Tiger Barbs

[pinola]

Hi, I have a trigon 190 tank and have had it setup for about 3 weeks. The water is fine.

I bought 4 tiger barbs this weekend (SAT 13th May) They started off swiming about fine but now they seem to stay quite still in the tank (most of the time), and swim about with there heads pointing down also they sit still in this postion. (head pointed down)

Is this quite normal for TB's? I have noticed that one of them had two white spots on it's fins so I have started the treatment today for white spot so could this be another reason the TB's are acting like this. All the other fish I have in there seem fine.

 

[WILDER]

Did you do a fishless cycle, can we take a look at your stats in ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph.
It's normal for tiger barbs to do this, do the spots on the fins look like grains of salt.

 

[pinola]

yeah they do like like grains of salt it's only on the 1 fish at the min I will test the water again tomorrow and post ammonia,nitrite,nitrate, and ph info here

 

[WILDER]

Turn temp up to 30, increase aeration as the meds and high temp will decrease 02 in the water.

 

[pinola]

Turn temp up to 30, increase aeration as the meds and high temp will decrease 02 in the water.

how long should i leave it at 30? and will the other fish be ok with temp?

 

[WILDER]

Till the spots have gone then it's best to carry on for a few more days even a week to make sure it has gone completely.


http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=128879

 

[pinola]

ok did a test on my water today

PH 7.5
Ammonia .25 mg/l
Nitrite 2.0 mg/l
Nitrate 80 mg/l

I have lost a fish, I had a candy loach that I had in my old tank and moved it to my new one (2 weeks ago) he basically went into hiding in this hollow ship wreck and very rarely came out since I put him in there I have not seen him eat anything. I have not seen him for the last 4 - 5 days so I took the ship out and have searched the tank 100% and he cant be found do you think he may have died and been eaten?

 

[WILDER]

Can see why you are having problems the water stats are bad, yes he would of died and the fish would of eaten him if you can't find him.
Check the tank as your stats are high, he also could be rotting away some where,
I would recommend a water change to get them stats down.

 

[pinola]

25% water change?

also look all over tank and cant find him

 

[WILDER]

Ok, yes a water change, how many fish do you have in the tank.

 

[pinola]

20 fish

1 plec
2 loaches
1 red tailed shark
4 tiger barbs
2 catfish
4 neons
1 platty
5 zebra

it's a 190L tank

 

[WILDER]

Added to many fish too soon, what type of loaches are they, though by the look at your stats you are well on your way, but it's not good for the fish it will take its toll on them.
Daily water changes are best, but smaller ones as you don't want to delay the cycle to long.
Add the med back to the water removed, good luck.

 

[pinola]

thanks for you help im worryed about were this candy loach could be the other 2 loaches i have are Pakistan loachs

 

[WILDER]

Only thing you can do is take the plants and ornaments out of the tank for a good look, have you checked the filter, also check around the floor area where the tank is just to make sure he hasn't jumped out.
Do you have any cats or dogs who could of eaten him if he jumped out.

 

[Marcos]

As the others have said, too many fish and your filter isn't mature enough to cope. Keep up daily water changes to try and keep the ammonia and nitrite down and see if someone on here lives nearby and would be kind enough to give you some mature filter sponge you can put in your filter, it'll speed up the process. Failing that go to your local aquatic store and beg for some! If you track some down keep it submerged in tank water otherwise the bacteria will die. (not tap water, that will also kill it) Also ease off feeding them too much until your water stats are sorted, they'll create less waste.