6 Dead Fish in 2 weeks

[DWestover]

I have had 6 dead fish in two weeks. At first I thought perhaps my fish were just fighting, seeing how two of the dead I found looked a little mawled. (spelling?) I lost 2 in 2 days, then it was like 6 days and another two had died and then this morning there were another 2 dead. All I have left in the tank is 6 black mollies and a tiger barb.

I havent checked the water levels for nitrites and nitrates yet. My friend has my water testing kit and was on vacation. I'll have to get it from her tonight. But I have a problem thinking it is with the water because one of the 6 mollies is actually a baby molly that isnt even a half inch long yet. I would have thought she would have died also.

Today I did a 30 percent water change, changing out 10 gallons of the 29 gallon tank. I also changed around the decorations just in case the fish were becoming territorial. Once I check the water levels I will post that here tonight. Any advice would be appreciated.

[fishfood]

Let us know what you find out from the water testing. You may have some water quality issues or somthing similar. However, I wonder if your guess regarding fighting is one of the problems. Tiger barbs establish a pecking order and practice fin nipping amoungst themselves. If they are not kept in a large enough group, they will go after ather fish and destroy their fins. There is another thread in general freshwater (titled "fighting...nipping") about this problem.

--Fishfood

[DWestover]

As for the tiger barbs, the 6 dead were all barbs, and my last barb (although he was the biggest of all the fish) looks sickly now. And I don't think he'll make it. I've moved him to his own tank, where he is just floating there. What gets me more over is that all the fish have been in this tank for about 4 months now. Before that 3 of the barbs were in a 10 gallon (for about 3 months). And I moved them when I got the bigger tank.

Its just mind boggling.

[DWestover]

Ok, I decided I didnt want to wait until my friend got off work, so I took a sample to a LFS. My ammonia was fine and my nitrItes were 0.25. That is all that they test for at that store.


Thanks.

[wetmanNY]

If nitrites register on a hobbyist-level test, such as the one they ran for you at the lfs, it's a sure sign that the nitration of ammonia is compromised somehow. Only you can tell what would have upset your biofiltration recently.

[myersrj40]

I was the poster of the other tiger barb post. I would recommend getting rid of them if you really want to keep any other fish. There cool little guys but seem to be some what ruthless..