Lost two tiger barbs...need advice

[slasher]

I am cycling my tank... just started it Saturday. I have lost two of my four tiger barbs, one yesterday and one today. I checked my levels and unless my strips are old everything is fine. I dont have an ammonia kit, but can get one. My temperatures were fluctuating due to a faulty heater, which I juat replaced. My cat seems to be stressed, as it swims along the edge of the tank. Any ideas?

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[Sk3lly]

Test strips are notoriously inaccurate. Buy a liquid api test kit

 

[ScotJudd]

I would personally rehome your fish and do a fishless cycle. Get yourself a liquid test kit, get your tank stable and then introduce fish. It's not much fun watching an empty tank but better than losing fish and still not having a cycled tank. Best of luck.

 

[Sk3lly]

Theres plenty of info to be found on fish in cycling and you still get the end result. It does take a lot of testing and work but plenty people do it

 

[trennamw]

What sk3lly said.

But you definitely need to test a lot.

Maybe start by taking a sample of your tank and tap waters to the store too. The API kit doesn't test everything and it's at the store that I found out water hardness likely had to do with my new fish getting sick.

 

[venymae]

Fluctuating heat can be very stressful, so they just might need a day or two to recover from that. Test strips aren't as accurate- sure, but they are better than nothing and they're not completely worthless. They can definitely tell you if there is a big problem in your tank.

 

[AmieBarnett]

I bought five tiger barbs two weeks ago and already lost two as well. But I have a bad case of ich in my tank. Be careful and keep us updated!!

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[Mebbid]

If you are cycling a tank from scratch and are using the test strips you are neglecting ammonia. That's the first part of the nitrogen cycle and is very likely what killed your fish. Imho, do 2 50% water changes with 1 hour of waiting in between and then get yourself an ammonia test kit.

 

[cfosgate]

Check the ph of your tank and the ph of your water. If there is a big difference then you could have an issue when doing water changes.