Mysterious death

[cheese_mcphee]

I've been running a 20 gallon tank for just over a year now, and aside from the usual beginner probs its been running very smoothly. There hasn't been a death in the tank this year as far as I can remember despite having an old guppy who every now and then looks like he's ready to keel over, but even he's going strong.

Today however I found one of my cherry barbs floating. He looked fine, and hadn't displayed any unusual behaviour before today (although it can be hard to tell when there's 5 others in there). I checked the ammonia/nitrite levels, both at 0, and treated the tank with melafix. It especially bothers me knowing that they can live up to 7 years.

Should I just put this one down to 'one of those things' or should I be looking at getting other treatment / regular water changes etc?

Any advice would be really appreciated

 

[clutterydrawer]

Hiya
Sorry to hear about your cherry barb, I hate it when fish die for no apparent reason.

How often do you do water changes currently? Do you have a nitrAte test? I think it's unlikely that nitrates would be elevated enough to kill your fish and even more unlikely that it would just affect the one fish rather than all of them, but you never know.

Did the dead fish have an unusual marks/injuries etc? Are any of the other fish showing any symptoms at all?Have you recently added anything new to the ank (livestock, decor, chemicals...)?

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to identify a possible cause of death. Does seem very mysterious though.

 

[cheese_mcphee]

Currently doing 25% water changes every 2 weeks at which point I add 'Leaf Zone' (for the plants) and Stress Zyme. The new water is treated with Aqua Plus before it enters the tank.

I haven't added any live stock or plants for months and months as I feel anymore will overstock the tank (although I did remove a plant last week). The tank has a bit of snail problem which I've kept to a minimum for the past few months. Nitrates have always been high (which isn't helped by the water supply around here) but has never been a prob.

The fish's body looked absolutely fine, colour was very bright as usual and no marks.

Thanks for your help!

 

[clutterydrawer]

Sounds like everything should've been fine then I'm sorry I can't be of more help. Maybe someone else will have ideas. I lost a fish today for no obvious reason so I know how frustrating it is.

 

[cheese_mcphee]

Sounds like everything should've been fine then I'm sorry I can't be of more help. Maybe someone else will have ideas. I lost a fish today for no obvious reason so I know how frustrating it is.

No worries, it helps to be prompted to think about aything that could have caused it. I suppose the best thing is just to keep a close eye on the rest of the fishies in case they start falling ill too.

Thanks for your input anyway (and i'm sorry to hear of your loss too).