tiger barb problems

[OscarCichlid]

I am making my 30 gallon tank salt water so i moved all my fish from it (except the angel, he still needs a home) into a new home. It has been about 2 days. They are all 4 eating but only one swims around. The others stare at the gravel (like they did when i first put them in the 30). When they were in the 30 they were treated for fungus. Could they be getting fungus again?? or do they just need more time to adjust to they water??? The tank they are in is new but is already cycled. I filledit with gravel from the 30 and water from my 55. It also has a biowheel from a different tank in it..

 

[Lateral Line]

Tiger barbs are sensitive to nitrogen pollution, the lethargic, head down pose during the day is not typical. If a tiger is not chasing around during the day, something has upset it. Assuming the water chemistry is the same in the two tanks, I'd be looking at the nitrogen levels. Adding old gravel and a used filter will not in one go cycle a tank.

 

[OscarCichlid]

I dont get it. I had my water tested at my lfs today and everything came back fine. There is nothing wrong with my water. 1 of the tiger barbs is fine and the other 3 just sit there with there heads to the gravel. The 3 that are like that have ripped fins and are starting to lose there color. I dont understand it. all of the other fish are fine and so is the water but those three tiger barbs are looking horrible. Please help.. I would hate to lose these three.

 

[drobbins27]

Sometimes when over fed, tiger barbs will do this. Thats the only answer I can offer tho

 

[drobbins27]

I also see in your sig that they are in a 10hex. TB's need a large footprint with swimming space. That may be the problem

 

[OscarCichlid]

Well that wont be a problem for long. I am moving them to a 20 gallon on Thursday when i get it. I would put them in my 55 right now but i am afraid that they will get eaten by my Channel cats. The ten hex was only temporary because i am making the 30 that they were in salt water and needed it to be empty..

 

[OscarCichlid]

Well they are cured. It must have just been the stress. I had my water tested again and it came back fine except the pH is a little high (not dangerous levels) and i talked to a friend that works at my lfs and he said everytime they get a shipment of tigerbarbs the barbs do the same thing. To help it they put Stress Coat in. So i bought some stress coat and put it in. now just hours later the barbs are back to there active personalitys again, chasing each other around and of course herrasing my other fish mainly the Kissing Gourami..

 

[bccromer]

My barbs do that every now and then. I decided that they sleep like that. I put stress coat in everytime I change any water or they get handled, and I also just put a little in every week so they don't get stressed out. I don't think that is the problem with mine. My water is fine also as I had it tested. My water was just a little soft which I have a buffer that I am using for that. I know people say it isn't natural for tiger barbs to float like that, but mine will and then just jump up and play and eat. I seriously think they are sleeping.

Brad

 

[millym]

hi there,
glad to hear your barbs are more back to normal. ours do the nose down position when resting this is mainly at 'lights out' time occasionally one will park up like that during the day for a rest as well but i know the one time they were all in that position during the day i checked nitrite & it was at 0.1, did a small water change & they were fine.
are your barbs tails still a little raggedy??? it could be fin/tail rot. we had one green tiger who had a very 'thin' looking raggedy dorsal fin shortly after we got them ( nearly a year ago) & he was very pale...treated him for tail & finrot (interpet med) & within days he looked much better, darker & fin very healthy with a bright orange stripe along it which he never had & he still looks v healthy with no further tatty fins.dont know if this is the problem but sounds like it.

 

[bccromer]

I am wondering if that may be wrong with mine. They don't see to be near as colorful as my clown loaches that I just put in there this past week. What is the brand and name of that medicine, and can you just pick it up at any fish store? Thanks for any info.

Brad

 

[millym]

hi i
dont know if you can get interpet in the usa (is that where you are??)but thats the brand we used. im sure any lfs will have something similar. but a note of caution the ingredient used in a few finrot meds is called phenoxyethanol & it used to be used as a fish anaesthetic, you need to be very careful with dosing + increase aeration in your tank whilst its in there. we had a nasty experience of overdosing & knocking our barbs out for a few days, they thankfully recovered with water changes but we did panic for a bit.ive also read other posts from folk who've used the same stuff & found their fish were v sensitive & seemed to be gasping for oxygen. our loaches looked v stressed the last time we used it too we had to do some rather sharpish water changes ... we've since got a hospital tank & use it instead of treating the whole tank. oh and a few of the meds for finrot are not to be used with shrimps/crabs etc as it will kill them. but you'll be able to find something at any lfs im sure. a search on this forum will also give you lots of good advice & names of meds to try.
good luck

 

[Lateral Line]

It is never a good idea to add chemicals to tanks unless you are sure there is a problem there that would be solved by the stuff. Unless you are sure you have fin rot, adding the chemical will stress the fish.

Fin rot is a bacterial condition. It is usually associated with poor water conditions, a high biological loading on the tank. Are you overfeeding or using a high protein food?

 

[Dragonscales]

one of my moss green tiger barbs does the same thing during the day, sits about half way up the tank just staring at the ground for a bit then snaps back to it. I don't think there's anything drastically wrong with it, mine are all healthy, even the one in question.

 

[Max Action]

In my short tiger barb experience, there seem to be at least three versions of this behavior worth distinguishing between:

Sleeping/45 degree it seems to me that the tiger barbs sleep in a more or less stationary position, inclined downward at a 45 degree angle. This position is very relaxed looking, and they usually concealed near plants or the bottom. Color is often faded while sleeping, then returns shortly after waking.


Straight down - extended duration: straight down position, seeming to struggle to stay in place as though over buoyant. This behavior seems to be related to stress ... and it's kind of stressful to watch, too. If conditions are not improved secondary diseases and death can follow in time, it seems. Water changes may provide short-term help.

My new barbs were doing this until I discovered my pH was high (over 7.8) - I did a 20% water change and removed two limestone rocks that were raising pH, and the Barbs stopped immediately and have never done it since. A friend had barbs who did this continually, and almost all died within a couple of weeks.

This behavior might have something to do with swim bladder, or perhaps this position and swimming motion may help with digestive problems brought on by stress? Either way, continued vertical position swimming seems to be correlated with tiger barb stress or illness. Check water parameters and watch closely for disease.


The "Faint" : An active barb occasionally goes nose down, fins are all erect, color faded. Slowly, slowly glides downward an inch or more. Slight fin fluttering. Seems to occur only in presence of other barbs, but this might be because barbs are hardly ever alone. Can snap out of it and behave normally seemingly at will. Might be some sort of display, or who knows ... maybe they're just farting. I have not seen any correlation between this and sickness, but we'll see. Has anyone else seen this happen? Maybe something weird is afoot in my tank ... or maybe this is because my tank is cycling.

Anyway, I'm no pro but I do watch my barbs a lot ...