benign vanilla

The last of the Fish Tank Mafia has died. My last tin foil barb died
recently. She was somewhere between 4-6 years old. My wife and I can't
agree. She is probably right, so let's say 4 years old.

Anyway, the past few days I noticed an odor in the family room and could not
pin point it. Last night I noticed the water was very cloudy. My 4 year old
had fed the fish that day, and there was a lot of food on the bottom of the
tank. I added some water to the tank to replace evaporation, and I noticed
the odor was from the tank. I changed the filters which were unusually
gross. This is when I noticed the barb was gone.

I plan to check the water tonight, and will probably do a mass cleaning and
update to the tank this weekend. I plan to add a lot of plants, which I
could not do with the barb.

Anyway, my barbs were like family members, as weird as that is, so I thought
I'd share.

BV.

bill stock

Too bad. Sounds like Nitrates or Ammonia. I'm always battling Nitrates with
the indoor GF.

How big's your tank? What plants are you considering?

You may want to break the tank down completely and bleach it.

axemanchris

Not so weird... I recently lost 3 clown loaches. They were some of the
first fish I bought when I stared keeping an aquarium about 2.5 years ago.
I was devastated when they died. They had funny little personalities & were
my favourites. I still miss them cause the tank's just not the same without them. J.

nedra

BV, I do understand how we get so attached to our pets - fish or otherwise.
That is one reason I refuse to buy additional fish. Adding another
Koi to the pond just isn't in the cards - not for me, anyway.
I'm so sorry you lost your buddy

Nedra

ann in houston

Not to drag us back on topic or anything, but we recently had the feeling re
visited on us, when we lost three koi overnight, about a week ago. I didn't
mention it on the group because there was no mystery to it. They bailed
from the temporary tank that was their home while we poured the patio around
their new pond home. It had been so long since we lost any fish due to
disease or jumping, or just anything, that it felt weird to lose fish again.
And, two of these were nice fish, one because he was big - we had him since
2000 - and the other one, who was new, because he was so pretty. It's just
sad to lose so many at once. It occurs to me that there is a message here
that bears giving it its own thread. Sorry BV, to hear of your loss.
Ann

ajames54

snip .. sorry to hear that

If you ever have need to Sterilize a tank I would recomend a super
concentrated salt solution rather than bleach.. it is a little more
difficult to do the work but it is far less worrying when it comes to
the rinse stage..

benign vanilla

Turns out, the barb died, and somehow got hidden or caught in behind a plant
and I missed her. This morning she was floating, but the other fish had
apparently enjoyed a feast of fish guts, as she was mostly eaten. She
smelled awful as you expect, which is most certainly the source of the odor
I was smelling.

I plan to clean the tank hardily this weekend.


It's 55 gallons. I have no idea what plants yet. I'll be researching soon.
Right now, I have some anacharis planted to see how it does. So far, so good.


There are other fish in it. So I am apprehensive to do so.

BV.

benign vanilla

<snip>

If my pond pig continue on their current path, I will never need to add fish
again. LOL. As for the aquarium, my SO and kids have always loved neon
tetras. We can have them now, that the barbs are all gone. So that may be an
idea.

BV.

bill stock

OH, Sorry.

Some people recommend Potassium Permanganate 2 PPM in the tank to kill
nasties. But I think it would kill your Biofilter, some don't agree.

jim and phyllis hurley

Sorry to hear about the loss, BV. We sympathize.

Jim lost a 10 year old Oscar this spring...hole-in-the-head. Sad end to an
old friend.

Phyllis

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