Help please with barbs urgent
- Thread starter Tom c 27
- Start date
Can you post; the actual numbers from your tests, the size of the tank and exactly what fish you have, please?
Baker
Fish Fanatic
If everything seemed peaceful before you started adding different fish a few weeks ago what I would gather from that is that the tank is at capacity. Though it may not be chemically true I would take it as though the fish do not want any more environment changes. I've only ever known golden barbs to be peaceful as well. Though with water parameters it would be easier to rule certain variables out. Do you have soft water? If so it's possible the Molly died and then became considered food by the barbs. It's also possible that the new fish were contaminated but if it's happening with the mollies and the gourami and possibly the algae eater too that would have me concerned that there may be a chemistry problem in the tank
More details would be of great benefit.
More details would be of great benefit.
2 golden barbs 3 sunset plates 1 black molly 5 neon tetras 3 lemon tetras 1 golden algae eater 64 litre tank
I've just tested the water ph and it's about ph 8 also the fish that have seemed to be killed by the golden barns are generally bigger fish then smaller ones like te tetras haven't been touched. These barbs are very active as well
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Your problems are only just beginning, I'm sorry to have to say. But we can provide some guidance to fixing things.
First issue is the tank size...it is not sufficient to hold all these fish, nor some of them which get too large.
The golden barbs may be peaceful, but this is a shoaling fish that must have a larger group, at least six but more would always be better. Shoaling fish have hierarchies and such, but they need the numbers for stress control if nothing else. And shoaling fish in too small a group will cause increased aggression, or aggression in otherwise peaceful fish. So they could be the attackers.
With barbs, you should never combine sedate fish like gourami, this also can cause aggression from the barbs plus it makes the gourami stressed to have active swimmers in the tank. And when the space is as small as it is here, this is even worse for the fish.
Lemon tetras are also shoaling, and need a larger group. Neons too.
Black molly...what are your water parameters? GH is especially important, as mollies like all livebearers (platy) need moderately hard or harder water, but mollies are especially susceptible. Neons need soft water, Lemons can manage in soft or moderately hard, barbs same. So before other fish are acquired, you need to sort out your parameters.
The Golden algae eater...this is presumably the gold variant of the Chinese Algae Eater, Gyrinocheilos aymonieri, which can get up to 10 inches if memory serves me, and often becomes very nasty.
You need to remove some of these fish because there is insufficient space to have the proper sized groups and they will not be healthy without. Of all the fish mentioned, only the neons are suited to this tank size (in alarger group) if you have soft-moderately soft water. If moderately hard-hard water, the platy could manage.
Byron.
First issue is the tank size...it is not sufficient to hold all these fish, nor some of them which get too large.
The golden barbs may be peaceful, but this is a shoaling fish that must have a larger group, at least six but more would always be better. Shoaling fish have hierarchies and such, but they need the numbers for stress control if nothing else. And shoaling fish in too small a group will cause increased aggression, or aggression in otherwise peaceful fish. So they could be the attackers.
With barbs, you should never combine sedate fish like gourami, this also can cause aggression from the barbs plus it makes the gourami stressed to have active swimmers in the tank. And when the space is as small as it is here, this is even worse for the fish.
Lemon tetras are also shoaling, and need a larger group. Neons too.
Black molly...what are your water parameters? GH is especially important, as mollies like all livebearers (platy) need moderately hard or harder water, but mollies are especially susceptible. Neons need soft water, Lemons can manage in soft or moderately hard, barbs same. So before other fish are acquired, you need to sort out your parameters.
The Golden algae eater...this is presumably the gold variant of the Chinese Algae Eater, Gyrinocheilos aymonieri, which can get up to 10 inches if memory serves me, and often becomes very nasty.
You need to remove some of these fish because there is insufficient space to have the proper sized groups and they will not be healthy without. Of all the fish mentioned, only the neons are suited to this tank size (in alarger group) if you have soft-moderately soft water. If moderately hard-hard water, the platy could manage.
Byron.
Thanks Byron this just goes to show the false information fish shops tell you I've been in the hobby for a year now and I've been told loads of stuff regarding fish that another fish shop has said is wrong. The only fish shop that is relatively trustworthy with information seems to be Maidenhead aquatics. I would like to get rid of the barbs but will a fish shop take them off my hands?
Hopefully. Ask them, explain the difficulty. Even if they take them for no credit, it is worth it.
ok just to double check here is a full list of parameters just to clear up any other possibilities of why the fish have died. The temperature is 26 degrees Celsius, The ph is around 8, The tank is 64 litres, the ammonia level is less than 0.4mg/litre and the nitrite level is 0.1mg/litre. The current stocking is 1 golden algae eater, 2 golden barbs, 1 black molly, 6 neon tetras, 3 sunset platys, 3 lemon tetras and 5 more small tetras I think theyre lemons. Is the parameters fine? which fish should I take back?
First, in terms of numbers and tank size only, i.e., not getting into issues over water parameters and species, I would remove the barbs (you cannot have a decent sized group in this small a tank no matter what else) and the algae eater (previously noted the problems this fish will have/cause).
For the rest, it depends upon parameters, especially the hardness which you don't mention. GH (general hardness) is what you need to know; check with the municipal water authority, maybe on their website, for GH. A pH of 8 if accurate suggests harder rather than softer water, but not necessarily and thie GH is what matters. The molly needs moderately hard or harder water, as do the platy. The neons need softer water. So either the molly/platies or the neons could go/stay depending. Lemons will probably manage though basically a softer water species.
Besides the problems with your stocking, I don't think your fish got killed by the barbs or you would have observed clear aggression towards them beforehand. If a fish is dead (or dying) all other fish will normally start to nipple/feed on it. So when you find it it might look like some other fish killed it, but that was not what happened.
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