby Tiger Barbs
2 Albino Barbs
3 Full Grown Adult Green Barbs
3 Adult Blue Gourami's
1 Clown Loach

So I come home from work all is good everybody seems fine by the time I change one of my albino barbs is stuck to the filter tube dead as a doornail so I remove him and then I go eat and I come back and a small tiger barb is in the same spot dead, W T F? So here is everything about the tank. Oh yea one other that changed from last week is that a few people on here recommended I remove the carbon from my filter so I did. Back to info:

So here is the info about my tank:

26 Gallon Bow Front
AquaticLife Dual Lamp Light
AquaClear 50 Filter
AquaClear 30 Under Gravel Pump
90 Days Old

Here is the last 2 tests,

3/27/11 test was done with a Red Sea Fresh Lab Deluxe
Water Change 4/27/11 (Weekly 20-25% changes)
Weekly Tests Done on Thursdays Results 3/31/01
Temp 26*C/79*F
PH 7.4-7.6 (used both high and low ph tests)
GH 10 (Med/Hard according to my test kit)
Chlorine 0 ppm
Nitrite .05 ppm
Ammonia 0 ppm

So I bought a new test kit as the other kit is a friend of mines. So I bought a API Freshwater Master Test Kit so I normally do tests every Thursday but with the 2 Barbs committing suicide I figured I would test today.

4/5/11 test was done with an API Freshwater Master Test Kit
Water Change 4/3/11 (Weekly 20-25%)
Temp 26*C/79*F
PH 7.4-7.6 (used both high and low ph tests)
GH 10 (Med/Hard according to Red Sea Kit API kit did not have test)
Chlorine 0 ppm (according to Red Sea Kit API kit did not have test)
Ammonia 4.0 ppm according to API Kit and 0.0 ppm according to Red Sea Kit. I got nervous and checked twice with other kit.
Nitrite 0.0 ppm
Nitrate 0.0 - 5.0 according to chart and color in the API kit.

Any suggestions on what I should do about ammonia and why the barbs did what they did?

Thanks in advance!

Jason

 

[AstonN24vantage]

its the ammonia - you need more water changes. it shouldnt be above 0.05 at best.

 

[Miles_hot]

are you looking at the test results in day light? I know that there was some discussion recently of variances in reading under different light sources.

A discrepancy of 4.0 vs 0.0 seems very extreme - are you sure that you're following the instructions to the letter on both kits? Are you using the same sample of each? If you get them to agree then try different bits of the tank (that really shouldn't make any odds - diffusion + circulation would tend to prevent that sort of range in readings but I'm grasping here...)

Miles

 

[KittyKat]

Do 95% water change just in case the API kit is right, then check the expiry date on the Red Sea kit and shake all the bottles really well (for a few minutes each) and try the test again. Also check the dates on the API kit and shake those bottles well too.

That tank is not anywhere near big enough for a clown loach (who need 6+*2*2 ft tanks and should be kept in groups of 6+), nor three adult Trichogaster trichopterus (blue gourami), who will quite happily fight to death in a tank that size one day. Either one of the species can be responsible for dead barbs as well.

 

[sweetmeister]

Do 95% water change just in case the API kit is right, then check the expiry date on the Red Sea kit and shake all the bottles really well (for a few minutes each) and try the test again. Also check the dates on the API kit and shake those bottles well too.

That tank is not anywhere near big enough for a clown loach (who need 6+*2*2 ft tanks and should be kept in groups of 6+), nor three adult Trichogaster trichopterus (blue gourami), who will quite happily fight to death in a tank that size one day. Either one of the species can be responsible for dead barbs as well.

I didnt think you were supposed to shake the bottles in the API kit? except for the nitrate solution 2 bottle,which clearly states it should be shaken first,the rest do not?.

 

[KittyKat]

Contact API if you are unsure, but shaking or at least vigorously stirring any of them will not damage the contents. (What do you think happens when they get ferried around the world on the way to your supplier?) Nitrate is known to settle out quickly, but the rest maybe can as well with time.