65gl start up.

[Sonofthoth]

I am confused! I am not a newbie to aquariums by any stretch and feel like I have done everything by the book so far.
Tank has been cycled nicely all my readings are what they are supposed to be.
So I added four very small stripped barbs to the tank. They have been going downhill from the get go and today I think one is dead (havent found the body yet). The others are sluggish and breathing rapidly.
The only reading I have that is high is the GH, but I understand most fish can tolerate that up to 200. Anyone have any suggestions?
The one thought I have is one of the buckets I used may have had some old cleaning residue...(would that be just water changes to fix?)

 

[Crepe]

What are you using to test? How did you cycle the tank? What are your ACTUAL readings in ppm?

 

[Sonofthoth]

GH is 180
KH between 120-180
ph btween 6.5 and 7.0
NO2 and NO3 barely on the chart.
Cycled the tank for 4 days with filter.

 

[carey]

Hi there. Looks like your tank may not have cycled completely. You should have 0 on both ammonia and nitrite. And some nitrate, preferably about 20 or so. I'd start with a water change to get those levels down a bit.

 

[Crepe]

GH is 180
KH between 120-180
ph btween 6.5 and 7.0
NO2 and NO3 barely on the chart.
Cycled the tank for 4 days with filter.

Okay so it sounds like you're using strips to test. I'd get a liquid test kit as testing strips are very inaccurate.

Additionally 4 days is not long enough to cycle a tank. You should read up on how to cycle a tank in the getting started section of the forums. On the same note you should test for ammonia as well because I'm quite positive those were off the charts.

Before you get any more fish I suggest you properly cycle the tank.