Torpedo Barbs Dying

[BigFish01]

I had recently bought 7 torpedo barbs and now 5 have died and i'm going to have to euthanize the 6th one.. I'm pretty upset about it. I have had them for a month and a half now. Three of them died pretty much in the same hour, then the other three have been going by day. It appears to be swim bladder disease. they start to swim like they are heavy in the rear end and keep there tail on the sand or rocks, then they start leaning on things, then they swim upside down for a day till they get stuck to the filter inlet. from everything that i have read so far it appears to be swim bladder disease. Any inputs on it?

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 20
ph 8.0-8.2

I have no idea whats going on. I looked for these guys for almost a year and finally found them and they all died off. Expensive little buggers too!! Thanks for reading and your help

 

[fluttermoth]

'Swim bladder disease' is a symptom, rather than a disease in itself; a bit like 'stomach ache' or 'back ache' in people.

What temperature are you keeping them at? Normal tropical temp is too hot for them and can significantly shorten their lifespan.

 

[Lateral Line]

pH is high. Unlikely to be the cause of the deaths, but a weakening factor.

 

[BigFish01]

I just found out that the temp they like is 77 or lower... preferably on the lower end. so i'm really sad about that because the clown loaches like it around 78. unfortunately it was a suggestion from someone on here for the torpedo barbs because they like the same type of water the clown loaches do. which they were wrong.. guess I should have done some more reading on that subject!!! horrible way to learn your lesson. I know the ph is a little high for them but from what I read barbs are the most adapting to ph and that it would be ok. their top end was 7.8 if I remember correctly.
I also didnt know it was a symptom, thought it was a disease. maybe it was what I was feeding them? Dried flakes and frozen blood worms? maybe thats where I went wrong. Hard to say now!

 

[Lateral Line]

Dried flake is what I fed my fish for 30 years, when frozen bloodworm, (etc.), became available, I used that from time to time. I doubt that is/was a factor.

 

[BigFish01]

Well the last one died today while I was at work. He didnt show any signs of swim bladder at all. All my other fish seem happy and healthy... So I will keep my fingers crossed!!!! Thanks for the help

 

[snazy]

Sorry to hear that. What temperature do you have the tank at? I've never seen fish dying of swim bladder caused by overfeeding or food unless they swallowed a hole fish or something quite over the size of what they are able to. When some fish die, they of course can't swim and will look awkward when trying to move around so these are not symptoms but rather consequence of the initial problem. How are the other fish in the tank doing and what type of fish do you have? Temperature is a concern and although it's probably not the direct factor, it could have indirectly caused stress and weakened their immune system, making them succeptible to diseases.

 

[BigFish01]

I'm thinking it was a combo of the temp, and ph, neither were suitable for the fish. I had turned the temp up to 82 to rid of the ich for 3 weeks, and my ph is at 8.0-8.2 so i'm thinking those things really contributed to it. I know they are flexible on the ph but that was pretty warm for them. All my fish are in my signature. Everyone else in the tank seems to be great so far. Oh well. Lesson learned