Fishy Plague?

[Damion]

I have had about a dozen barbs die in the past week.
The thermometer went out and the tank temperature went down to about 70. Took the thermometer out of our other tank (no fish in it) and got the temperature regulated again, 74-76) but barbs are still dying. I am not real sure that a temperature change to 70 should have been significant enough to kill fish, but I could be wrong...

What else should I be looking for here? I am down to about half the fish I had last week - don't want the rest of them dying

[Doug]

Usually, the first symptom of a large, relatively rapid temperature drop is an ich outbreak. Do you have an idea if the drop occurred overnight, or over the course of several days? Plus, in either event, bringing the temp back up rapidly could also be detrimental.

[Damion]

I am not sure on the timeframe. We are not really great at checking temperature regularly - just happened to notice it. I do know that a few days before, the temp was okay. It has been about 3 days since we got the temp back regulated though and fish are still dying daily. Would I be correct in assuming that if they lived this long from the temperature adjustment that they would be okay?
It seems that there are a group of barbs (actually, it seems just the larger ones at this point) that are all in "sleepy mode" with their heads at about a 45 degree angle downwards as if they are sleeping. This is unusual behavior for them during the day as they are typically very active during day and come up to front of the tank anytime someone walks by. They also seemed very uninterested in feeding time this morning - really out of character.

[Gerwin]

bring one that alive down to the store that is showing some symptoms, even if its a "gut " feeling. Large Temp swings can cause havoc by encouraging ich outbreaks. Not saying thats it but it is a result of big temp swings.

[Damion]

I put some ich tablets in the tank. I saw some bubble looking things on the fins of a few so I thought maybe that was it too. Hopefully that helps. If not, it will be Saturday before I can come by