Alright, I will try to list everything in this first message so here goes. I had 5 tiger barbs about 3-4 weeks ago. One died, the next one died 4 days later, a week later another croaked off, another week gone and another died, now I have one left and it is showing the same symptoms as the other 4. It is loosing color, gasping for breath, not being active, and twitching. Eventually the others after a couple days could not swim upright and the next day they were dead. No discoloration or redness in gills or belly. Oh, and I got these fish from 3 different stores as well.
All of these fish except the last tiger left, were added after the tank was completely cycled with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and between 20-40ppm nitrates depending on when i did the water changes. pH is high though at 8 to 8.2 if i test before or after changing water. Just tested tonight and all reading were the same as before. The tank has been running since July, and I do by weekly water changes; 5 gallons per time in the 29 gal tank. I have 3 airstones and a HOB filter. I am going to try and get some peat in the filter to pull that pH down to a more appropriate level. There is already 2 large pieces of driftwood in there, but they don't seem to be doing anything with the pH, from the tap it tests at 7.2. Temps are 78-80.
I am treating the tank with salt for Ich. I was using 1 tbsp per 5 gals for about 3 weeks, but there was no improvement in the fish, so I slowly upped it to 1.5 tbsp/5 gallons. There has been no white spots on the fish for some time, but they still scrape their gills. Is this what is killing them?
The rosy barbs have been in there for longer than the tiger barbs and they are doing just fine, as well as the molly, and I just added the paradise gourami a couple weeks ago(its doing fine). There are only 6 fish in this tank right now, with one on the way out
I need to get this figured out before I replace any fish, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!