Help me figure out what is killing my fish?

[Forester]

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!

[Puffer Pita]

Ick can live in the gills, unseen, and can kill the fish. If it were my tank, I'd do a large volume water change (at least 50% but more is better), and up the salt to 2 tbs/5g. And I'd up the regular water changes to at least 10g/week.

How did you acclimate the tiger barbs to the tank? If done slowly, they can adjust to most pH levels. But you need to figure out why the pH in your tank is so much higher than that of the tap water. PH swings will kill fish pretty fast from osmotic shock. Are you using test strips or liquid kits?

[BV77]

Boxermom, your hubby says you're not an indentured servant....You are the Queen of the Castle....lol

[Puffer Pita]

And he would be right. That's not my occupation though.

[Forester]

I acclimate the new fish by sitting the bag in the tank to get to the same temp, then dumping out about 30% of the water in the bag and refilling with tank water, then let it sit for another 10 min and repeat 4x before putting the fish into the tank. I also net the fish out of the bag so as to introduce as little fish store water as possible. Are tiger barbs more susceptible to Ich than other fish?

I don't know why the pH is much higher than the water. I have plastic and silk plants as well as a couple clumps of java moss. I did put a few rocks in the thank that I found, but I didn't get a reaction with vinegar when I tested it that way. Is there a better way to test rocks for pH?

Also, I am using the liquid type tests.

[Cichlid Man]

Your substrate may not be lime free.

[Puffer Pita]

My guess would be the rocks. Vinegar test doesn't tell everything. I'd take them out and put them in a bucket with tap water and let it sit a few days, then test the water and see if its gone up. If it has, there's your culprit.

Tigers don't seem more prone to ich than other fish I've had, but if they remaining fish are still flashing, its a good indication that they might still have some.