4 members of tank dead!

[Beginner Fish Lover]

Hello, I have recently had four members of my tank die!
1. My snail died out of nowhere
2. 2 of my tiger barbs died out of no where and
3. My Rosy Barb committed suicide by jumping out of the tank!!!

Can anybody help?

 

[mfdrookie516]

-how long has the tank been set up
-did you cycle the tank
-how big is the tank
-how often do you do water changes
-what are your water parameters in numbers (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate)
-what else is in the tank
-have you added anything new recently
-how long have you had the fish

The barb jumping could just be normal behavior. alot of fish jump for no apparent reason... I had an auratus jump once, had a whole 150g tank to share with only 5 other fish at the time.

 

[mellawson]

Have you checked your water parameters? If so what kind of kit did you use?

 

[mellawson]

Yeah what rookie said...lol

 

[Beginner Fish Lover]

Q1: 4-5 Months
Q2: Yes, for 24 hours at least
Q3: Not often enough, probably every month!!
Q4: Need to get new kit
Q5: I have 2 scissortail rasboras, 2 Glofish, 2 more tiger barbs, 2 albino barbs, 1 plecoto-something
Q6: I just made a major water change and gravel vaced (not word) and took all of the decor out of the tank so that might have caused some stress.
Q7: Glowfish: 4-5 months Others: about 2 months

 

[logansmomma1228]

-The Tank needs to be cycled for 3-4 weeks minimum in order for it to cycle succesfully.
-Water changes need to be done weekly
-You probably overloaded your tank and your fish are getting poisoned by ammonia/nitrite/nitrates in the water.
- What are your parameters? This is a very important question.
-When you do water changes DONT clean everything else because you could be killing your beneficial bacteria.

I really think you didn't cycle it properly at first, but then I am stumped as to how the fish could last that long (even though sometimes the fish do survive). Also if you didn't quarantine your new fish they could have brought disease into the tank. I am not sure if you are overstocked or not, but it sounds like your bacteria (if there was enough there) died when you cleaned everything :/.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Q2: Yes, for 24 hours at least
Q3: Not often enough, probably every month!!
Q4: Need to get new kit

Q6: I just made a major water change and gravel vaced (not word) and took all of the decor out of the tank so that might have caused some stress.

Ok, so read the links in my signature on the nitrogen cycle so you'll better understand cycling. a tank will not cycle in 24 hours unless you're seeding with a filter that has been running on a cycled tank for some time. Until you're able to test the water, we wont be able to give you any reason why the fish might be dying. I can speculate and say that your tank probably has some ammonia and nitrate present given the length of time between water changes and the fact that you took all of your decor out while doing your last water change. Get in a habit of doing a weekly water change of 25% or more depending on the need. I do 50% weekly in all my tanks. Definitely get a new test kit. I would almost recommend daily 50% water changes until you're able to test your water, just to make sure there is not as big a risk of ammonia poisoning.

 

[Mark Hewitt]

Having a fish tank without a test kit is like having a car without a fuel gauge, sure you might be able to get away with it for a while, but you'll run into trouble sooner or later.

 

[Beginner Fish Lover]

Yes, I will go get a test kit now!!!