What's going on?

[bostonbass]

I came home to two dead cherry barbs and one tetra. Water parameters are fine, alkalinity is a little low. Only other tank mates are corys and Amano shrimp. I do a partial water change weekly and feed a.c. assorted diet. What should I be looking for?

 

[Cecibella123]

Do you de-chlorinate the water when you do a water change? Have you added any decor that might have introduced any chemicals into the water that don't show up on a water test? Have you introduced any new livestock recently? Plants? Is it possible that you have a bacterial that isn't externally seen? You said water parameters are fine, but you didn't list them. Do you test with strips, or with a more advanced testing method? What size is your tank? Filtration?

 

[bostonbass]

Do you de-chlorinate the water when you do a water change? Have you added any decor that might have introduced any chemicals into the water that don't show up on a water test? Have you introduced any new livestock recently? Plants? Is it possible that you have a bacterial that isn't externally seen? You said water parameters are fine, but you didn't list them. Do you test with strips, or with a more advanced testing method? What size is your tank? Filtration?

Hi, thanks for the response. Yes, I use Prime to dechlorinate water and I make sure the temperature matches the tank too. No new decorations or plants. Two Corys were added two days prior. They have showed zero aggression and themselves seem very healthy. I test with strips so the values are estimates, but it's something like 0/0/20. pH is around 7.0. As I mentioned, the alkilinity is a little low and the water is on the hard side. Tank is a 10 gallon and filtration is a Fluval 3 stage for 20 gallons.

 

[lksdrinker]

What do you mean the alkalinity is a little low? compared to what?

 

[bostonbass]

What do you mean the alkalinity is a little low? compared to what?

Based on the strip tests. The color indicates about 40 ppm. The strip suggests 120-180 is "ideal"

 

[Cecibella123]

I'm a bit confused by the "alkalinity is a little low" comment also. Do you mean your PH is low?

 

[bostonbass]

I'm a bit confused by the "alkalinity is a little low" comment also. Do you mean your PH is low?

Here is a quote from Advanced Aquarist — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

"Like the relationship between alkalinity and calcium, the relationship between alkalinity and pH takes many forms. One of the most important of these is simply that alkalinity is defined as the amount of acid necessary to change the pH of the sample to a specific value..."

 

[lksdrinker]

Based on the strip tests. The color indicates about 40 ppm. The strip suggests 120-180 is "ideal"

I've never even seen an alkalinity test before and not even sure what its measuring. 40 parts per million of what? You sure thats not some sort of hardness (gh or kh) test?

Here is a quote from Advanced Aquarist — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

"Like the relationship between alkalinity and calcium, the relationship between alkalinity and pH takes many forms. One of the most important of these is simply that alkalinity is defined as the amount of acid necessary to change the pH of the sample to a specific value..."

Thats a nice quote and all but how does that relate to your problem and/or aquariums in general. Are you trying to buffer your water and reach a particular ph value? Unless you know for sure that the species you lost might need a particular ph value and also know that your setup is not providing that, than I doubt this has anything to do with loosing a few fish.

How long has the tank been setup and how long did you have the fish you lost? What was the total stock list of the tank?

 

[bostonbass]

I've never even seen an alkalinity test before and not even sure what its measuring. 40 parts per million of what? You sure thats not some sort of hardness (gh or kh) test?




Thats a nice quote and all but how does that relate to your problem and/or aquariums in general. Are you trying to buffer your water and reach a particular ph value? Unless you know for sure that the species you lost might need a particular ph value and also know that your setup is not providing that, than I doubt this has anything to do with loosing a few fish.

How long has the tank been setup and how long did you have the fish you lost? What was the total stock list of the tank?

This conversation has gone off track. People asked what alkalinity was, I answered. That does not mean I suspect it. It's just another parameter to consider. The tank has been up about 4 months and the stock list is in my signature (of course the Cherry Barbs used to be 3, not 1)

 

[lksdrinker]

This conversation has gone off track. People asked what alkalinity was, I answered. That does not mean I suspect it. It's just another parameter to consider. The tank has been up about 4 months and the stock list is in my signature (of course the Cherry Barbs used to be 3, not 1)

You're the one who brought up the alkalinity "problem"

Looks like you were pretty heavily and/or close to overstocked in that 10 gallon tank.....you still might be actually. A 10 gallon is a bit small for cherry barbs and they do best kept in larger groups. They could have been stressed because of that and eventually succumbed. Otherwise nothing really jumps out as a potential cause. Unfortunately sometimes fish just die especially if they were not great stock to begin with. Finding decent cardinal and/or neon tetras seems nearly impossible these days. They tend to die if you pronounce their names wrong!

 

[Cecibella123]

If none of your other fish show any obvious signs of distress or disease, it's possible that the new fish introduced something that the dead fish were overly susceptible to. I have no idea what it could be though. IMO, d frequent water changes for a couple weeks. Hopefully that will eradicate anything dangerous in the tank.

 

[bostonbass]

You're the one who brought up the alkalinity "problem"

Looks like you were pretty heavily and/or close to overstocked in that 10 gallon tank.....you still might be actually. A 10 gallon is a bit small for cherry barbs and they do best kept in larger groups. They could have been stressed because of that and eventually succumbed. Otherwise nothing really jumps out as a potential cause. Unfortunately sometimes fish just die especially if they were not great stock to begin with. Finding decent cardinal and/or neon tetras seems nearly impossible these days. They tend to die if you pronounce their names wrong!

I'm not replacing the barbs. When the last one dies, I'll backfill with some more cardinals. But I agree that a 10g is tight quarters.

I inspected the dead fish and saw no visible signs of parasites, mites, flukes, dropsy, or ich. Fins were in good shape, not ragged.