Sharks & Tiger Barbs

[xXI<3FISHXx]

I got my fish yesterday, 2 sharks and 6 tiger barbs, and introduced them two my 20 gallon tank. The thing is that one barb die today for no reason.. so im taking it back to petsmart... and the rest of the fish are very shy now . Could this fish live happily together without any problem?

 

[djloach]

I got my fish yesterday, 2 sharks and 6 tiger barbs, and introduced them two my 20 gallon tank. The thing is that one barb die today for no reason.. so im taking it back to petsmart... and the rest of the fish are very shy now . Could this fish live happily together without any problem?

What kind of sharks did you get? Many sharks cannot be with other sharks of the same species (i.e. red-tailed black sharks). Otherwise the sharks and barbs should be able to live together.

 

[diademhill]

How did you prepare the tank for the fish?
There are no shark species that you can keep two of in a 20g - the ones that can live in groups all get too big & the ones that stay small enough need keeping singly.

 

[xXI<3FISHXx]

bala shark. ..and now I have a big problem.. one of my barbs is swiming on the top of the tank.. I believe its that bladder problem .....I tryed to feed it thaw peas but the fish did not eat any.

 

[Mako Man111]

Did you cycle your tank before adding these fish and test the water? Also, those sharks will grow to large for that 20 gallon.

 

[xXI<3FISHXx]

Did you cycle your tank before adding these fish and test the water? Also, those sharks will grow to large for that 20 gallon.

yeah I did cycle the tank , had it runnin for a week and before adding the fish I tested the water and everything was fine! here are two pics of the tank and the fish

http/img101.imageshack.us/img101/6387/img07772fb.jpg
http/img60.imageshack.us/img60/6277/img07765gg.jpg

 

[diademhill]

yeah I did cycle the tank , had it runnin for a week and before adding the fish I tested the water and everything was fine! here are two pics of the tank and the fish
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You can't have cycled the tank in a week. A cycle typically takes three weeks and unless you added something to feed the bacteria the water sample would have been ok as there was no source of ammonia.

Either take all the fish back & do a fishless cycle or take back the sharks & cycle with the tiger barbs. You will need test kits for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate.

 

[xXI<3FISHXx]

You can't have cycled the tank in a week. A cycle typically takes three weeks and unless you added something to feed the bacteria the water sample would have been ok as there was no source of ammonia.

Either take all the fish back & do a fishless cycle or take back the sharks & cycle with the tiger barbs. You will need test kits for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate.

hey, my tank had a bunch of snails living in it (small ones) wouldnt they have had helped to cycled the tank?

also, I bought that "5 tests in one strip quick dip" which tests nitrate nitrite hadness alkalinity and ph.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

You can't have cycled the tank in a week. A cycle typically takes three weeks and unless you added something to feed the bacteria the water sample would have been ok as there was no source of ammonia.

Either take all the fish back & do a fishless cycle or take back the sharks & cycle with the tiger barbs. You will need test kits for ammonia, nitrite & nitrate.

hey, my tank had a bunch of snails living in it (small ones) wouldnt they have had helped to cycled the tank?

also, I bought that "5 tests in one strip quick dip" which tests nitrate nitrite hadness alkalinity and ph.

The snails would've helped a bit, but you added so many fish so quickly the filter would not have been able to cope with the increased bioload at all especially since it is so new. What are your ammonia, nitrite and nitrate test results like?
The bala sharks will really grow far too large for such a small tank, they really need something in the range of 125gallons as they can grow to 14inchs+ and need to be kept in groups, so i would return the bala's back to the store .