Sudden Unexplained Barb Deaths [+ General Disc'n About Water, Conditioner, Etc.]

Merry Christmas everyone. On the fish front it's been a bit stressful 

After water change on Monday half of my 5 band barbs were acting strangely in that the were huddling in the top back corner of the tank, pretty much stationery with their heads pointed downwards. One was dead on Tuesday another on Wednesday and 2 this morning??

Really not sure what to do, there is no outward signs of disease and the remaining ones all seem reasonably OK, the ones that died were the biggest and were that size when I got them, so probably older than the rest, but they all looked in great condition to do think it's age, and would probably we a bit strange from them to do one day after another??

I cleaned the filter and some of the décor during the water change, so wonder if I've kicked something up, but not sure why this would just affect the larger barbs??

Any ideas on course of action, I was going to do a water change today, but given there isn't anything obvious as to who may be ill I wasn't going to move anyone out of the main tank.

Water parameters all fine, although going to check them again now.

Cheers

Hiya Sue, it’s a yes to all of them, the only one that could be in doubt would be the dechlorinator.  Al helped me fill the big container I use and neither of us remember specifically adding or not adding it, not normally something I’d forget, but you never know.

I changed 50% of the water this morning. A few of the barbs are still a bit ropey looking but everyone else still looks OK.

cheers Mark, good advice and whatever it is it does only seem to be affecting the barbs, or at least affecting them more than the others who look to be behaving normally. Lost another barb this afternoon, this time one of the smaller ones which I think is a slightly different type of 5 band. I'll look into the filter you mentioned as hate to think it's something I've done 

hiya @Matt yeah I've got fluval carbono? would I just put in in one of the filter compartments? I'm going away on Saturday for a week (not great timing) should I leave it in, or take it back out before I go?

no more death yet but they are still not right a few of them are just kind of hanging head down, but they are eating a little which is something.

Ok that's the carbon in, I won't do anything else before going on holiday but at least I feel as if I've done something positive, sitting all day watching them is a bit of an odd way to spend boxing day, but I just couldn't go out and leave them.

thanks all.

Really sorry to read of your fatalities and casualties. Not sure there is any more advice I can add to that already given.

Presumably you've not had anything different happening lately such as scented candles, aerosols or plug-in air fresheners in the same room as the tank?

Fingers crossed that whatever has been happening resolves itself soon.

Hi @Hampalong

To which 'toxins' are barbs particularly susceptible? I really would like to better understand this. It seems very odd that water companies would put something extra in tap water at Christmas. I thought they operated 24/7/365. I'm not saying that you are wrong but it seems very odd. I know someone who used to work for a water company. I'll check this out. I myself use RO/DI water so this is all new to me.

JPC

I don’t actually know which particular ‘contaminants’ Barbs are susceptible to JPC, so I’ll say all of them.

It used to be the done thing for the water authorities to dump their chemicals into the reservoirs just before the weekend. I used to drive past Ladybower Res in Blackburn twice a day and would see the bags lined up on the bank every Thursday. Of course, a lot of parameters (including the levels of 40+ substances) need to be within acceptable ranges at all times, so before a long weekend they would usually dump in a bit more, the idea being that a skeleton monitoring staff would be present over the holidays, but the majority of staff would be off work. Back in the 70s and 80s fish tank water issues and wipeouts were fairly common around bank holidays. Less so these days, but it still happens occasionally.

I’m rather ignorant about what actually happens. They add aluminium for some (bacterial?) reason I believe, for example...

Carbon will work in most cases. PolyFilter will work every time (he says cautiously. I’ve never had a water issue since...)

@Lynne W if you go for PolyFilter further down the line make sure it is written exactly as I’ve written it. There are several imposters, but that exact spelling is a registered trade mark so cant be copied.

I don’t actually know which particular ‘contaminants’ Barbs are susceptible to JPC, so I’ll say all of them.

It used to be the done thing for the water authorities to dump their chemicals into the reservoirs just before the weekend. I used to drive past Ladybower Res in Blackburn twice a day and would see the bags lined up on the bank every Thursday. Of course, a lot of parameters (including the levels of 40+ substances) need to be within acceptable ranges at all times, so before a long weekend they would usually dump in a bit more, the idea being that a skeleton monitoring staff would be present over the holidays, but the majority of staff would be off work. Back in the 70s and 80s fish tank water issues and wipeouts were fairly common around bank holidays. Less so these days, but it still happens occasionally.

I’m rather ignorant about what actually happens. They add aluminium for some (bacterial?) reason I believe, for example...

Carbon will work in most cases. PolyFilter will work every time (he says cautiously. I’ve never had a water issue since...)

@Lynne W if you go for PolyFilter further down the line make sure it is written exactly as I’ve written it. There are several imposters, but that exact spelling is a registered trade mark so cant be copied.

Hi @Hampalong

Many thanks for your reply.

Even the more fascinating as you mentioned the Ladybower dam, as it used to be known when I lived over t'other side of t'Pennines from 1953 to 1972. I can vouch for the efficacy of PolyFilter (the real one). I did use it sparingly a few years ago but it was (and probably still is) very expensive.

JPC

https://www.swelluk.com/arcadia-aquarium-poly-filter/

That’s the one, they’ve just spelt it wrong. It’s the same stuff. It was invented by Poly-Bio-Marine, sold to Underworld who sold it to Arcadia.

Lynne it’s a sponge. You could use some kind of water container and a small internal filter for a few hours. Used on tap water it will last a long time. You can use it in the tank’s filter but it won’t last nearly as long.

JPC you didn’t spot my deliberate mistake (?), moving the dam to Blackburn and calling it a res. It’s was a while ago. It wasn’t Ladybower at all, it was Fishmoor in Blackburn... 

I was able to read the post but wasn't able to reply properly at the time, but coincidentally also had this thought which I subsequently forgot all about - thanks for the reminder, JPC. A good friend of a good friend keeps fish and discovered that she tended to have fatalities following a water change - she subsequently discovered that she was undertaking water changes the day of/following the weekly addition of chloramine and so adjusted the day of her water changes which solved the issue.

That said, Sue reminded me a/several year(s) ago that the list you've posted is out-of-date, JPC, as more and more products are addressing chloramine due to its increased usage by water suppliers these days. For example, I now use API Tap Water Conditioner which does address chloramine - just more drops are added for that purpose.