Dying Tiger Barbs

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰
As far as the ph goes i dont really know. I dont mess with it because im told its easier on the fish to have higher ph than they like vs lower. So i wont be much help there. Would the rams be okay with your angels and tigers? I dont know much about cichlids. Thought about having them with my clowns but all the advice i got kept me from doing it. Thats how i ended up with the tiger barbs And polka dot loach

and my new little loaches are doing great. The little one found its way into my internal filter and scared the crud out of me. But i got the little guy out and all was good. They are as cute as ever though. Glad i got them. Thinking about putting sand in and some other decorations for them since they will be staying in there till they get bigger. Hope all works out with your plants. Wish i could get some more!!!
 
Most cichlids would not do well with barbs and angels, but everything Ive read and heard so far says that dwarf cichlids are great community fish and are actually somewhat shy (except when spawning). Boy, the new barbs sure are naughty lol. Every one of my barbs, green and tiger, had a small white mark on the bottom point of their fins this morning, and I almost had a panic attack thinking they brought white spot or something crazy into the new tank... but now I realize that one of the new little tigers is a wee little nipper. What a butthead. All of the other fish haven't been touched though so that's good.. if he nipped my cories we would have serious issues, and I actually saw my big green cory chasing him around, so I think he was put in his place haha. I will def. be waiting until the new barbs have settled to be adding any new fish, that's for sure. I'm kind of worried that I might not have enough room for my loaches
confused.gif
...I still need to up my number of green cories, and Im thinking that 4 other bottom feeders that get up to 4-5 inch will be a lot... idk, we'll see. I would like to convince myself that they need time to grow, but I have no room for a larger tank in this house at all lol so who knows, maybe when things settle and all the fish find their own little nooks of the tank, then I will know for sure. I know that I probably look too far into things, my husband tells me I tend to be an overthinker all the time hahaha. Atleast i know my fish don't have white spot
rolleyes.gif
 
One of my barbs were trying to have a go with my bn pleco. Was pretty funny when the little guy turned around and head butted him. Think it confused the tb.. Lol. I had a scare that my clowns had white spot but it turned out that the one had a piece of sand stuck to him.. Lol.

I decided to put some sand in the qt tank last night and some rock. Will have to post a pic tonight. Also got some more vids. After changing the flow in my big tank it just got super clear! Was so exited. The lighting might have helped also... Lol
 
I had that fear a little while ago with my cories. I saw one sitting with like 6 or so sand grains on it. Then it moved a little and the sand stayed there. Then he moved again (probably was feeling self conscious as I was really staring closely at it!) and it moved a little quicker and the sand just fell off. ;)
 
yeah, i was pretty panicked thinking about dumping plant killing meds in the new tank lol crazy fish people ;)
 
Sorry man. How do the others appear?
 
They all seem normal. Just as they have been.. Its weird. They do enjoy eating ma cabomba plants though! They are starting to look a little thin... Dont think that would have anything to do with it though. Tank is beautiful and full of life... Hope it stays that way. Lets hope for no more deaths!!

Oh yeah and water stats are 0 am, 0 nitrite, 15 nitrate.. all good..
 
Here is a pic of what I did with my qt tank last night

DSCF7998_zps9bada4c2.jpg

I just noticed the loach sitting on top of the rock looks like a ghost.. thats cool. He must have moved as I took the picture
photo.gif
 
Let's just hope that it was one of those weird/random fish deaths. Think positive! The QT tank looks great! it is like a little retreat tank hehe. EEEK!! I still can't get over how funny these little loaches are! They move so differently, like a water caterpillar or something, they're so weird but awesome at the same time. i HAVE to find room for some of these guys... I saw you have a james findley video, that's funny b.c I watched a video of his on thegreenmachine.com and it was the inspiration for my tank, it was called "reciprocity". I sat in amazement for the 45 min walk-through, his tanks are too cool ;) im so getting some loaches lol

hey guys, ive noticed when everyone gives their water test results, they always have nitrates. But every time i do my test, my nitrates are zero. every time. Since I switched tanks, Ive done a test every day and I have had a single spike, ammonia and nitrites are both zero. But should i have some nitrates, or am I ok here? hmm...
 
Are you using the API test? The 2nd bottle has two reagents, one liquid, one powder. The powder will settle to the bottom of the bottle, so it needs to be violently shaken, and/or banged on a table surface several times, in addition to the 1 minute of shaking. Plus, you need to shake the test tube for a full minute after the 2nd reagent bottle is added. Its probably a false zero reading.
 
Are you using the API test? The 2nd bottle has two reagents, one liquid, one powder. The powder will settle to the bottom of the bottle, so it needs to be violently shaken, and/or banged on a table surface several times, in addition to the 1 minute of shaking. Plus, you need to shake the test tube for a full minute after the 2nd reagent bottle is added. Its probably a false zero reading.

I AM using the API test kit! Thank you so much, I was really worrying about this all night lol what is a healthy number for nitrates then??
 
It depends on the fish, really. For discus, less than 20ppm.


For most fish, you want to try to keep it under 40ppm, but even as high as 80ppm isn't terrible. But, if it were 80ppm, I'd do a water change.


The biggest issue though rather than specific numbers is how high is the nitrate in your water? Trying to keep it about 20-40ppm above your tap is normally the goal. If you have more sensitive fish, you'd want to have 0ppm in your tap (or use RO water), and keep the nitrates under 20ppm as much as possible. (Although, I've got a few issues in that in regards to discus - who normally are in highly planted tanks that require dosing of ferts. I don't know how that works, honestly, as I don't dose ferts, nor do I keep discus.)
 
Okay, i tested my tank water and it wasn't zero anymore :) it wasn't at 5.0ppm, but it was somewhere in the middle between 0 and 5.0. That still doesn't sound ideal though. I noticed a big difference after shaking the #2 bottle though, it was a much thicker liquid. I tested my tap water (it's been sitting for 24 hours now) and it's zero, so atleast that is good.

I test the 24 hour tap water for my ph too, and it's actually higher than what's in my tap, about 8.2!! No wonder the ph in my tank is so high. Im going to get some peat moss today and try that...
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top