TIGER BARBS DYING--at my wit's end, please help!!!

[Byron]

I would do water changes around once a month, and usually around 25%.

This is too little to have any real benefit. First, a water change once each week is needed, and then I would increase the volume to at least half the tank. I change 2/3 to 3/4 of my tanks' volume every week and have for years. The benefits of a water change on any aquarium and the fish in it really cannot be overstated. There are threads here where members have explained the benefits.

It's a salt type, but the sodium reading in the water out of the tap is extremely low/barely detectable...? Don't know if that makes a difference. I was using distilled water until I realized that the pH of the distilled water was 5.5 to 6.0 and the fish didn't like it. The pH of my tap water is 7.6 to 7.8, so maybe a mix of the two would be better? I would bypass the softener, but would that affect the fish and plants? I have iron and manganese in my unsoftened water.

What is the level of iron and manganese? And what is the GH? The pH is not the issue here, these fish all naturally occur in slightly acidic and/or slightly basic water and will thrive in this range.

Salt (common salt, sodium chloride) is detrimental to freshwater fish, in varying degrees depending upon the level and the species, but none of the fish mentioned would ever encounter salt in their natural waters, so their physiology is not intended to have to deal with it. If you want to know all the ramifications of using salt regularly, I set them out in an article here:
Salt FW Aq Art Hosking (wetwebmedia.com)

 

[Fishfinder1973]

I’ve had tiger barbs for a year now,and I’ve had a few die within a short time of each other.Each one would separate from the rest,become very lethargic,face nose down and looked rough round the edges.After the first barb began acting strange I tested the water and it revealed an ammonia spike,0.25-50.
Day in day out I was changing 60% of the water and each morning it was just as bad,if not worse.
Those were the symptoms of ammonia poisoning I seen.

 

[Dajuyu]

I’ve had tiger barbs for a year now,and I’ve had a few die within a short time of each other.Each one would separate from the rest,become very lethargic,face nose down and looked rough round the edges.After the first barb began acting strange I tested the water and it revealed an ammonia spike,0.25-50.
Day in day out I was changing 60% of the water and each morning it was just as bad,if not worse.
Those were the symptoms of ammonia poisoning I seen.

DOnt you have any live plants in the tank?

 

[carligraceee]

Hello all! I joined this forum in hopes I could find some help for my poor tank...

For the past several years, I have had a ten gallon tank with four tiger barbs and a striped raphael catfish. The tank's light recently quit, and since it was one of those all-in-one tank kits that don't allow you to replace the light, I got a new ten-gallon aquarium. Prior to the replacement, I had an algae bloom in my old tank, and I will admit it wasn't the cleanest of tanks...my gravel vacuum had quit and I was struggling to do a proper job with the siphon. Anyways, I set up my new tank day before yesterday. I got new gravel (rinsed it like crazy), but used my plants from my old tank (rinsed those off, too) and a log-like decor from Petco that my catfish was crazy about. I used tap water in my tank, but the water is perfectly safe for the tank--I had it checked recently and it's 100% fine. Slightly basic pH, but I've been using that water for years no issue.

I set up the new tank, and transferred the fish immediately since I discovered that the old one had started to leak...the fish seemed okay, but the catfish didn't hide like normal. The next morning everyone was alive, but a little later that day, the catfish died. My kitty cat, who loves to watch the fishtank and was so excited about me setting up the new tank, was devastated. She was literally staring at the dead catfish and meowing dismally. I checked the water, and it was fine, so I assumed that it was the combination of old age and the stress of the move that killed my catfish (he was probably around 7 years old). I wanted to make sure I had bottom feeders in my tank, so I went to Petco and got two albino corys. I also got three red-eyed tetras and a gold inca snail (there was still algae on my plants and decor). This may be overstocking a little, but I felt confident since my tank was well planted and I had good filtration.

The next morning (this morning) the tank was cloudy. I assumed this was a normal bacterial bloom due to the Seachem Prime and Stability I had dosed the tank with. But one of my barbs had died. Again, my barbs were older (4-6 years) and I chalked it up to stress and old age once again. But this afternoon, yet another barb died...again, old...but I'm not quite happy with the old age theory any more. I feel awful that my poor old fish are dying when all I wanted to do was to give them cleaner, safer conditions with proper lighting and no algae bloom. The new fish are absolutely fine, and the snail seems happy too. I tested my water...absolutely dead normal, with the slightest tinge of ammonia (not even 0.25 ppm).

Below is a rundown of my tank. An * indicates items/fish that were in the original tank.

Tank: 10 gallon
Fish: 4 barbs* (2 died); 1 raphael striped catfish* (died); 2 albino corys; 3 red-eyed tetras; 1 gold inca snail
Substrate: 5 lbs of white gravel mixed with 5 lbs of "snowy river stones" gravel, with glass accents on top (all well washed)
Plants: 4-5 small anubises*; 3-4 small Marimo moss balls*
Heater: set on 74 degrees
Filter: Tetra submerged filter, rated for 10 gallon, with charcoal filter and a biological filter sponge
Decor: large plastic log thing...* was in original tank no issue

Dosed tank with Seachem Prime, Stability, and pH buffer, as well as a dose of Flourish for the plants. Have used all those before with no issue.

Noticed bacterial bloom, really don't think that would hurt the fish...

All the new fish are fine. It's just my old guys that are dying. No clue what would harm my old guys and not the new ones.

(Testing with API Master)
pH: 7.4
ammonia: <0.25 (faintest twinge of green)
nitrite: 0
nitrate: 0

There is no chlorine or anything in the tap water, besides...treated the water...and why is it only affecting the old guys??? I'm installing a bubbler tonight and we'll see what happens.

Everyone else is correct.

Tiger Barbs are not suitable for a ten gallon... like, at all. Upgrade to a 30+ gallon tank and they should be fine.
I doubt that your tank is cycled considering there is ammonia present. Some fish are more sensitive then others when it comes to ammonia. I know Tiger Barbs can be sensitive.

I would rehome the Barbs that are left as well as the Raphael Catfish (they need a minimum of 15 gallons), rehome the rummy nose tetras OR the corys. Do a massive water change (75%+), grow one of your schools, as that will be the only thing that will fit in your tank.

Use AqAdvisor in the future for your stocking. I use it for every tank of mine and it is extremely accurate.

 

[I Like Rare Fish]

Raphael Catfish (they need a minimum of 15 gallons)

Google isn’t always right. In my books, raphaels need at least a 40+ gallon tank because they love to hide, and get pretty big.

 

[Dajuyu]

Well as the saying goes the bigger the better ,, and better be safe than sorry ... so yeah those extra gallons will be beneficial and if you want to compare bigger tanks are even cheaper ...

 

[Byron]

The Raphael Catfish (Platydoras armatulus) can attain 8 inches20 cm, though in the aquarium 6+ inches/15+ cm is usual. But given the traits, this means a 4-foot (120 cm) long tank.

 

[carligraceee]

Google isn’t always right. In my books, raphaels need at least a 40+ gallon tank because they love to hide, and get pretty big.

I actually got this info from my local AquaImports store. However, I do agree bigger is better and would never put a catfish in anything smaller than a 29g.

 

[SarahPar]

We do have hard water, but it goes through a water softener and is normal when it comes out of the tap. If I can find the most recent test results from the lab, I'll let you know the GH and KH.

I dosed with aquarium salt, but it was too late for another one of the barbs. 3 down, one to go. I'm pretty sad.

I'm asking on another forum too, and I got a suggestion that it may be a kind of reverse old tank syndrome--that is, the old fish were used to the bad conditions of their old tank and the good conditions of their new tank were too much for them and affected them as much as bad water conditions would affect fish used to good conditions. Can anyone here affirm or deny that possibility? That would explain why the other fish are unaffected...

Water test:
pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0 (possibly 0.25, but it really doesn't look green at all to me)
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

I would agree with the reverse old tank syndrome. Plus it's also not cycled which is likely compounding the stress.

New ones likely not dying due to conditions being similar to that of the petshop. But the conditions the other fish were in were likely very different before the move.