Another Tank Disaster!

[GouramiFanatic]

My boss has a 46 gallon aquarium set up in her office which is identical to mine except we're keeping different fish and decor. The lighting, heater, filter, etc. is all the same. Her tank has been doing great since Nov or Dec of 05, but suddenly she's having all kinds of problems.

Back on 2/23 she purchased (12) Tiger Barbs, (6) Tigers and (6) Albinos. She hadn't added any new fish since then and they were thriving! This past Monday she noticed (1) of the Albinos was having a difficult time swimming. When we got a closer look we noticed that the fins were really frayed. Then on Tuesday we put some Melafix in to see if it would help. There were no deaths Tuesday. Throughout the day Wednesday (3) of the Tiger Barbs died, including the one she was trying to treat. Today there were (4) more dead that we found right away and after doing a water change she found (3) more. There is (1) still alive and (1) missing.

There are (2) Flounders, (3) Oto Cats, and an assortment of Tetras (Von Rio, Lemon, Bloodfin, and a couple other types) in this same tank. None of these guys have been effected so far. Although, she also has a Mystery Snail which is also acting very strange. It seems to hang on the glass for a few minutes and then it lets go, drifts up to the surface, and bobs around in the current until she (my boss) helps it back to the wall where it will grab on for a few minutes and repeat this cycle.

We tested her tank yesterday and here are the results: Ammonia, Nitrites = 0ppm, Nitrates = 10-20ppm, Ph = 7.0, temp was at 72°. She hasn't used any chemicals other than 2 doses of Melafix (once on Tues and once on Wed). There have been no added fish since 2/23 when she added the Barbs. Any clue on what might be happening?

 

[frieked]

Any signs of disease/parasites other than the 1 that was having trouble swimming?

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Nope, only the fin issues and difficulty swimming on the first one. There have been no signs since then.

 

[Zagz]

How often does she do water changes? The reason I ask is although the parameters are good, water changes are important. The frayed fins, were they torn only or did they seem to have any cottony fuzz on them? One thing you might want to try in addition to the melafix is raising the temps slowly to 78 F. The temp is too cold IMO for tropical fish. If there are any other swimming difficulties you can add some epsom salt to the water. 1/8 tsp per gal for starters. Good luck.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

Well, she can't remember when she did her last water change that's how long ago it was. We're guessing at least a month or so. The one that was originally having a hard time swimming with the bad fins didn't have any kind of a fuzziness or any spots to show if there was anything else going on. Even now, none of the other fish seem to be effected by whatever it was.

Are Tiger Barbs naturally sensitive to poor water conditions if this is actually what the problem was? It just seems weird that only the Barbs have been effected.

 

[Zagz]

I don't believe that barbs are any more sensitive to water conditions than any other fish. I may be wrong about this, barbs are not a fish I am really familiar with. I do recommend a pwc as soon as possible as this certainly will not harm the fish and can only help.

 

[GouramiFanatic]

She actually did a water change today, probably about 25%. I'll talk to her tomorrow about this more of a routine. Thanks for the help!

 

[Squirt0170]

Maybe she added too many fish at once and it spiked something?

I'm new at this and still learning. I think it's only good to add a couple fish at a time or something in the water will spike, it was Nitrates or Ammonia... I don't remember which one.