Typical Fish Loss Rates?

[BartokTheDog]

Hey,

I'm somewhat new to the hobby, having got my aquarium in FEB. of this year.

I have a 16 gal. tank with 5 tiger barbs and 4 red glass barbs.

Here's my experience with lost fishies over the past few months:

2 Pictus Catfish - loved these little guys, they both died from massive Ich infestations that sprung up overnight.

1 Gold Gourami - stopped eating and starved to death

1 Betta - mauled by one of the pictus cats after picking a fight

1 red glass barb - mauled by a pictus

2 tiger barbs - stopped eating and then croaked (ich possibly)

Is losing almost 50% of the fish you put in a normal experience? (not all of these were in at the same time btw.. have been following the 1 inch of fish to the gallon rule)

Water conditions are good, I change 15% water 2-3 times a week and feed em twice a day.

 

[mike45]

No, I don't think losing 50% of your fish is normal.
Did you cycle your tank?

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

what are your water conditions, ie. ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH?
what do you use to condition your water change water?

it sounds like your tank isn't cycled properly, if you can tell us your water parameters it'll help.

 

[BartokTheDog]

Yeah, cycled the tank with 2 fish, went through the appropriate spikes and then leveled off at 0 ammonia 0 nitrite.

I check those levels every week since, and they havn't left 0, even after introducing new fish.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Yeah, cycled the tank with 2 fish, went through the appropriate spikes and then leveled off at 0 ammonia 0 nitrite.

I check those levels every week since, and they havn't left 0, even after introducing new fish.

what about nitrate?
and when did the fish die, was it after water changes or randomly?

 

[BartokTheDog]

I dont have a test kit for Nitrate - but figured that the frequent water changes would keep it from ever becoming an issue.

PH is a little high, 7.6.

I'm inclined right now to point the finger at problems keeping a steady temp. Here in the midwest, the apt. people like blaring the heat in winter/spring keeping the inside temp at around 82 degrees.

Prior to the catfish ich deaths, they (my apt, not the catfish ) turned off the building heat during the night, and the tank temp wound up falling to 74 before I noticed in the morning. I assume the rapid temp. change is what triggered the ich outbreak

My solution has been to both point a fan at the tank & have the heater on to get some kind of balance.

Right now, two of the tiger barbs aren't eating and are kind of cowering in cave at the bottom. Everyone else looks happy and healthy though. (The red glass barbs were what I added after the tank cycled a few months ago, so they have been surviving fine)

They (the two sick barbs) were scraping on rocks occasionally and have really tiny white dots on em, so I'm assuming ich or velvet, and have treated the tank with 4 tsp of coppersafe.

 

[Sasha]

That's terrible! Did you introduce any new fish into the tank leading up to their death? In February, my fully cycled, 29 gallon tank went through a horrible crisis. I lost a total of 14 fish in two weeks, and without any indication of disease. I never found out what caused it, but during that period I lost about 75% of my fish. My tank looked so empty!

 

[BartokTheDog]

I Can't really link the deaths to either the introduction of new fish or to water changes, just because the water changes and introduction of new fish have been fairly continuous.

(I use a drop of dechlorinator / stress coat stuff to prep the water for changes, in answer to the earlier questions.

Thanks alot for all the replies - even if this isn't a problem that can be solved, its helpful to hear them.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

what temperature is your tank heater set at?

 

[BartokTheDog]

81

 

[jams.alaskan]

If you have a tank heater set at say 78 degrees is shouldn't come on if the room is warmer then that and in 16 gal it should be able to keep it from going below the 78 degrees when the building cools off. If you don't have a tank heater that will do that you should inverst in one, you are dead on that the huge fluctuations like that can bring on ick in your tank... It's quite stressful. I'd not worry about the 7.6 PH as it's entirely possible that your lfs has close to the same. Mine is 8 and I never worry about it. Wouldn't dream of trying to change it as that often does more damage then good to the fish with the large swings in PH as I try to lower it...

ALASKA

I will tell you that 5 tiger barbs in a 16 gal is not going to work for long as they can get a bit too large for it... Do you have plans for a bigger tank?
oh...... to the forum

 

[Sky042]

as far as death rates lately I've found that the small fish you may lose one here or there. transport can be tough on them. I brought home 6 charry barbs and they're all doing fine except for the smallest of the bunch just didn't seem too healthy and today I found him dead. It happens. Sad but happens.

 

[BartokTheDog]

Update:

Had to euthanize both my green tiger barbs today. They were being pulled around by the current and flipping over and under, getting lodged in plants etc...
(At least I knew what to do this time)

One of the dead tigers was paralyzed on one side, and in the last hours the other ones scales started to bristle out like a pine cone (dropsy?). They were both lethargic and refusing food for several days.

So, current inhabitants of my tank-of-pet-death are:

4 healthy red glass barbs
2 healthy small tigers

and 1 tiger who's refused food for three days and whos scales are starting to puff out. Might be some brown guk on hom too... can't tell because.

Perhaps PetSmart has been selling me very sick fish... I hope this isnt my fault.

I have to say this is turning into a pretty depressing hobby

 

[Myfishdied]

Thats sad

 

[luxum]

You should definitely check the nitrates. You can't assume that water changes are taking care of them, you may even have nitrates in your tapwater. You may want to get your test results for ammonia and nitrite double checked at the store, sometimes the reagents go bad and give false results. Does your dechlorinator also handle chloramines in addition to chlorine? Are you using enough of it? One drop doesn't sound sufficient. Are you making sure the water you add at changes is close to the same temperature as the water in the tank? Petsmart, in my experience, is not a great place to get fish, unless you have an unusually knowledgable staff at your local store, so it is very possible that you are getting sick fish from them.