A Little Advice Please

[TiffanyJayne]

I have just picked up an unwanted 2 foot tank, lovely tank including fish they are what i believe to be 1x very large gold barb, 1 x very large 6' sucking louch, 1x pretty small pangasius catfish and 1x female paradise fish +12x platies.

I've looked after the tank for about 3 weeks now, clean it often and have looked at lots of posts/forums and even phoned local fish shops for advice.

The barb was looking a little sad, swims with it's head downwards at all time and the catfish is extremely skitty so i moved the platies straight out for them to have hundreds of babies in my guppy tank grrrr!

and as the pangasius is moving in with the moustache catfish next week i'd pick some other fish up i went for 2x gold barbs 2x green barbs. 2x paradise fish to breed 1m 1f.i settled them all in nipped to the shop to come back and 1 barbs was being eaten and the others chased, the paradise were hiding as much as possible and all because the barb and female paradise didn't like there new tank mates i now have the same fish as before in one tank and a new tank taken up by the ones i just bought Sooo as im not much of a barb lover what goes well with these kinds of fish? if i can't find suitable freinds i shall return or get rid but i don't like moving them about too much.

 

[Verminator89]

First off, are you or are you not aware of how big some of these fish get. Mainly the pagnasius catfish? Potentially a 1 metre long beast of a fish thats swims nonestop.

Secondly barbs are better kept in a shoal/group of 6/7 or more to spread out aggression, and generally more of them keeps the lesser aggresive species happier. Also you said yours swims with his head down, this is usually an early sign of nitrite/nitrate poisoning in barbs, so i'd say its advisable to get your water parametres checked out to find the source of the problem. It may be past problems, or new ones since you've taken over the tank.

Some barbs will tolerate fish such as platys, but the more aggresive ones such as tiger barbs will not. Also keeping a lone single barb he's going to want to pester every other fish in the tank. Usually they would bicker amongst themselves and be to focused on other barbs in there shoal to bother other fish, this is why your barb may be causing issues. Never kept golden barbs, but barbs in general are known to be boistrous. Platys are shy and quiet so mixing them with a single barb you can already guess, and have experienced, the likely outcome. I wouldnt personally mix paradise fish with barbs either. Paradise fish are quite delicate and in a tank with over zelous tanks mates such as barbs they're always going to be inferior and cower around the sides/back of the tank. Has someone suggested to you this concoction of fish would be fine together. If barbs think they rule the tank before you add other fish then introducing new fish has the potential to be awkward at first, new fish invading there territory. It does sound like you've been a little unlucky, i would say the order the fish have gone in the tank has contributed.

My main issue is you have a pangasius catfish in a 2ft tank! Inherited or not, this fish easily needs a tank well in excessof 6ft to thrive, and i think a tank that size is still miles to small for such a fish...

 

[TiffanyJayne]

First off, are you or are you not aware of how big some of these fish get. Mainly the pagnasius catfish? Potentially a 1 metre long beast of a fish thats swims nonestop.

Secondly barbs are better kept in a shoal/group of 6/7 or more to spread out aggression, and generally more of them keeps the lesser aggresive species happier. Also you said yours swims with his head down, this is usually an early sign of nitrite/nitrate poisoning in barbs, so i'd say its advisable to get your water parametres checked out to find the source of the problem. It may be past problems, or new ones since you've taken over the tank.

Some barbs will tolerate fish such as platys, but the more aggresive ones such as tiger barbs will not. Also keeping a lone single barb he's going to want to pester every other fish in the tank. Usually they would bicker amongst themselves and be to focused on other barbs in there shoal to bother other fish, this is why your barb may be causing issues. Never kept golden barbs, but barbs in general are known to be boistrous. Platys are shy and quiet so mixing them with a single barb you can already guess, and have experienced, the likely outcome. I wouldnt personally mix paradise fish with barbs either. Paradise fish are quite delicate and in a tank with over zelous tanks mates such as barbs they're always going to be inferior and cower around the sides/back of the tank. Has someone suggested to you this concoction of fish would be fine together. If barbs think they rule the tank before you add other fish then introducing new fish has the potential to be awkward at first, new fish invading there territory. It does sound like you've been a little unlucky, i would say the order the fish have gone in the tank has contributed.

My main issue is you have a pangasius catfish in a 2ft tank! Inherited or not, this fish easily needs a tank well in excessof 6ft to thrive, and i think a tank that size is still miles to small for such a fish...

As these fish were already together i didn't want to move them as they seem to get alone fine, obviously they do not wish to have new tank mates but i've had to wait 3 weeks for my 5 foot to be ready for the peng cat to move, he will be in the 5 foot as of sunday but as he's only 6 inches at the moment i didn't want to rush it and cause more problems, i know he gets very big but the only other option is give him to another person who will have no more space than me for him or a fish shop they again will sell him onto someone that may think he will stay 6 inches, i do however have the option of an out door tropical pond should he out grow the 5 foot tank too quickly, my worse fear was if he gets too big people begin putting them in rivers and i would prefer for him to be slighty cramped for a short amount of time than eaten by pike in my local river.

The water is normal on all levels but it looked like the undergravel filter hadn't been cleaned for a good few months, the tank was very green and over run with snails, i've sorted most things out and have been water changing every other day to clear some of the filth off the tank floor and now it seems healthy again but the barb looks very triangular and diformed he's considerably larger than any barb i've seen (this is all assuming he is a barb) and the paradise has her own corner of the tank none of the platties had been chosen as live food and some were only babies so im surprised but i did move them withing moments of getting the tank home.

 

[Verminator89]

Is it possible you've stirred up the substrate, this would cause a nitrite/nitrate spike and possibly too ammonia. If the tank was in poor condition when you recieved it then its likely you'll be fighting a battle initialy to get things back on track. Nothing alittle persistence won't cure. Have you concidered emptying the tank and washing the substrate. This won't be a quick job ofcourse and it might involve temporarily rehousing the fish while the tank settles down again, but it might be more beneficial to the fish to basically crash the tank and give them a fresh start, aswell as the tank.

The fish not getting along is unfortunate, but you need to concider your fish's needs and temperaments. Perhaps some pics of the fish would be worthwhile, giving members chance to positively confirm the ID's of the fish you have - only if your unsure though.

I'm glad your going to be adequately housing the Panga. If he outgrows the 5ft it'll certainly be an awesome sight to have him in a tropical pond Definately an awesome idea, so long as you can see him magesticly swimming around his home.