my fish is dying

J

Jwoody

Medium Fish
#1
May 14, 2010
77
0
0
#1
hi,
i have an albino tiger barb (1 of 6), and he is starting to look very sick, he has not been swimming with the rest of the group lately and he is not as energetic as usual, his movements are very slow, i can find no better way to describe this but his spine looks like it is "drooping" its more curved downward then usual like his spine is weak or something, i think its too late for this fish i cant already tell that its happening to one of the albinos, i just wanted to know for future reference. any help would be great on how i could fix this!!
 

J

Jwoody

Medium Fish
#3
May 14, 2010
77
0
0
#3
there are just two albino tiger barbs, and 4 regular tiger barbs, and i very small pleco.
i have not tested it for that yet, where would be a good place to get test kits for that?
 

J

Jwoody

Medium Fish
#4
May 14, 2010
77
0
0
#4
i have not changed the water recently, it has been about 3 weeks since i last did it, i usually do about 20% a week. the tempurature in the tank hangs around 82 day and night, i am going to try to attach some photos if i can get a good picture of it. they do not appear to be stressed at all, they eat as much as all of the other fish when i feed them. and their behavior has not changed since this has happened.
 

Last edited:
achase

achase

Large Fish
#5
Feb 1, 2010
765
0
0
British Columbia, Canada
#5
Having water test kit is really important (liquid not strips). You can get test kits pretty much at any pet stores (Petsmart, LPS (Local pet store) etc.) that sells fish stuff. A really good brand is API and if you can't afford a test kit you could get it tested by a pet store but make sure to get the actual number not just "your water looks good". But it's really important to have a test kit handy.

What size is your tank?
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#6
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#6
I just want to add: I bought the API liquid test kit 3 month ago. Petsmart didn't know what I was talking about, but I eventually found it myself and they only had one. It was $32.99 and I now see on the receipt they refer to it as a "water treatment". I haven't noticed that they ever got any more until today and they had one - $34.99. I forgot to check it at Petco, but Petco does seem to be more expensive.
 

achase

achase

Large Fish
#7
Feb 1, 2010
765
0
0
British Columbia, Canada
#7
I got mine at petsmart and compared with my other LPS it was cheapest (by like $4 but money is money). Your right they don't always have it available. But I'm sure there are other acceptable water test kits....I just don't know any other brands.
 

L

littletankbigworld

Superstar Fish
#8
Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#8
I use the Tetra Master Test Kit (liquid), except it doesn't have nitrate tests. The kit is 10 dollars and an API liquid nitrate test kit is 11 dollars, but it's worth the money, considering I saved $10 by not buying the API kit. I also dislike the containers in the API kits. They are difficult to fill without a syringe, they tip over easily and the caps leak. I highly recommend the Tetra Master Kit.

How many gallons is your tank? What type of pleco do you have? If it is the general common pleco, it requires a minimum of 55 gallons of water, even if it's small.
 

J

Jwoody

Medium Fish
#9
May 14, 2010
77
0
0
#9
thank you so much for the advice, i will get one as soon as i can, i have a twenty gallon high tank, yes it is a common pleco i am just keeping it until the algae is gone (which should not be long) then i am giving it to a friend with a 60 gallon tank,(it was a dollar fish). I have a penguin 200 external filter on it.
 

lauraf

lauraf

Superstar Fish
#11
Jan 1, 2010
2,181
0
0
Vancouver, British Columbia
#11
Jwoody said:
i have not changed the water recently, it has been about 3 weeks since i last did it, i usually do about 20% a week. the tempurature in the tank hangs around 82 day and night, i am going to try to attach some photos if i can get a good picture of it. they do not appear to be stressed at all, they eat as much as all of the other fish when i feed them. and their behavior has not changed since this has happened.
Click to expand...
Ding, ding, ding.
20% water changes per week may not be enough even when you do them regularly, and the fact that you haven't changed the water recently suggests that your fish is suffering from water toxicity.
Do at least a 50% water change immediately, treat the water with Prime. While it would be more helpful for you to test the water for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate before you do the water change, just so you can establish how high the levels are, the fact that your fish are probably suffering from the water quality right now, and you don't have the test kits yet, makes me think it would be a better option to do the water change immediately.
Do keep us posted.
 

L

littletankbigworld

Superstar Fish
#13
Aug 16, 2009
1,318
0
0
SW Pennsylvania
#13
The algae, sorry to say, will not go away just because you have a common pleco. Algae is a sign that you have a water imbalance and it usually occurs with new tanks. Until you fix the imbalance of plant nutrients and light, your algae will not go away. Please get rid of your pleco, as your tank is very overstocked and the pleco is producing too much waste for the other fish in your tank.
How often do you feed your fish?
Do you have a heater on the tank?
 

J

Jwoody

Medium Fish
#14
May 14, 2010
77
0
0
#14
HTML: 
Curious, Jwoody, why is the temperature so high?
its because i live in Florida and as you know it is sooooo hot here, i have been trying different things to get it to lower down.

The ph readings are around 7.6, i though that was a little high so i tested the water from my faucet and it is the same. and the pleco is gone!

HTML: 
How often do you feed your fish?
Do you have a heater on the tank?
i feed them once a day and i am very careful that i don't feed them too much, and no i do not have a heater.

lauraf, i have just done the water change! should i keep doing 50% for a while or just go 25%ish
 

ZackLanduyt

ZackLanduyt

Large Fish
#15
Jun 18, 2010
135
0
16
Lima OH. USA
#15
I would do another 50% water change the day after tomorrow on the tank then start doing 25% I personally do 30% 3 times a week but I also am a little overstocked so I take a little extra precautions, if you are over stocked you can do that much as well.
 

O

OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#18
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#18
Jwoody said:
HTML: 
Curious, Jwoody, why is the temperature so high?
its because i live in Florida and as you know it is sooooo hot here, i have been trying different things to get it to lower down.
Click to expand...
I lived in Florida for over 12 years. A small fan blowing across the top of the tank works wonders. I could keep a reef at 72 that way, and freshwater tropicals in the mid 70s.
 

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