Abordnet

Hi, I've been raising tropical fish for many years. My father started me breeding swordtails when I was about 5 and I've successfully raised and bred just about every live bearer and egg _layer_ there is. Recently, I set up a tank after a few years out of the game. I decided on a school of 8 Tiger Barbs. I bought them very small, as I like to raise the fish to maturity together, on a varied diet. I *thought* I seasoned the tank well, and have lots of plants in it. Nitrite, Nitrate, Ammonia, and pH tests are all in the normal or no level range. Well, 5 of the eight have died, and the other 3 don't look like they're going to make it. There are 2 things that I've noticed that may be some sort of a clue. First is that there is a good amount of algae in the aquarium. Some is your average green algae stuck to the glass, and some of it is long strands of bright green algae coming off of the heater and some plants. I've never had that issue before, even in the exact same tank in the very same spot. The other noticable thing is that before they die, their bellies look collapsed, meaning that from behind the gills to the anal fin, their stomachs are concave, as opposed to nice and plump like the ones I had last were. Finally, they go up to the top a lot, seemingly trying to stick their noses out of the water. I've read that this is often an indication of high ammonia concentrations, but tests show that there is none. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I feel horrible about how they look and for the ones I lost, and I certainly don't want to put any other fish in there until I figure out what's going on. Thanks, John