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hi everyone
the other day i bought two new tiger barbs to replace the older one s whihc had died. within a day one of thm, whihc had looked absolutely fine in terms of swimming, no external marks etc, was dead. two days later a 3" gold gourami had died without exhibiting any symptoms the day before.
i got up yesterday morning, and my firemouth was almost completely white, his tail had been chewed at and he was looking very lethargic. I changed 50% of the water, and then another 25% in the evening. after the first change he seemed to get his colour back, but all he does at the oment is hide behind the heater, he won't even come out when i feed. he looks more helathy but i'm still worried. all the other fish seem fine.
i'm exepcting this outbreak is something the original dead tigerbarb must have brought in. but what? could it be worms? I've put some fin-rot treatment in to make sure the chewed tail doesn't get any worse, but I can't work out what's wrong. would a salt-bath be worth trying, or should i hope he's omnly being lethargic now because he's recovering?
pleae help
p/r

What we first need to know are your water parameters, size of tank, and tank mates...

I really suspect that it is something in your water, since he seemed to recover after you did a water change...

Also how long has this tank been set up? Is it fully cycled? How often do you do water changes, and gravel vaccumes on the tank?

Answer these and I bet we can find an answer...if you don't have a home test kit, just take some water down to the lfs, and they will usually test it for free...

best of luck, heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

the tank's in my profile.
it's 60something gallons, and it's been running for about a year and a half. before this outbreak i'd had no unnatural deaths ( af ew of the old fish i moved over from old tank passed away) for about 8 months.
water parameters are currently fine, .15 nitrates. PH6.8 I'm not sure about hrdness etc.
i've managed to get him to feed, but he still hangs around the heater. Do you think i should wait to see if he worsens again before trying any more treatment. I'm doing 30% water changes every day from now on.
hope this information helps.

I would decrease the water changes now to 20% and do that each day...and I would wait to see how he does...If he starts to take a turn for the worse I'd treat him with MelaFix (I keep it on hand) Try getting some bloodworms, and tempting him with them...my fish (except my silly bettas) go crazy for them, as do most fish...fresh or frozen it shouldn't really matter...let's see if you can get him to eat...also Hikari foods have garlic in them, and the garlic smell/taste is supposed to bring them running...best of luck, heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle